Washington Capitals: 2017-2018 By the Tens -- Defensemen: Michal Kempny

Michal Kempny

“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”

-- Lao Tzu

Michal Kempny’s hockey journey until this season was not especially notable.  He came up through the ranks in his native Czech Republic, represented the Czech Republic in a variety of international tournaments, went undrafted by the NHL, and eventually moved on to Avangard Omsk in the Kontinental Hockey League where he played in 59 games in 2015-2016.  In May of 2016 he signed as a free agent with the Chicago Blackhawks.  He was 25 years old.

Kempny appeared in 50 games for the Blackhawks in 2016-2017, posting modest numbers (2-6-8, plus-1) in the regular season and dressing for one game in a four-game sweep at the hands of the Nashville Predators.  In 2017-2018 he appeared in just 31 of the first 59 games on the Blackhawks’ regular season schedule, 27 of his 28 scratches of the “healthy” variety (he missed a game in November to illness).

Then, he was traded to the Washington Capitals for a conditional third-round pick in the 2018 entry draft (one of the most well-traveled draft picks in recent NHL history, originally a Toronto Maple Leafs’ pick, then the New Jersey Devils’ (as compensation for the Leafs’ signing Lou Lamoriello as general manager), then Washington’s (for Marcus Johansson), then Chicago’s (for Kempny), then Arizona’s, and finally to San Jose, who took Swedish center Linus Karlsson).

Kempny did not have an auspicious start with the Caps.  In his first 17 games with the Caps, Kempny went 0-0-0, minus-4.  But there was another number of relevance: 16:27.  That was his average ice time over those 17 games, almost three minutes more per game than the defenseman he ostensibly replaced, Madison Bowey (13:43 average ice time in 51 games).  He recorded two goals and an assist in his last five regular season games, averaging 17:44 in ice time over that span.  One could reasonably conclude that as Kempny worked his way into a comfort zone with the Caps, the team’s fortunes improved.  Washington was 12-3-0 in their last 15 games with Kempny in the lineup.

Fearless’ Take… Michal Kempny developed a chemistry with John Carlson on the second pair for the Caps.  He averaged 16:15 in even strength ice time in his 22 games to end the regular season, fourth highest among Caps’ defensemen.  Those last five games, the ones in which he recorded his only regular season points for the Caps, cemented his spot.  In none of those five games did he skate less than 16 minutes after skating less than 16 minutes six times in his first 17 games with the club.  In his 22 games to close the regular season, Kempny had the best shot attempts-for percentage in close situations at 5-on-5 (51.98 percent).

Cheerless’ Take… Five Caps defensemen played in more than a dozen of those last 22 games, Kempny being one of them.  He had the worst ratio of takeaways-to-giveaways among them (0.25:1).  And, he was a plus player in only four of his first 21 games with the Caps.

Odd Kempny fact… A more active Kempny in the offensive end was not all that great a thing in one respect.  In the 12 games in which he recorded at least two shots on goal, the Caps were just 6-6-0.

Game to Remember… April 7^th vs. New Jersey

Michal Kempny toiled in relative obscurity in his brief NHL career in Chicago and Washington.  That changed in the Caps’ last regular season game of the season.  Until he took the ice against the Devils on April 7^th, Kempny had not recorded a point in three previous career games against New Jersey.  He had just one point as a Capital in 21 games, the Caps’ only goal in a 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on March 30^th.  The Caps opened up a 2-1 lead in the first period of this game on goals by Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom wrapped around a goal by the Devil’s Nico Hischier.  Early in the second period, the Caps restored their two-goal lead when Kempny struck.  He made the play possible by subduing a bouncing puck at the Devils’ blue line, then sending it deep behind goaltender Cory Schneider.  Chandler Stephenson took control along the right wing wall, and then he backhanded a pass to Shane Gersich circling through the right wing faceoff circle.  Gersich fought off a check from Brian Boyle and slid the puck back to Kempny whose shot from the top of the zone eluded Schneider on the glove side at the 3:44 mark of the period.

New Jersey would tie the game on a late second period and an early third period goal, but three minutes after the Devils tied the game, Ovechkin put the Caps back in front.  Mid-way through the period, Nicklas Backdstrom found Kempny drifting down through the left wing faceoff circle.  Taking the pass at the faceoff dot, Kempny glided down to the bottom of the circle and sent a pass to Andre Burakovsky in the low slot.  Burakovsky snapped a shot past Schneider’s blocker, and the Caps had an insurance goal in a 5-3 season-ending win.  It was Kempny's first multi-point game as a Capital.

Game to Forget… March 18^th at Philadelphia

Michal Kempny was not around for the first three games of the season series against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Flyers having won two of those first three games. He was there for the finale of the season series, and he got to experience the frustration his teammates did at the hands of the Flyers this season.  After a scoreless first period, the home team broke on top early in the second on a Shayne Gostisbehere goal.  Alex Ovechkin tied the game in the 16^th minute of the period, but the Flyers scored a pair of goals in the last two minutes of the period to take a 3-1 lead to the third period.  The third period was a bit more wild, the Flyers outscoring the Caps, 3-2, to take a 6-3 decision.

For Kempny it was a forgettable effort.  In 12:31 of ice time, his lowest in 22 games with the Caps, skating only one shift in the last six minutes, that coming in the last 38 seconds after the Fliyers scored an empty net goal for the final margin.  He had a team worst three giveaways and was a minus-2, his worst plus-minus for any of those 22 games.

Postseason… Last season with the Chicago Blackhawks, Michal Kempny appeared in one postseason game, skating less than nine minutes without a point in the Blackhawks’ Game 4 elimination loss to the Nashville Predators in the opening round.  What a difference a year makes.  It started roughly for Kempny, who skated only five shifts and barely four minutes in Game 1 against Columbus before he was boarded by the Blue Jackets’ Josh Anderson, earning Anderson a major penalty and a game misconduct, and sending Kempny to the locker room for the duration of the contest, a Columbus 4-3 overtime win.

Kempny returned to the lineup for Game 2, going on to play in all 24 postseason games for the Caps.  Logging big ice time numbers was tough on him and the Caps, the team going 2-4 when he skated more than 20 minutes, but in the sweet spot, when he skated between 15 and 20 minutes, the Caps were 13-2, and he was 2-2-4, plus-5.  He had a goal and two assists in the final against the Vegas Golden Knights. 

For the tournament as a whole, Kempny played in all 24 games and was third among Caps defensemen in blocked shots per game.  And he was tighter with the puck, charged with only eight giveaways, second fewest among Caps defensemen appearing in more than two games (Brook Orpik: five).  He did have his own run in with the law during the postseason, getting fined the maximum for a cross-check of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Cedric Paquette in Game 2 of the conference final.

In the end…

Michal Kempny provided the glue on the back end that the Caps needed to make a deep playoff run.  It did not show up in big offensive numbers, but he logged quality minutes, and when playing within the limits of his role – second pair minutes at even strength – the Caps were a very successful team.  It was a case of player finding a good match of team.  He credited then associate coach Todd Rierden (now head coach) with bolstering his confidence and expressed the opinion that he definitely wanted to remain in Washington. 

Kempny signed a four-year/$10 million contract with the Caps in late June to do just that.  He is now one of three Caps defensemen locked up through at least the 2021-2022 season (John Carlson, through 2025-2026; and Dmitry Orlov, through 2022-2023, being the others).  He will give the Caps a measure of stability on the back line, a product of his age (he will be 28 in December) and experience (213 games in the Czech league), yet without a lot of NHL wear and tear (128 regular season and playoff games).  But his 2017-2018 season, and the change in direction from Chicago to Washington, was what made all the difference.

Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: 2017-2018 By the Tens -- Defensemen: Christian Djoos

Christian Djoos

“The beginning is the most important part of the work”

-- Plato

So, you make your NHL debut on home ice against the defending Stanley Cup champions, you score a goal on your first NHL shot attempt, and you record an assist on another goal.  The only thing that might have made Christian Djoos’ debut in the NHL better would be if the Caps had won that game.  They did not, and in fact is was on a penalty taken by Djoos that the Pittsburgh Penguins got a power play on which they scored, one of three power play goals in a 3-2 Caps loss.

Not every debut is quite a Hollywood story.  But it did serve notice that Djoos has offensive skills that translate to the NHL level of play.  In fact, Djoos finished the regular season in a tie for eighth among rookie defensemen in goals (three), 12^th in assists (11), and tied for ninth in points (14).  He was also a plus-13 for the season, tied for fourth among his class of rookie defensemen.  He did it playing in 63 games, eighth-most among rookie blueliners.  Those 63 games played was the eighth time in Caps history that a defenseman played in more than 60 games in his first NHL season and the first time since Mikhail Tatarinov appeared in 65 games in the 1990-1991 season.

It would be a bit of an odd regular season for Djoos.  That memorable opening night aside, he had only one other point in his first ten-game segment, and he had none in his second segment.  He recorded 11 of his 14 points of the season in the middle four segments of the season, but he went without a point in the last two.  That was a product of his appearing in only nine of the Caps’ last 19 games in the regular season.  

Fearless’ Take… There are only ten defensemen in Caps history to have scored more points in their first NHL season with the club than Christian Djoos, and only Dmitry Orlov among them did it after 1993-1994 (John Slaney).  Only Scott Stevens and Peter Andersson are the other first year defensemen in Caps history to record at least ten points and finish better than plus-10.

Cheerless’ Take… Some numbers didn’t seem to matter much other than to enhance Djoos’ development.  The Caps were 1-2-0 in the three games in which he scored a goal, 6-5-1 in the 12 games in which he recorded a point.  Washington was 8-9-2 in the 19 games in which he skated more than 15 minutes.  They were 7-5-3 in the 15 games in which he had at least two shots on goal.

Odd Djoos Fact… Christian Djoos is not the first Capital to have been born in Gothenburg, Sweden.  Jorgen Petterson was born there.  He is not the only Capital defenseman to have been born there, either.  Calle Johansson is also a native of Gothenburg.

Game to Remember… December 30^th vs. New Jersey

Christian Djoos might have had his best offensive game of the season in late December against the Devils.  It started early in the first period when Djoos took a pass from John Carlson, stutter-stepped around Miles Wood, skated the puck around the Devils’ cage and centered the puck to Tom Wilson in the low slot for a shot that beat goaltender Cory Schneider.  Mid-way through the period he got one of his own.  Devante Smith-Pelly got the scoring play started by picking up a loose puck and skating it out of his own end along the right wing wall.  He found Djoos at the red line skating down the middle.  Carrying the puck over the Devils’ blue line, Djoos laid the puck off to Alex Ovechkin at the top of the left wing circle.  Ovechkin sent the puck across to Nicklas Backstrom at the bottom of the right wing circle.  Backstrom sent it back across to Djoos closing to the net through the left wing circle.  His snapped a shot behind Schneider, who could not scramble across the crease in time to prevent the score.  The Caps went on to win, 5-2.  For Djoos, it was his second multi-point game of the season, and for the Caps, they leapfrogged New Jersey into first place in the Metropolitan Division.

Game to Forget… November 14^th at Nashville

A mid-November night in Nashville was a short one for Christian Djoos.  Eleven shifts, 5:48 in ice time, and his skates didn’t hit the ice over the last 26:02 of the game.  He was on ice for two of the three goals that the Predators scored in the first nine minutes of the second period, and as far as his own score sheet line was concerned, there was one shot attempt (blocked) and one blocked shot.  His ice time was his lowest of the season.

Postseason… Christian Djoos sat out the first two games of the opening round against the Columbus Blue Jackets, both of them losses in overtime.  Once he got on the ice, his minutes were closely managed, skating more than 15 minutes only twice in the 22 games in which he dressed.  He skated more than 12 minutes only once in nine games he played on home ice.  The strange thing about his ice time is that he recorded his only postseason point (an assist) in the game in which he had his lowest ice time (7:52), a 6-3 win over Columbus in the series-clinching sixth game.  Still, he became just the second defenseman in the last 20 seasons to appear in at least five postseason games in their first NHL season with the Caps and average more than ten minutes of ice time (10:51).  John Carlson (2010) was the other.

In the end…

As first seasons go, it was a solid one for Christian Djoos.  He passed his first test in standing up to the physical grind of the NHL, and he put up offensive numbers that compare favorably with his rookie cohort in the 2017-2018 season and among first year defensemen in Caps history.  And in the postseason, once he was in the lineup, he was not as easily exploited as perhaps one might think a rookie defenseman might have been. 

But the next step will be to assume more responsibility, to take on a larger ice time share and not have to have it managed quite as closely as it was.  If he can do that and improve on his offensive numbers, the team will have one less issue to address.  It will be the next step in the beginning of what one hopes is a long stay in Washington.

Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: 2017-2018 By the Tens -- Defensemen: John Carlson

John Carlson

“There comes a time when all the cosmic tumblers have clicked into place, and the universe opens itself up for a few seconds, to show you what is possible.”

--Terrence Mann in the film, “Field of Dreams”

John Carlson came into the 2017-2018 season an eight-year veteran of the NHL, all of them as a defenseman with the Washington Capitals.  He built a reputation as a durable defenseman (he played his first five seasons appearing in every game).  He became a reliable offensive contributor, his numbers increasing from seven goals and 37 point in his first full season to 12 goals and 55 points in his fifth full season.  He became a minutes eater, his average ice time going form 22:39 in his first full year in Washington to 24:31 in his fourth full season.

But in the two seasons preceding this one, injuries cut his participation by 26 games in 2015-2016 and another ten games last season.  His goals dropped back into single digits – eight two years ago and nine last year.  His point totals dropped back into the high thirties.  And there emerged a question.  Was John Carlson, whose six-year/$23.8 million contract was to expire at the end of the 2017-2018 season, a player in whom the Capitals would want to invest as a “core” commodity of the likes of other home-grown products such as Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, or Evgeny Kuznetsov?

A “walk year” for a player is that last year of his contract when he can either put up numbers and/or win when it counts to add value to a wider variety of suitors.  Or, he can crumble under the pressure and regress to the point where he might be in demand, but he leaves millions of dollars and years of term in his next contract on the table.

For John Carlson, 2017-2018 was not a “walk” year; it was a “dance ‘til dawn” year.  He played in all 82 regular season games, the sixth time in eight full seasons with the Caps that he did so.  He set career highs in goals (15), assists (53), points (68), power play assists (28), power play points (32), average ice time (24:47), and shots on goal (237).  Those 68 points led all NHL defensemen, the first time a Capital led all defensemen in scoring since Mike Green led the league with 76 points in 2009-2010.

Carlson was also a top-ten performer among league defensemen in the following:

• Goals (15/T-8^th)
• Assists (53/T-3^rd)
• Points-per-game (0.83/4^th; minimum 40 games)
• Power play assists (28/1^st)
• Power play points (32/2^nd)
• Power play shots on goal (62/5^th)
• Game-winning goals (4/T-3^rd)
• Shots on goal (237/5^th)
• Takeaways (58/6^th)
• Total power play ice time (303:43/1^st)
• Power play ice time per game (3:42/2^nd)

He also had his moments among the ten-game segments.  He had two or more goals in six of the eight segments, nine or more points in five of them.  Although his plus-minus was sluggish – a minus-6 over his first seven segments – he closed strong with a plus-6 in his last segment to finish even for the season.

Fearless’ Take… Getting contributions from the blue line mattered, at least in John Carlson’s case this season.  The Caps were 12-2-1 in the 15 games in which Carlson recorded a goal, 37-9-5 in the 51 games in which he had a point.  Those 51 games with at least one point was another category in which Carlson led the league’s defensemen.  And, his power play quarterbacking was married to success.  In the 24 games in which he had at least one power play assist, the Caps were 17-4-3.

Cheerless’ Take… Hey cuz, here is another top ten number for ya… 97. That’s how many giveaways Carlson was charged with, sixth-most in the league.  And that takeaway-to-giveaway ratio… 0.60:1… woof.

Odd Carlson Fact… John Carlson skated at least 20 minutes in all 82 games this season, bringing his streak of games skating 20 or more minutes to 96.  The last time he did not skate 20 minutes was March 3, 2017, when he skated 19:43 in a 2-1 overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers at Capital One Arena.  The last time Carlson did not skate 20 minutes in a road game was April 2, 2016, when he skated 18:37 in a 3-0 loss in Arizona to the Coyotes.

Game to Remember… December 30^th vs. New Jersey

If you can’t go home again, it’s nice to beat up on the hometown team when they come to your house.  John Carlson, who spent much of his earliest development in hockey in New Jersey, had just such a night in late December.  He was on a nice stretch of his own, going 1-9-10, plus-6, in the 13 games preceding this one, over which the Caps were 9-2-2.  The Caps wasted no time getting the jump on the Devils.  Carlson sent the puck from the right point to Christian Djoos at the opposite point.  Djoos shimmie3d his way in deep and around the back of the New Jersey net.  Coming out the other side to the left of goalie Cory Schneider, he threw the puck in front, where Tom Wilson fished it out and slammed it past Schneider at the 2:26 mark to open the scoring. 

The teams exchanged goals over the remainder of the period, the Caps taking a 2-1 lead to the first intermission.  When they returned, the Caps extended their lead, thanks to Carlson.  On a power play, the Caps worked the puck clockwise from the left side to Nicklas Backstrom below the goal line.  Stepping to his left he found a passing lane to Carlson who was closing on the right wing faceoff circle.  He one-timed the pass from Backstrom past Schneider’s blocker, and it was 3-1, 7:01 into the period.  In the third period, Matt Niskanen and Travis Zajac exchanged goals in the first nine minutes, the Caps taking a 4-2 lead late into regulation.  With less than a minute to go, Backstrom won a faceoff in his own end back to Carlson.  Taking the puck behind his own net and circling out the other side, he found Backstrom exiting the defensive zone.  Backstrom passed the red line and snapped a shot into the empty Devils’ net, giving the Caps a 5-2 win to close the 2017 portion of their schedule.  The goal and two assists for Carlson gave him his first of two three-point games for the season, the seventh of his career with three or more points (he would get his second of the season and eighth of his career  against Toronto on March 3^rd).

Game to Forget… November 7^th at Buffalo

Going on the road for a weeknight game in upstate New York is not likely to be among the most desirable activities for an NHL player.  Compounding the Caps’ problems in going to Buffalo in early November was that they played an overtime game against the Arizona Coyotes the previous night.  John Carlson might have had a bit more spark than his teammates, for he had two points against Arizona the previous night, one of them the game-winning goal in the last minute of overtime to take down the Coyotes.

Might have, but he did not, any more than his teammates had.  After a listless first period that went scoreless for both teams, Buffalo scored in the third minute of the second period on a goal by Evander Kane.  Alex Ovechkin tied it late in the period, but the Sabres regained the lead early in the third period on a Benoit Pouliot goal.  The 2-1 margin would hold up until the last 20 seconds.  Carlson made a fine play to deny Jack Eichel a shot at the empty Washington net at the Caps’ blue line, but he could not keep the puck from sliding along the blue line to Kane, who sent it along to the empty net to close the scoring.  Carlson was on the ice for all three Sabres goals.  He skated a team-high 25:34, had a frustrating five unproductive shots on goal (tied for the team lead), and was sent off for a delay of game penalty when he sent the puck over the glass in the third period.

Postseason…

John Carlson has generally been rather productive in the postseason.  In 76 postseason games before this season he was 13-22-35, plus-1, his best postseason coming in 2016, when he went 5-7-12 in 12 games.  Until this postseason.  Carlson went his version of Alex Ovechkin to open the postseason.  You might remember that Ovechkin opened the season with hat tricks and a total of seven goals in his first two games of the season.  Carlson opened the postseason with three assists in each of the first two games against Columbus in the first round.  Unfortunately, the Blue Jackets won both of those games in overtime.  Those six assists exceeded Carlson’s total for a single postseason save for his seven assists in that 2016 postseason.

It was a the start of an almost non-stop run of offensive production for Carlson in the Caps’ march to the Stanley Cup.  In 24 games he had consecutive games without a point only twice, neither instance longer than two games.  Washington was 11-4 in the 15 games in which he recorded at least one point.  When all was said and done, Carlson tied for the postseason lead in goals among defensemen (five, with Winnipeg’s Dustin Byfuglien), led the league in assists (15), led the league in points (20), was second in plus-minus (plus-11, trailing only teammate Brooks Orpik’s plus-17), had a whopping 80-55 edge in shots on goal over Byfuglien to lead all defensemen, and was tenth in average ice time (25:38).

In the end…

John Carlson hit the jackpot.  On June 24^th, he and the team agreed to an eight-year/$64 million deal that will keep him in Washington through the 2025-2026 season.  It would be fair to say he earned it.  He became just the fourth defenseman in Capitals history to record at least 15 goals and at least 50 assists in a single season, Joining Larry Murphy (23-58-81 in 1986-1987), Kevin Hatcher (24-50-74 in 1990-1991), and Mike Green (19-57-76 in 2009-2010).  He is the only defenseman in the history of the franchise to record at least five goals and at least 15 assists in one postseason.  He is one of only three defensemen since the 2005-2006 season to record at least five goals, at least 15 assists, and go plus-10 or better in a single post season (Chris Pronger was 5-16-21, plus-10 in 2006, and Brent Burns was 7-17-24, plus-11 in 2016).

Chances are, John Carlson will not match these regular season and postseason numbers in any of the years of his new contract.  It neither makes him a lesser player, nor does it diminish the accomplishment of this season.  Sometimes, those cosmic tumblers do click into place, and the universe does open itself up for a few seconds, or at least over the nine months of a hockey season, to show you what is possible.

Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: 2017-2018 By the Tens -- Defensemen: Madison Bowey

Madison Bowey

“At times it is folly to hasten at other times, to delay. The wise do everything in its proper time.”

-- Ovid

It is an article of faith in the NHL that defensemen take longer to develop than do forwards.  That is something Washington Capitals fans might want to put on a Post-It note and affix to their keyboards before tweeting about Madison Bowey.  He was the 18^th defenseman taken in the 2013 entry draft, and when the 2017-2018 season ended, he was one of just 24 of the 69 defensemen taken in that draft to skate in at least one NHL game.  The 51 games in which he appeared is more than five of the 17 defensemen taken ahead of him in that 2013 draft.  In that respect, the third-round/53^rd overall pick in the 2013 draft might be thought of as “on time” in his developmental arc.

The 2017-2018 season might have been a complete immersion into life in the NHL, but circumstances and a sense of urgency intervened as the season wore on for Bowey and the Caps.  He did not make his NHL debut until Game 6 of the regular season, subbing for injured defenseman Matt Niskanen against the Philadelphia Flyers, and it was not the most auspicious of entrances.  Rookies do not dream of skating a shade less than 15 minutes, make no marks on their score sheet line, and end up on ice for three goals in an 8-2 pasting in the other team’s home opener.  That was Bowey’s introduction to the NHL.

Consider it an education.  And he did learn.  He would not be a minus-3 again.  In fact, he was a minus player in only 12 of the other 50 games in which he played.  And there is the important point.  Bowey played in 51 games this season.  In fact, he appeared in 51 of 55 games following his five-game absence to start the season.  However, the Caps found themselves at a crossroads when the trading deadline approached.  After the Caps lost to the Chicago Blackhawks, 7-1, in what in retrospect might have been the most illuminating loss of the season, the Caps were faced with a choice of continuing to dress Bowey (who had only his second game worse than minus-1 against the Blackhawks when he finished minus-2), or they could seek an upgrade in the trade market.

The Caps chose the latter, trading for defensemen Michal Kempny and Jakub Jerabek two days apart.  Bowey appeared in two more games for the Caps, but his season ended with his appearance in a loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 20^th.  He was reassigned to the Hershey Bears in the AHL on February 26^th and did not dress again for the Caps this season.

Fearless’ Take… As if to drive home the point that development of defensemen requires patience, Madison Bowey was just the 13^th defenseman in Caps history to appear in at least 50 games in his first season with the club (which must be distinguished from “rookie” season, Bowey being the 18^th “rookie” in franchise history to do so) and only the fifth since the 2005-2006 season (Mike Green, John Carlson, Dmitry Orlov and Christian Djoos being the others).

Cheerless’ Take… More Bowey was not a good thing.  In 24 games in which he skated more than 14 minutes, the Caps were 10-12-2.  They were 19-5-3 in the 27 games in which he skated less than 14 minutes.  And there was the matter of how well he might be protected at home versus on the road.  The Caps were 18-8-2 in 28 games he played on home ice, 11-9-3 in the 23 games he played on the road.

Odd Bowey Fact… Madison Bowey is the only one of 18 rookie defensemen in Capitals history to appear in at least 50 games (51) and fail to record at least one goal. 

Game to Remember… November 4^th at Boston

Sometimes, it’s about the team and being part of a team effort.  The Caps opened the season going alternating losses and wins on the road, taking a 2-3-0 record to Boston in early November.  On the other hand, the Bruins had not lost in regulation on home ice in almost a month, since their only regulation loss at TD Garden on October 9^th against the Colorado Avalanche.  The Caps got the early jump on the Bruins, scoring twice in the first period on goals by Tom Wilson and Alex Ovechkin.  The Bruins halved the deficit on a goal by David Pastrnak early in the second period, but the Caps restored their two goal advantage late in the period of Tom Wilson’s second goal of the game.  The Bruins managed to make thing interesting with a power play goal by Pastrnak with less than three minutes left, but the Bruins could get no closer.  Bowey had one of his better all-around games of the season, recording three shot attempts (two on goal) and two hits to go with the team’s only plus-3 in 14:39 of ice time.

Game to Forget… February 20^th vs. Tampa Bay

It would be the last game Madison Bowey would dress for the Caps in the 2017-2018 season.  What made it forgettable was not that any one thing went horribly bad, but that it was a game that resembled several others in the run up to his reassignment.  His 14 shifts was the fewest among defensemen in that game, and his 10:24 in ice time was his third-lowest of his season.  He finished with two shot attempts (one on goal), two hits, and he was on the ice for the Lightning’s second goal of the game, that by Chris Kunitz, part of a disastrous first period in which Tampa Bay scored three goals on eight shots on their way to a 4-2 win. 

Postseason… Bowey did not dress for the postseason.

In the end…

It’s all part of a process.  Not a lot of defensemen jump into the lineup and skate 20 minutes a night for 75 or more games as a rookie (then again, not a lot of rookie defensemen get their names engraved on the Stanley Cup; his 51 regular season games presumably make him eligible).  For the record, in the 12 full seasons since the 2004-2005 lockout (not including the abbreviated 2012-2013 season), only 20 defensemen in their first NHL season appeared in 75 or more games and logged at least 1,500 minutes in ice time.  Madison Bowey will be only 23 years old when the 2018-2019 season opens.  If Brooks Orpik, having been bought out by the Caps yet still a possibility as an unrestricted free agent, does not return to the Caps for next season, Bowey would be considered at the very least a favorite to get one of the six slots on defense, if not the favorite.  It should not be lost on fans that Bowey was held to just 34 games in the 2016-2017 regular season with the Hershey Bears in the AHL due to injury, a lacerated ankle tendon, an injury from which he might still be coming back.   If he is fully recovered and was able to use his reassignment wisely to make progress on his development arc, he might be a player to watch to see if he makes a significant jump forward in his role with the Caps.

Photo: Harry How/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: 2017-2018 By the Tens -- Forwards: Tom Wilson

Tom Wilson

“The one who cannot restrain their anger will wish undone, what their temper and irritation prompted them to do.”

-- Horace

Tom Wilson has a well-honed ability to get under the skin of opponents.  His talent for goading opponents into taking penalties is considerable.  Among players appearing in at least 40 games this season, Wilson was third in penalties drawn per 60 minutes (source: naturalstattrick.com).  

But 2017-2018 was the season when Wilson became less an agitator, not as much a pugilist, and more a fully-formed hockey player.  Yes, he did compile a career high of 187 penalty minutes, and his 13 fights was one off his career high in 2013-2014.  However, there were those 14 goals, a career high that equaled his total from his previous two years combined.  He had a career high 21 assists and a career best 35 points.  His 15:59 in average ice time was more than three minutes per game clear of his previous high (12:56 last season).

In 2017-2018 Wilson became both a top-line forward who was not a liability at the position and became an important penalty killer, averaging more than two minutes of shorthanded ice time for the first time in his five-year career.  And, he became a more consistent contributor.  Wilson fought off a slow start – missing the first four games of the season with a suspension for boarding the St. Louis Blues’ Sam Blais in a preseason game (his second suspension of the preseason) and then recording only a single point in his first eight games of competition in the regular season.  He averaged almost half a point per game for the rest of the season (0.49 points per game in 70 games), and he had at least four points in five of his last seven ten-game segments, at least one goal in six of them.

His presence came to matter in games.  In the 22 games in which he skated at least 17:30, the Caps were 15-4-3, while they were 2-5-0 in games that he skated less than 13 minutes.  His contributions mattered, too.  He wasn’t just the protection for other top-six forwards.  He had points in 27 games, and the Caps posted a record of 21-4-2. 

Fearless’ Take… Tom Wilson was, if not a reluctant shooter in his four previous seasons, not a prolific one.  Despite appearing in all 82 games three times in those first four seasons, he never hit the 100 shot mark.  He did in 2017-2018, recording 123 shots on goal in 78 games.  His shot production was no threat to Alex Ovechkin (4.33 shots per game), but his 1.59 shots per game did matter.  The Caps lost only one game in regulation in the 19 games in which Wilson recorded three or more shots on goal (17-1-1).

Cheerless’ Take… Wilson taking penalties did seem to influence the Caps’ fortunes in a negative way, at least slightly.  In game when he took at least one penalty, the Caps were 23-14-3.  And the type of penalty seemed to matter.  In 13 games in which he was charged with a fighting major, the Caps were 9-3-1. They were just 14-11-2 when sat for reasons other than a fighting major.  However, when he avoided a visit to the penalty box altogether, the Caps were 24-11-3.

Odd Wilson Fact… Tom Wilson logged ten or more penalty minutes four times this season.  Every instance was on the road (Vancouver, Chicago, Boston, and Philadelphia).  Eleven of his 15 career games with 10 or more penalty minutes have been on the road.

Game to Remember… December 6^th vs. Chicago

When the Chicago Blackhawks came to town in early December, the Caps were on a roll offensively. Starting with a 5-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on November 22^nd, Washington averaged 3.67 goals per game over a six game stretch and scored four or more four times.  Unfortunately, Tom Wilson was not doing much of the contributing, posting only a pair of assists over that span.  In fact, Wilson dragged a 14-game streak without a goal into the contest against the Blackhawks. 

However, there was a hint that Wilson might break loose against this opponent.  In his first six career games against Chicago, Wilson did not record a point.  But in his seventh game against the Blackhawks, and most recent one before this game, Wilson had a goal and two assists in a 6-0 win on January 13, 2017.

Wilson got on the board to break his personal goalless streak in the first period in this game.  After Nicklas Backstrom put the Caps in front to open the scoring mid-way through the period (a goal on which Wilson assisted), Wilson scored just under three minutes later when he took a pass from Christian Djoos at the far edge of the left wing circle and wrapped a shot around defenseman Gustav Forsling from long range and surprised Goalie Anton Forsberg 14:53 into the period.  Just 59 seconds later, Wilson had his third point of the period when he got behind the Chicago defense on a breakaway.  His shot was foiled by Forsberg, but Alex Ovechkin followed it up and beat Forsberg to make it 3-0, 15:22 into the period.

Wilson appeared once more on the score sheet, this time late in the third period.  With the Caps ahead, 5-2, but the Blackhawks on a power play and their goalie pulled, Wilson was gifted the puck from a clot of players between the hash marks.  In one motion he swept the puck down the ice and into the empty cage for a shorthanded empty netter, his second goal of the game and fourth point.  Wilson’s first four-point game as a Capital was one of eight four-point games the Caps would record in 2017-2018.

Game to Forget… October 14^th vs. Philadelphia

When the Capitals visited the Flyers in their home opener of the 2017-2018 season, history was not on their side.  Washington had never defeated the Flyers in their home opener, losing four times and tying once.  Tom Wilson had his own issues against the Flyers.  In 17 career games against Philadelphia coming into this season, Wilson had one goal and three assists.  On top of that, he had 60 penalty minutes against the Flyers, more than he recorded against any other team in the league.  And, he averaged about ten minutes a game against Philly, a career average lower than any team he faced save for Toronto and Montreal.

Neither the Caps nor Wilson were going to write a new chapter in their history against the Flyers in this game.  The Caps gave up a shorthanded goal late in the first period to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead and allow them to grab momentum that they would not relinquish.  The Flyers scored three more times in the second period and three times again in the third in pasting the Caps, 8-2.  The frustration for the Caps bubbled over in the third when Wilson and Flyer defenseman Radko Gudas were nailed with matching 10-minute misconduct penalties, ending Wilson’s night with no points and just 10:29 in ice time, his low for the season.  Wilson’s frustrating record against the Flyers extended through the season.  In four games against Philadelphia he had no points and was minus-4.

Postseason… In 41 postseason games coming into this season’s playoffs, Tom Wilson was not a particularly noticeable player.  He had three goals (all of them in the 2017 playoffs) and five points, going minus-8 in the process.  His 72 penalty minutes in those games helped hold him to an average of less than 11 minutes of ice time across those games. 

The 2018 postseason was a different story.  The Stanley Cup run for the Caps afforded fans a long look at “The Compleat Wilson.”  He appeared in only 21 of the 24 games played by the Caps, missing the last three games of the conference semifinal against Pittsburgh when he was suspended for his unpenalized hit on Zach Aston-Reese.  The hit fractured Aston-Reese’s jaw and left him with a concussion.  Wilson avoided a suspension from a hit he applied to Brian Dumoulin in the previous game.

In the 21 games in which Wilson did appear, he recorded career highs in a single postseason of five goals, ten assists, 15 points, a plus-11, 34 shots on goal, and an average of 17:45 in ice time.  The Caps were 8-3 in games in which Wilson had at least one point, 4-1 in games in which he recorded a goal.  Wilson had four multi-point games in the postseason, tied with Lars Eller for fifth on the team.  And an active Wilson went hand in hand with success.  The Caps were 9-1 in games in which Wilson recorded at least two shots on goal.

In the end…

Over his first four seasons, Tom Wilson established himself as the player that fans and players of 30 other teams hated.  He could draw penalties with the best of them, get under opponents’ skin, and get into the heads of opponent fan bases.  It had its merits, to a point, deflecting attention from the more productive (in a goals and points way) assets the Caps had on the ice.

As the 2017-2018 season wore on, Wilson established something else.  He became a legitimate top six power forward who could not just protect linemates, but contribute offensively.  And, his scope of responsibility broadened to include a larger penalty killing role.  He hasn’t so much replaced his ability to instigate and annoy as much as he has supplemented it, thereby only adding to the possibilities and opportunities for opponents to lose their temper and unleash their anger, only to wish it undone when Wilson and the Caps skate off with a win.

Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: 2017-2018 By the Tens -- Forwards: Jakub Vrana

Jakub Vrana

“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”

-- Benjamin Franklin

The number “13” has hardly been unlucky for Jakub Vrana.  He was taken by the Washington Capitals with the 13^th overall pick in the 2014 entry draft, wears the number “13” for the Caps (the fifth player in team history to wear it), and he scored 13 goals for the Capitals this season.  It was not all Skittles and unicorns, though.  Vrana got off to a good start in his rookie campaign, recording a pair of assists against the Ottawa Senators in the season opener and going 2-3-5 in his first six contests.  However, inconsistency crept into his game, a problem that would stalk him all season.  He went his next five games without a point and was just 2-0-2 in 14 games after that hot six-game start.

The problem was reflected in his eight ten-game segments, which displayed quite a varied level of output across those segments.  He started well (two five-point segments among his first three) and finished well (four points in each of his last two segments), but in-between it was a rather uneven level of production (between one and four points).  And his appearances as the season wore on took on an uneven character.  He missed eight of the last 33 games of the regular season after sitting for just one of the first 49 contests of the season.

The other item of note in his ten-game segments is the manner in which his ice time was reduced.  In his first segment he averaged 13:51 per game in ice time.  However, except for one segment (his sixth, when he averaged 12:59 per game) his ice time dropped in each segment until he averaged just 10:09 in his last segment of the season.  It might have played a factor in his having recorded ten of his 13 goals for the season in his first four segments, but just three in his last four segments of the season.

Fearless’ Take… Even with his uneven presence in the lineup and ice time, Jakub Vrana finished in the top-20 in goal scoring among rookies (tied for 17^th).  With 13 goals averaging 12:30 per game over 73 contests, only one of those above him in the rankings averaged less ice time (Sonny Milano had 14 goals averaging 11:39 in 55 games for Columbus).  And an active Vrana was part of a successful team.  In 21 games in which he had three or more shots on goal, the Caps were 14-5-2.

Cheerless’ Take… Yeah, about those shots on goal.  The Caps only lost one game in regulation in the ten in which he didn’t have any shots on goal (a 3-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on December 23^rd).  And among rookies, his shot attempts on ice numbers were not especially impressive.  Among 60 rookies appearing in at least 40 games, he ranked 27^th in shot attempts-for at 5-on-5 (50.15 percent).

Odd Vrana Fact… Jakub Vrana had just one point in ten games against Central Division opponents this season, the first goal of the contest in a 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on December 12^th.

Game to Remember… November 22^nd vs. Ottawa

After scoring goals in consecutive games in back-to-back games against New Jersey and Philadelphia on October 13^th and 14^th, Jakub Vrana went into a slump, scoring just two goals over his next 15 games.  On the night before Thanksgiving against the Ottawa Senators, Vrana broke out of his slump.  Late in the first period, T.J. Oshie won a battle for a loose puck just inside the Senators’ blue line. Oshie curled in a snapped a pass to Evgeny Kuznetsov cutting to the net.  Kuznetsov’s attempted redirect from the side of the net was stopped by goalie Craig Anderson, but he could not control the rebound that leaked to the top of the crease.  Vrana was camped out there with inside position on Fredrik Claesson and got enough of his stick on the loose puck to nudge it past Anderson to give the Caps a 1-0 lead 15:21 into the game.

After the Caps scored on a Kuznetsov power play goal less than eight minutes into the second period to give Washington a 3-0 lead, Vrana struck again barely two minutes later.  Dmitry Orlov backhanded a pass to Kuznetsov, who carried the puck out of the Washington end and through the neutral zone.  As he approached the Ottawa blue line he tried to send the puck through Ryan Dzingel’s legs and recover it on the other side, but he lost it to Vrana on his left side.  Vrana stepped up and fired a shot that beat Anderson on the blocker side, wedging under the net frame under the water bottle where everyone but the referee lost sight of it.  The referee signaled a goal, Vrana shrugged his shoulders as if to say, “OK,” and he had his first multi-goal game as a Capital in a 5-2 win.

Game to Forget… January 21^st vs. Philadelphia

There were times this season when it just was not too clear that Vrana was fully engaged in his task.  That was the case in a mid-January game against the Flyers in Washington.  He skated three shifts in the first period for 2:57 in ice time to no effect.  Then, he skated another five shifts in the second period for 3:28 with similar results.  And that would be it.  Vrana skated eight shifts and 6:25 in ice time (his low for the season), not seeing the ice for the last 22:46 of regulation and overtime in a 2-1 Flyers win.  He finished the game with no shots on goal, no shot attempts, and one giveaway as the only crooked mark on his score sheet line.

Postseason… Jakub Vrana’s time was doled out sparingly in the postseason, averaging 11:56 in 23 games (he sat for Game 2 in the opening round series against Columbus).  And, he scored only three goals in those 23 games, tenth on the club.  But he was one of six Capitals with at least two game-winning goals.  Both came in the conference semi-final series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.  The first came in Game 2 when he scored from between the hash marks on a power play to put the Caps up, 2-0, in what would be a 4-1 win.  The other came in Game 5 when, after a great save by Braden Holtby to preserve what was a 3-3 tie, he skated with Alex Ovechkin to the other end.  Ovechkin carried the puck wide, and as he was about to curl around the net fed the puck to Vrana cutting across the low slot.  Vrana wasted no time in finding the back of the net before goalie Matt Murray could get back into the net after setting up for an Ovechkin shot that never came.  Vrana finished his first postseason as a Capital with a 3-5-8, plus-5 scoring line.

In the end…

Jakub Vrana can skate, he has great hands, and he has a lethal shot.  He has the potential to be the best pure sniper of a shooter on this club since Peter Bondra.  But his consistency needs to catch up to his talent.  He has a tendency to go silent and disengaged for stretches, even games at a time.  But he has yet to play his 100the game in the NHL, and he will not be 23 years old until February.  He has time and room to improve those mental aspects of his game that need development.  As he grows and progresses in those areas, improvement, achievement, and success will accompany his game.  This season was a step in that direction.

Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: 2017-2018 By the Tens -- Forwards: Chandler Stephenson

Chandler Stephenson

“Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced.”

-- John Keats

Chandler Stephenson took each rung of the developmental ladder in its turn.  Drafted by the Washington Capitals in the third round in 2012 (one spot ahead of Philadelphia Flyer defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, it should be noted), Stephenson spent another season with the Regina Pats in the Western Hockey League before getting a taste of professional action with the Hershey Bears late in the 2012-2013 season.  That was followed up by three more seasons with the Bears with a couple of brief stints with the Caps in 2015-2016 (nine games) and in 2016-2017 (four games). 

With the Caps having lost a number of forwards after the 2016-2017 season, there was room for advancement on the 2017-2018 roster, but there would be competition for bottom-six spots, even with the departure of Daniel Winnik after last season.  Stephenson was one name in the mix, competing with off-season acquisitions Devante Smith-Pelly, Alex Chiasson, and Tyler Graovac; and prospects Travis Boyd, Nathan Walker, and Liam O’Brien.

Smith-Pelly, Graovac, and Chiasson were among the forwards starting on Opening Night.  Stephenson sat, and he would sit for the first nine games of the 2017-2018 season.  It seemed as if his season would be a combination of nacho duty, occasional games in the Caps’ lineup, and perhaps another year with work put in with the Bears in Hershey.  He was given a sweater in the Caps’ 10^th game of the season, in Vancouver against the Canucks.  The Caps lost decisively that evening, 6-2, but Stephenson scored a goal late in the contest, his first as a Capital.  He would prove difficult, if not impossible to dislodge from the lineup thereafter.  He dressed for 67 of the Caps’ last 73 games of the season and posted very respectable numbers for a rookie playing a bottom six role (6-12-18).  His plus-13 for the season tied for fifth among all rookies.

Stephenson’s ten-game segments were consistent, if not eye-popping.  He had points in each of the eight segments, assists in seven of them, and he was a “plus” player in six of them.  And, as happens often with bottom six/secondary scorers, when he did contribute offensively, it was part of a successful team effort.  Washington was 11-5-0 in the 16 games in which he recorded a point.

Fearless’ Take… One has the feeling that there is a goal scorer in there somewhere with Stephenson.  Although it has not yet expressed itself in his pro career, he had 30 goals in 69 games in his last year in juniors.  But he did finish seventh among 83 rookies with at least 25 shots on goal in shooting percentage (16.7 percent).  And his presence in the lineup at least coincided with success.  The Caps were 41-21-5 with Stephenson in the lineup, 8-5-2 when he was not.

Cheerless’ Take… Just like secondary scoring is important to wins from time to time, too much ice time among bottom six forwards might be an indicator of something else.  The Caps were 19-11-4 in games in which Stephenson skated 12 or more minutes, 22-10-1 in games in which he skated less than 12 minutes.  And what was up with the shooting?  Washington was 8-1-0 in games in which he had two shots (he had none with as many as three).

Odd Stephenson Fact… Chandler Stephenson was the only player in the league to appear in more than 60 games (67) and record fewer than 40 shots on goal (36).

Game to Remember… January 31^st vs. Philadelphia

The Caps were in mid-season doldrums when the Flyers came to Washington to end the January schedule.  After winning the first three games of the new calendar year, the Caps were 2-2-2 in their next six games, one of them a 2-1 overtime loss to the Flyers at Capital One Arena ten days before this game on the same ice sheet.

The Flyers put the Caps in an early hole, Nolan Patrick scoring the game’s first goal just 78 seconds into the game and extending the lead with a goal by Travis Konecny at the 7:50 mark.  The Caps erased the deficit early in the second period, courtesy of Chandler Stephenson.  In the third minute, John Carlson tried to hit Stephenson with a long pass from his own end to the Flyer blue line, but the puck was too wide of Stephenson and rimmed around the board to the opposite corner.  Lars Eller got to the puck first to wipe out an icing call and from the Olympia Corner sent a puck to the front of the net.  Goalie Michal Neuvirth stopped it, but he lost sight of it at his skates.  Stephenson darted in and poked it though his pads to halve the deficit at the 2:14 mark.  Less than a minute later, Madison Bowey found Stephenson on a long lead pass for a breakaway, and Stephenson did the rest, taking the puck just outside the Flyer blue line, skating in on Neuvirth, and slipping the puck on a backhand between his pads to tie the game at the 3:01 mark.  The Caps went on to score three more goals before the Flyers added one at the end in a 5-3 Caps win.  It was Stephenson’s first (and, to date, only) multi-goal game with the Caps. 

Game to Forget… February 22^nd at Florida

When you see “7-11,” you normally associate it with a convenience store and Slurpees.  On February 22^nd, “7:11” was Chandler Stephenson’s ice time.  He skated only 11 shifts (only two of them in the second period), managing one shot attempt (a shot on goal) and one faceoff (lost).  Of that 7:11 in ice time, 1:56 of it was skated on the penalty kill.  Stephenson was doing just that when he was a step late covering Vincent Trocheck in the high slot when the latter redirected a Jonathan Huberdeau drive past goalie Braden Holtby with 18.7 seconds left for the game-winning goal in a 3-2 Caps loss.

Postseason… In Chandler Stephenson’s first taste of postseason action in the NHL, he appeared in all 24 games for the Caps and contributed a pair of goals and five assists.  His seven points tied for the third most (with Evgeny Kuznetsov) by a Caps rookie in the postseason, topped only by Jakub Vrana in this same postseason (eight) and Richard Zednik (ten points in 1998).  When he scored a shorthanded goal in the Caps’ 6-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets in the series-clinching Game 6 win, he because the first Caps rookie to score a shorthanded goal in the postseason.  If there was an oddity in his postseason it was that his first and last games of the playoffs were the only ones in which he skated less than ten minutes (9:44 in Game 1, 9:52 in Game 24).  Another odd occurrence was his only once recoding points in the 13 games in which he skated more than 15 minutes, recording a pair of assists in the Caps’ 4-3 overtime win against Columbus in Game 5 of their opening round series, a game in which Stephenson skated 20:38, his high in the playoffs.

In the end…

Chandler Stephenson made the most of his opportunities as a rookie on a largely veteran team.  And when it came to the postseason, he added a spark and speed that the Caps have lacked among their bottom six forwards in years past.  He established himself as a likely bottom-six fixture for years to come, especially with the departure of Jay Beagle to the Vancouver Canucks in free agency.  It was all something that might not have been on anyone’s radar when the team convened for training camp last September, but like John Keats said, “Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced.”

Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: 2017-2018 By the Tens -- Forwards: Devante Smith-Pelly

Devante Smith-Pelly

“Luck is not chance, it's toil; fortune's expensive smile is earned.”

-- Emily Dickinson

When the sun set on July 3, 2017, the third day of the 2017 free agent signing period, Ales Hemsky signed a one-year/$1 million contract with the Montreal Canadiens.  In Dallas, the Stars inked Alex Radulov to a five-year/$31.25 million deal.  Tucked away in the contract trackers was a one-year/$650,000 contract for Devante Smith-Pelly to play for the Washington Capitals.  Hemsky ended up starting the season on Montreal’s fourth line, played six games without recording a point, suffered a concussion in his seventh game, against the Anaheim Ducks, and did not dress again this season.  Radulov played in all 82 games for the Stars, recorded 27 goals and 72 points (both career highs), but his Stars failed to reach the postseason.

Smith-Pelly had an unremarkable regular season for the Capitals, posting seven goals and 16 points in 75 games.  The 75 games were a career high for “DSP,” but the offensive numbers were somewhat less than his career average per 82 games over his first six seasons with three clubs (Anaheim, Montreal, and New Jersey) – 10-14-24.  He averaged 12:21 in ice time, the median ice time in his seven NHL seasons.  Yes, “unremarkable” might be the adjective to describe his regular season, very much a “fourth line” sort of profile.

And nothing in his stretch run suggested he would be a particularly noteworthy player in the post season.  In his first six ten-game segments, he recorded at least one goal in four of them, and his point totals ranged from two to four points per segment.  What might have been an ominous signal for the postseason, he did not record a point after February 11^th, going his last 24 games without one.  And, he had just one “plus” game in that span, going minus-9 overall in that span.

Still, his seven goals was exceeded only once in his career (he had 14 split between Montreal and New Jersey in 2015-2016), and his 16 points was the second highest he posted with one team in a season (he had 17 54 games with Anaheim in 2014-2015 before he was traded to Montreal).  In a way, he might have been precisely what the Caps might have bargained for when signing him to modest terms in July 2017.

Fearless’ Take… DSP displayed the importance of getting multi-level production.  He had points in 16 games for the Caps, who posted a 13-1-2 record in those games.  And in those 16 games he was a plus-16.  And more ice time corresponded to more success.  In 36 games in which he skated at more than his average (12:21), the Caps were 25-9-2; they were 19-16-4 in the 39 games in which he skated under his ice time average.

Cheerless’ Take… Sometimes, fourth liners provide an edgy kind of play that teams feed off of.  That was not the case, at least so far as DSP and those “grittership” numbers were concerned.  In 21 games in which he was credited with three or more hits, the Caps were 9-9-3.  They were 8-9-1 in games in which he had at least two blocked shots.  And the Caps were barely a .500 winning percentage team when he did not find his way to the score sheet (31-24-4).

Odd Smith-Pelly Fact… Devante Smith-Pelly and Tom Wilson were the only Capitals to average at least two hits per game and at least one shot on goal per game.

Game to Remember… November 24^th vs. Tampa Bay

When the Tampa Bay Lightning visited Capital One Arena on the day after Thanksgiving, the Caps had not won consecutive games in regulation in three weeks and had not won consecutive games in regulation time on home ice all season to that point.  They were looking to end those skids against Tampa Bay after having dispatched the Ottawa Senators, 5-2, on Thanksgiving Eve at Capital One Arena.  It was a tall order, since the Lightning came to Washington winners of six of their previous seven games.

The teams exchanged first period goals, Vladislav Namestnikov opening the scoring for the Lightning on a power play and Alex Ovechkin tying the game late in the period.  Then, with the clock ticking down to the five-minute mark in the second period, Dmitry Orlov spied Smith-Pelly heading up the middle through the neutral zone and fed him the puck in stride.  As Smith-Pelly got to the Tampa blue line, he fed the puck to Jay Beagle, who fired a shot on goal.  Smith-Pelly tried to redirect the shot from in front of goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, but the puck got through to the goaltender.  Vasilevskiy made the save with his left pad, but the puck came right to Smith-Pelly, who buried the rebound before Vasilevskiy could reset, and the Caps had a lead they would not relinquish.  Beagle added an empty net goal late, and the Caps had their second straight win in regulation on home ice for the first time this season.  Smith-Pelly got credit for the game-winning goal, his first and only one in the regular season.

Game to Forget…  November 30^th vs. Los Angeles

The next time the Caps took home ice after that win against Tampa, things did not end as well for Smith-Pelly or the Caps.  Things started well enough for Washington when Evgeny Kuznetsov opened the scoring in the fifth minute of the contest.  Things quickly went sour, though.  The Kings tied the game mid-way through the first period, and after the Caps regained the lead early in the second period on another Kuznetsov goal, Los Angeles scored twice in nine seconds mid-way through the period to take the lead for good.  Smith-Pelly was on ice for both goals, as well as the first one the Kings scored.  It was more action, perhaps, than he might have wished for, given that he skated just 9:35 for the game that the Caps would go on to lose, 5-2.  His minus-3 was his worst of the season, and at the offensive end of the ice he was frustrated with all three of his shot attempts blocked.

Postseason… Some players have a sense of the moment and step up their game when it matters more.  Devante Smith-Pelly made two playoff appearances before this season and went 6-2-8 in 24 games, a 20-goal scoring pace per 82 games.  Not exactly what one might expect for a bottom six forward, even if five of those goals came in 12 games with the Anaheim Ducks in the 2014 postseason.  When he scored on his only shot in the Caps’ first postseason game this spring, it was in retrospect a good omen, even if the Caps lost that game to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

It would be the last time the Caps would lose a game in which DSP scored a goal in the postseason.  Six times he scored in a game, six times the Caps won.  Two of those goals were game-winning goals, one of them coming in the series clinching Game 6 win over the Blue Jackets, the other coming in Game 4 of the final against the Vegas Golden Knights that put the Caps on the brink of clinching their first Stanley Cup championship.  In addition to the two game-winning goals he scored, DSP scored another goal that gave the Caps a lead and two that tied contests, including his third-period goal in Game 5 against the Golden Knights in the final that set up the Lars Eller goal later that would clinch the Cup for the Caps.

In the end…

Some players just rise to the occasion.  Nothing in his regular season numbers this season indicated that Devante Smith-Pelly would be a factor in the postseason, let alone a critical ingredient to the success the Caps enjoyed.  But there he was, inserting himself into many meaningful moments with an impeccable sense of timing that should not have been altogether surprising given his postseason history coming into this season.  It demonstrates that good fortune can be had for those who toil in relative obscurity, but whose hard work in those situations can prepare them for their moment in the spotlight.  Devante Smith-Pelly earned his good fortune.

Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America