Record for the week: 1-1-1
A 1-1-1 week is disappointing, but having the two losses come at home has to add to the disappointment. The Caps did a good job of banking points in the first two weeks of the season, winning their first seven games in part by beating teams they should – and had better beat – if they are to be a team that shows focus and attention to detail. But this past week they looked worse against Dallas than they should have, especially on home ice, even if Dallas is playing well. And the extra time loss to New Jersey was a case of unraveling after getting out to a lead. Even the win over the Devils in the middle game of the week had its moments – only six shots on goal in the first period and falling behind 1-0 at the first intermission. But all things considered, Dallas is playing better than the Caps at the moment, so that loss, while disappointing, was not surprising. The point they let slip away by giving away a 2-0 lead against the Devils – that’s the one that shouldn’t have got away.
Offense: 2.33/game (season: 3.60/game, rank: 2nd)
At first blush, scoring eight goals in three games is not what one expects from this team. There were two things, however, that contributed to the low goals total. First, the teams the Caps played this week were hardly stiffs on defense. Dallas and New Jersey are in the middle of the pack in goals allowed per game, but Dallas had allowed two of fewer goals in ten of 13 games before facing the Caps, New Jersey went into their home-and-home with the Caps having won three in a row and allowing only two goals in each of the latter two wins.
The other thing that might have influenced the offensive production in the week was having only half of the “Young Guns” present. Mike Green played a total of 7:44 out of 185 minutes for the week. We was still on the shelf with his ankle injury for the Dallas game, then returned for the first New Jersey game. He lasted only that 7:44 when he was hit by Ryan Carter, knee-on…well, sorta “knee.” It ended his week. As for Alexander Semin, it only seemed as if he was absent for long stretches. He scored the game-tying goal in the Dallas game. But he spent four minutes in the box (two tripping penalties) and skated only 15:42, more than three minutes below his season average. He might – or might not – have been benched for his lackadaisical play. Whatever, against the Devils in two game this weekend he registered a total of one shot on goal in 25:42 of ice time, only 8:25 of it in the first game, sitting the last 24:19.
In all, six different Caps had goals (only one from a “Young Gun” – Alex Ovechkin), and 12 different skaters had points, Marcus Johansson leading the way with a 1-2-3 week.
Defense: 2.67 goals/game (season:2.73, rank: 18th)
The Caps lowered their goals allowed per game slightly, but giving up five to Dallas on Tuesday was the third time in five games the Caps allowed at least that many and fourth in five in which they allowed at least four goals. More to the point, it was the third time in five games in which the Caps allowed three third-period goals.
It got better for the Caps in the last two games of the week, but the gains were accomplished against a team with a pop-gun offense. If there was a silver lining in the week, it was that the Caps allowed only 152 shot attempts in 185 minutes of hockey. But even this had an uneven edge to it. The Caps allowed 88 shots on goal, 69 of them in the first two games of the week.
The Caps are suffering a pair of problems on defense that complicate their performance. One is the continuing absence of Mike Green. That has resulted in the rearrangement of pairings which, whether one thinks it is warranted or not, seems to have left the Caps blue line on a long, slow learning curve getting used to one another.
The other is a little more subtle. It’s one thing for a newly assembled forward line to develop chemistry on offense with knowing where linemates are going to be for passes or where and how they like to receive the puck. But at the other end, things like defensive spacing, position, how and when to cover space when a teammate slides to do battle with an opponent for the puck contribute to "chemistry," too. Think of last night’s game. It started with a line of Mathieu Perreault, Cody Eakin, and Troy Brouwer. A player with little experience, a rookie call-up, and a player who has spent a lot of time with the top line this season. These guys have next to no time playing alongside one another. To that add a line of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Joel Ward; and one of Jason Chimera, Marcus Johansson, and Alexander Semin (source for shift charts: timeonice.com). To the extent any of these lines might experience the slightest hesitation or indecision for lack of knowledge of their partners, the result could be a puck in the back of the net.
Goaltending: 2.60/.909
The goaltending had an up and down week. Or, perhaps more precisely, a down and up…and sideways week. Michal Neuvirth started the first and last games of the week and stopped 48 of 55 shots. A .873 save percentage is not what the Caps need from Neuvirth, even if his appearances are spotty. The game against Dallas could not be laid entirely at his feet by any means, but he didn’t have the capacity in that game to do much in the way of bailing out his wandering teammates in the defensive zone.
The New Jersey game to end the week could have been a shutout for Neuvirth, if not for a set play off a faceoff for a bang-bang goal and a long deflection, both instances the result of battles the Caps lost – Mathieu Perreault losing a faceoff to Patrik Elias and Dainius Zubrus providing instant support for the draw by stepping in and sliding the puck to Petr Sykora for the score. The second goal came when the Caps lost a two-on-two battle in the corner, the puck ending up on the stick of Bryce Salvador, whose shot from outside was deflected over Neuvirth’s shoulder from 25 feet out by Ryan Carter.
On the other hand, Tomas Vokoun was solid and strong in goal, stopping 32 of 33 shots in his lone appearance of the week, the first game against New Jersey. It was a welcome result for Vokoun and everyone else in Caps Nation after his having allowed three or more goals in three consecutive appearances.
Power Play: 1-for-13/7.7 percent (season: 21.0%, rank: 7th)
The Caps scored on their first power play of the week – a goal by Alexander Semin against Dallas. They finished the week 0-for-12 in the three games after that score. They are now on a 4-for-30 stretch over their last eight games (13.3 percent) that has left the Caps with a crimped offensive game (25 goals in those eight games, the 3.13 goals/game being almost half a goal under their season average).
Part of the problem is an old one – getting the puck to the net. The Caps had only 12 power play shots on goal in 22:05 of man-advantage ice time for the week. None of those power play shots came off the stick of Alex Ovechkin. Five of them came from the sticks of defensemen (three from Dennis Wideman, one each from Mike Green and John Carlson). It just was not enough rubber or effective shooting for the power play this past week. The result was the Caps dropping for percentage points on the power play (from 25.0 to 21.0 percent) and four spots in the power play rankings.
Penalty Killing: 14-for-15/93.3 percent (season: 82.5%, rank: T-16th)
The other side of the special teams week was pretty good. Killing off 93.3 percent of the week’s shorthanded situations is something to be hoped for on a consistent basis, but allowing five or more such opportunities – the Caps allowed five in each of the three games – is not. It was the most such opportunities allowed over three games since a three game stretch to end October. It is perhaps no coincidence that the Caps went 1-2-0 in those games (beating Detroit when they allowed four power plays, then dropping decisions to Edmonton (eight opportunities) and Vancouver (five)).
The success of the penalty killing this week might have been in their goaltenders being the best penalty killers. Combined, Michal Neuvirth and Tomas Vokoun stopped 17 of 18 shots on goal (94.4 percent). But 26:15 of shorthanded ice time is probably on the high side if a team is looking to establish, rhythm, puck possession, and pressure on the opponents’ defense on the other end of the ice.
Paying the Price: 69 hits/34 blocked shots (season rank: T-19th/22nd)
It certainly was an odd week in these categories. The 69 hits in three games was a 20-hit increase over the previous week, almost seven per game. A lot of it can be explained away by the 11-hit performance credited to Alex Ovechkin in Saturday’s game against New Jersey (he had 16 in for the week). His performance for the week (or at least that for which he was credited) allowed him to jump almost 50 places in the league rankings, from a tie for 103rd to a tie for 54th. Another 16-hit week, and he might jump into the top ten. The adventures of official scoring.
If there was anything noteworthy about blocked shots, it was probably the lack of them. In the previous week the Caps had 44 blocked shots on 142 shot attempt against. This week, 34 in 152 shot attempts. The Caps spread it around with 14 players recording at least one – Roman Hamrlik and Karl Alzner leading the team with five apiece. Only 11 of them came from forwards, though, none of them having more than three (Troy Brouwer).
Faceoffs: 98-for181/54.1 percent (season: 49.4 percent, rank: 18th)
A good week in the circle, but an odd one. The Caps were 41-for-67 against Dallas (61.2 percent) and were pasted by the Stars, 5-2. The Caps split 114 draws against New Jersey in two games and took three of four points. A week where a .500 result from Jeff Halpern is the fifth best faceoff performance is a good week. Nicklas Backstrom won 33 of 56 draws (58.9 percent), Brooks Laich won 17 of 32 (53.1 percent), Marcus Johansson won 18 of 35 (51.4), and Matt Hendricks chipped in 10 of 13 (76.9 percent).
But it wasn’t a great week. Why? The Caps were only 27-for-64 in the offensive zone. A puck possession team winning 42.2 percent of its offensive zone draws isn’t going to put that early pressure on teams after a stoppage that a puck possession team wants to apply.
Turnovers: plus-4
The Caps won the week, but lost in two of three games. Another odd occurrence – the Caps were a plus-6 against Dallas and lost, and were a minus-1 in each of the two games against the Devils and won three of four points. Despite winning the week, however, the Caps slipped to 13th in takeaway-to-giveaway ratio.
Impressions:
The Caps could have lost (and did) to Dallas. The Stars were playing very well going into that game (they lost both games since beating Washington). The Caps might have lost to the Devils in New Jersey (and didn’t) and should have beat them at home (and didn’t). It made for a very uneven week, one in which they fell back against their Southeast Division competition, only two points ahead of Florida and three over Tampa Bay.
More troubling is that the Caps are 3-4-1 in their last eight games, and this despite head coach Bruce Boudreau going deep into coaching file cabinet to find ways to impress upon his charges the value of being accountable. It certainly is no time to panic, but the fact is that land mines are starting to appear on the Caps’ schedule. They take on a Nashville team this week that has the ability to frustrate teams in ways similar to New Jersey. They face a Toronto team that has surprised in the early going. And they get their first chance against the new Winnipeg Jets. All of these games are on the road.
Saddle up, boys.
Three Stars of the Week:
1st Star: Tomas Vokoun (1-0-0, 32 saves on 32 shots in the Caps’ lone win of the week)
2nd Star: Jason Chimera (2-0-0, plus-2; game-winning goal against New Jersey)
3rd Star: Karl Alzner (more than 65 minutes of ice time, only one even-strength goal against)
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