Washington Capitals: It's Early...It's Early

Was just looking up some old Caps this morning, and we put together a Caps active alumni group that looks something like this...

As a group, this team has nine goals so far.  Well, so do the Caps.  This group has six players in plus-territory.  The Caps have one.  This group has a goalie who is top-five in goals against and save percentage.  The Caps have a number one goalie who is on the second page of the NHL.com statistics in both.

Truth be told, though, would you like the long term prospects of that first line, one that might need a map and a flashlight to find their own end of the ice?  And at this point, ditto for that first defensive pair (which, by the way, as primarily "offensive" defensemen has combined for no points so far).  And the backup goalie is out!

Just another way of saying to Caps fans, "stop whining!"  Oh, and to the Caps..."stop sucking (at even strength)!"

It's early...It's early.

Sittin' at the end of the bar... Shutdown Edition

Nothing better on a another shutdown morning than curling up with a cup o' bee... uh, cup o' joe and the NHL news.  Well, lookee here...

-- No Capital defenseman is “plus” through three games.  Only John Carlson is “even.”

-- John Carlson is “even.”  Why?  Because despite only being on ice for one goal against in more than 61 minutes of even strength ice time, the Caps have scored only one even strength goal.

-- Did you have Marcus Johansson tied for second in the league in assists?  Twice as many as Sidney Crosby!

-- Only 26 out of 386 forwards have fewer shots on goal than Marcus Johansson.  Fewer than Spencer Abbott!  Fewer than Zac Rinaldo!!  As many as… Michael Latta!!!

-- Two players in the NHL are averaging at least one minute per shift…Mike Green (1:02) and Alex Ovechkin (1:00).

-- So far, defensemen have one even strength assist for the Caps, and that belongs to, drum roll, please… Karl Alzner!!!

-- So far, defensemen for the Caps have one even strength goal, and that belongs to, drum ro… ah, #@$% it… Connor Carrick!!!  Who happens to be tied for the league lead in goals among rookie defensemen.

-- Last season, Mike Green finished tied for 85^th among defensemen in blocked shots.  So far this season…tied for fifth.

-- Last season, Mike Green had 14 takeaways in 35 games.  He already has four in three games so far.

-- Eric Fehr is fifth in the league in faceoff winning percentage.  He has taken 32 draws this season (21-11; 65.6 percent).  In his previous nine seasons he took a total of 25 draws (5-20, 20.0 percent).

-- Mikhail Grabovski and Alex Ovechkin are a combined 7-for-31 in shooting (22.6 percent).  The rest of the team is 2-for-66 (3.0 percent).

-- Only three goaltenders having faced at least 30 even strength shots have a save percentage worse than Braden Holtby.  Two of them are Roberto Luongo and Martin Brodeur.

-- Filip Forsberg has played in one game, taken one shot, and scored one goal for the Nashville Predators; Mathieu Perreault has two goals on six shots and is tied for the team lead in points for the Anaheim Ducks.

All of what you’ve just read just means it’s early.