Record: 1-1-0
As noted, it was a light work week for the Caps, just two
games. It was their second two-game week
in their last three and their first .500 week since Week 17. It was a test of sorts. The Caps started the week against a team that
is all but out of the post season race, but one – the New Jersey Devils – that posed
a systems challenge for the Capitals, being the sort of team that relies on
technical execution and goaltending to win games more than skill. The Nashville Predators posed an entirely
different sort of challenge. In the Predators, the Caps faced an elite team
capable of beating opponents with overwhelming force (12 wins by three or more
goals this season) or with top notch goaltending (Pekka Rinne is a top-five
goaltender in most statistical categories).
The results were mixed.
The Caps gave up a shorthanded goal and a goal in the last minute of
regulation to be forced into overtime before escaping with a win against New
Jersey. Against the Predators, the Caps
fell behind early and often (0-3 before the game was 15 minutes old). While they did claw within a goal twice, the
early deficit was too much to overcome for the Caps.
It left the week a bit of a muddle, record-wise. A win against a struggling team, a loss that
seemed less close than the score indicated against a team that served as a
useful measuring stick.
Offense: 3.00/game
(season: 2.85/game; rank: 8th)
Six goals in two games is not a bad output. However, when four of those goals come when
the Caps are behind or tied, there is a certain sense of urgency (you might
say, “panic”) that leaves one less than impressed with the overall result. It is of the sort of which one might ask, “where
was this when the Caps were falling behind (against Nashville) or letting teams
get back into the game (against the Devils)?”
It was an odd week in that Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas
Backstrom were held off the score sheet, extending their mutual streak without
points to three games, the first time that happened since mid-November.
What the Caps got was secondary scoring (go figure). Troy Brouwer had a pair of goals against
Nashville. Eric Fehr, Karl Alzner
(seriously, go figure), Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Mike Green got the others. Matt Niskanen and Marcus Johansson each had
three assists. However, eight players
sharing points, even in two games, is not the kind of expansive sharing of
scoring the Caps want or need this time of year.
Defense: 3.00/game (season: 2.43/game; rank: 7th)
Folks talk about playing 60 minutes, but the flip side of
that is avoiding those short stretches of time in a game that can ruin a lot of
good works otherwise performed. That was
the case in Week 25. The Caps put the Devils
in a bind with two goals in the first 22 minutes of the game. A shorthanded goal on a bad line change and a
late extra-attacker goal wiped out that good early work on offense. Then there was the 15 minutes to open the
game against the Predators in which the Caps allowed three goals.
It is in that context that the possession numbers for the
Caps look so odd. At 5-on-5 overall, the
Caps look pretty good for the two games, or at least not awful – a 51.2
Corsi-for percentage and a 47.5 Fenwick-for percentage. In close score situations, though, those
numbers were 45.1 and 41.1, and that does not include the late antics against
the Devils (based on how close score statistics are computed; numbers from
war-on-ice.com).
Goaltending: 3.02 / .897 (season: 2.36 / .918 / 8 shutouts)
In a week when Justin Peters was the star in net (this being
relative), you can tell it was not the best of weeks in netminding. Not that Peters was bad, or even
mediocre. He stopped 13 of 14 shots in
relief of Braden Holtby against Nashville.
It is part of a rather good stretch of play for Peters. In his last four appearances he stopped 88 of
96 shots, a .917 save percentage, well above the .864 save percentage he had
before these most recent four appearances.
Then there was Holtby.
He had a good game against New Jersey (29 saves on 31 shots), but he was
leaky against Nashville (three goals on 13 shots). It is a further indication of some slippage
in his game. In his last 15 appearances
he is 7-7-0 (one no-decision), 2.48, .918.
He has been pulled as many times over those 15 games (twice) as he has
shutouts (two). Seven times in those 15
games he allowed three or more goals. Here
are some odd Holtby numbers: 4-4-2, 2.56, .907.
That is his record with three or more days rest this season. He had four days off between his game against
Winnipeg to close Week 24 and his appearance against New Jersey to open Week
25. He won that game and stopped 29 of
31 shots in the process, but the lack of rhythm in the schedule (he is 20-6-2,
1.83, .937, with five shutouts when playing on one day’s rest) might have
affected him.
Power Play: 0-for-4 / 0.0 percent (season: 24.4 percent;
rank: 1st)
No power play goals in Week 25. That broke a 24-week streak of recording at
least one power play goal and a 34-week streak since taking the collar in Week
16 last season. Part of it was chances;
the Caps had only four power play opportunities in the two games. It was not the quality of opponent that affected the result. New Jersey went into their game against
Washington ranked 20th in penalty killing; Nashville was ranked 14th. It was not efficiency; the Caps recorded
seven shots on goal in 5:25 of power play ice time. They even had 55 seconds of 5-on-3 power play
time against Nashville. They got the
shots from the players, okay..player, they wanted (Ovechkin had four of the seven
shots on goal). Still, it was no goals
for and even a shorthanded goal allowed (to New Jersey). It was just a bad week for what is arguably
the best aspect of Capitals play.
Penalty Killing: 4-for-4 / 100.0 percent (season: 81.5
percent; rank: 15th)
On the other side of the special teams divide, the penalty
killers had a good week. It was their
third perfect week in their last nine, over which they are a solid 85.1
percent. They were effective (4-for-4)
and efficient (allowing only four shots in 6:20 of shorthanded ice time). The Caps even threw in a shorthanded goal of
their own for good measure. Part of it
might have been quality of opponent – New Jersey had the league’s 12th-ranked
power play going into their game against the Caps; Nashville was ranked 24th
going into their game. Still, you take
advantage of opportunities where you find them, something the Caps did not do
in too many areas in Week 25.
Even Strength Goals for/Goals Against: 5-5 / even (season,
5-on-5 goals for/goals against ratio: 1.04; rank: 15th)
It was not a bad week at evens, but neither was it a good
week. The goals were even, the shots
relatively so (the Caps had 24 even strength shots to 28 for their two
opponents). You might say that it was
merely in a technical sense that the Caps were held even for the week, New
Jersey’s late goal to tie the game in regulation coming with an extra attacker but
recorded as an even strength goal. It
was that 15 minute burst by the Predators to open the game on Saturday that
leaves the bad taste in one’s mouth.
Another example of a just a few minutes or weak play overshadowing a
week’s effort.
Faceoffs: 61-123 / 49.6 percent (season: 51.4% / rank: 12th)
It was just about a down-the-middle week for the Caps in the
circle. They all but split 123 total
draws, and of the four players taking more than ten draws, two finished the
week over 50 percent (Nicklas Backstrom: 52.3 percent; Eric Fehr: 56.0
percent), and two finished below that threshold (Evgeny Kuznetsov: 33.3
percent; Michael Latta: 46.7 percent).
The Caps were fine in the offensive zone (54.0 percent, but
were taken to school in the defensive end (41.7 percent), the difference being
incidences. The Caps enjoyed 14 more
draws in the offensive zone (50) than they did in the defensive end (36).
Goals by Period:
The early damage and the late damage affected the week for
the Caps. The three first period goals
against Nashville being the only first period goals allowed in what would be a
loss, a last-minute goal scored by New Jersey being the only third period goal
allowed that tied the game and forced the Caps to overtime to secure the
win.
The three first period goals by Nashville was the odd occurrence,
given the Caps ability to hold things down in the opening period (sixth fewest
first period goals allowed going into the game) and the Predators’ middling
ability to score early (only 54 goals scored in the first period).
In the end…
The Caps are, at this point, a most befuddling team. Consider the 2015 portion of their
season. They are 22-14-3 in those games,
almost evenly split between teams that are currently playoff eligible and teams
that are not. You would expect that the
Caps would feast on the also-rans and, hopefully, hold their own against the
contenders. What you find, though, it a
bit different:
This is what frustrates Caps fans no end, an ability to play
good teams tough and an unnerving ability to play down to their opponents if
those opponents are of the struggling sort.
It is not the losing to the Nashville’s of the world that will do in the
Caps, should they miss the post season, it is letting teams like the Devils
hang around and make their lives difficult.
In that sense, Week 25 was a microcosm of the Caps’ season. If the Caps get into the post season, they
can play those teams tough, but if they don’t it will be because they played
weak against the weaklings.
Three Stars:
- First Star: Troy Brouwer (2-0-2, plus-2, 11 hits, 5-for-9 on faceoffs)
- Second Star: Evgeny Kuznetsov (1-1-2, plus-2, game-winning goal)
- Third Star: Matt Niskanen (0-3-3, plus-1, assist on game-winning goal)
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