“God is not on the side of the big battalions, but on the side of those who shoot best.”
-- Voltaire
It started in the fall. In 263 regular season games before this season, Marcus Johansson – a scoring line forward for much of his career to date with the Washington Capitals – averaged only 1.29 shots on goal per game. Among 19 Capitals who played in at least 100 games in the four seasons Johansson skated for the Caps before this one, Johansson ranked 13th in shots per game. That was fewer than defensemen Mike Green (2.40) and John Carlson (2.04), and it was fewer than forward grinders Jason Chimera (2.14), Joel Ward (1.36), and Matt Hendricks (1.30). A scoring line forward that shoots so infrequently does not score very much, even if he is a relatively efficient shooting player (12.1 percent in his first four seasons).
With a new head coach though, that was going to change. Barry Trotz wanted Johansson to shoot more as
part of a general philosophy:
“You get the puck, and you’re looking for the next play. And I think when you have a shoot-first mentality, you get the puck and you’re looking to throw it towards the cage. They’re so skilled and so good at it — if it’s not there, last-second, change your mind, make a quick pass — they’re that good.”
Johansson was a good student. In his first 15 games he recorded eight goals
on 37 shots, capped by a two-goal, eight shot effort in a 4-2 win over the
Columbus Blue Jackets on Veterans Day. He broke his career best in shots on goal in a
season (107) in Game 63. He broke his
career best in goals (14) in Game 64.
His assimilation of more of a “shoot-first” mentality
enabled Johansson to finish with career highs in shots on goal (138), shots on
goal per game (1.68, best since his rookie season of 1.48), and goals
(20). Curiously enough, he accomplished
this while posting a shooting percentage (14.5) substantially better than his
career percentage (12.1).
Drilling down through the numbers, his Corsi-for percentage
at 5-on-5 was the best of his career (53.2, besting the 51.4 he posted in
2012-2013). His Scoring chances/on-ice
percentage was the best of his career (plus-47, better than his plus-10 in
2012-2013), and his individual scoring chances at 5-on-5 (122) almost equaled the
total he posted over the previous two seasons (132; numbers from
war-on-ice.com).
Johansson’s history had been one of a willingness to shoot
when in close, but his increased shooting frequency was more a product of
calling his own number from farther out, as this graphic from sportingcharts.com comparing
last season to this illustrates:
His average shooting distance was 24.87 feet this season,
compared to 22.65 feet in 2013-2014.
The increase in shooting frequency came despite his getting
fewer minutes in which to do it. His
16:49 in average ice time was the second lowest of his five-year career. And, the ice time came with different dominant
partners. In 2013-2014, Johansson skated
most frequently with Alex Ovechkin (56.2 percent of his 5-on-5 ice time) and
Nicklas Backstrom (54.2 percent) among forwards. This season, his most frequent partners were Troy
Brouwer (60.0 percent) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (36.9 percent; numbers from stats.hockeyanalysis.com).
Fearless’ Take: Marcus Johansson was one of three 20-goal
scorers for the Caps this season (Alex Ovechkin and Troy Brouwer were the
others). In doing so, Johansson was
rather consistent. He posted goals in
each of his eight ten-game segments, and he closed with a rush, recording six
goals over his last 19 games. Then there
was the matter of scoring goals in general. Does that matter more than
assists? Perhaps for Johansson, this
season, it did. When scoring at least
one goal without an assist, the Caps had a record of 9-2-3. When recording at least one assist without
scoring a goal, Washington was 11-6-3. “Small
sample size” applies here, but shooting more – and scoring more on his own –
did not hurt the club.
Cheerless’ Take: Sometimes the kid in class backslides a
bit. Johansson recorded 76 shots in his
first four ten-game segments, but he had only 62 in his last four. His 1.47 shots per game in those last four
segments was roughly his production in his rookie year (1.48).
Odd Johansson Fact: Marcus Johansson did not record a single
penalty minute in his first four ten-game segments. He had at least one penalty charged to him in
each of his last four segments. Not that
it was a torrent of penalties; he finished the season with only ten penalty
minutes.
Game to Remember: November 11th versus Columbus. Marcus Johansson was off to a hot start in the 2014-2015
season. He was 6-4-10, plus-1 over his
first 13 games, including a four-game points streak that was interrupted in his
14th game, a 4-3 overtime win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Looking to start a new streak, Johansson
wasted little time in doing just that. In
the second minute of the contest, Andre Burakovsky peeled the puck off the
right wing wall in the Columbus zone and fed Troy Brouwer in the middle of the
ice. Brouwer got off a shot just as he
was being the Jacket’s Adam Cracknell.
The puck leaked through to the low slot where Columbus’ Alexander
Wennberg tried to kick it away. Wennberg
did not get a good foot into his kick, and the puck squirted free where
Johansson settled it with his stick and stuffed it behind goalie Curtis McElhinney
to give the Caps a 1-0 lead. Later, with
the Caps holding onto a 3-2 lead late in the third period, Johansson struck
again, taking a feed from Andre Burakovsky while backing behind the Columbus
net. He used his momentum to circle
around the cage and stuff a wrap-around inside the post before McElhinney could
slide across. It came on Johansson’s
seventh shot of the game. He would
finish the game with those two goals – one of two two-goal games he had for the
season – and eight shots on goal, a career high.
Game to Forget: March 21st versus Winnipeg. The Caps went into Winnipeg in late March on a three-game
winning streak, but Johansson was lapsing into old habits. He was 0-1-1 over his previous five games and
recorded only six shots in doing so.
Against the Jets, the winning streak for the Caps came to an end, and the
drought for Johansson continued. He was
on ice for each of the Jet’s first two goals, and he failed to record a shot on
goal for the second time in three games (he had only one shot attempt). It extended his streak without a goal to six
games, a streak that would reach eight before it ended (over which he had nine
shots on goal).
Postseason: 1-3-4, plus-2, 5.6 percent shooting percentage.
The playoffs are different from the regular season. The urgency of the situation limits time and
space, and puts more pressure on shooters.
Its effect on Johansson was significant.
He recorded only one goal on 18 shots in 14 games. It was worse.
He scored on his first shot of his first game of the postseason and came
up empty on his last 17 shots over 13 games.
It is part of a disturbing dichotomy in Johansson’s game. There is that 12.8 percent shooting
percentage in the regular season for his career, but a 7.5 percent shooting
percentage in the postseason, despite his averaging more shots per game (1.52
to 1.38).
In the end…
Marcus Johansson made strides in his development this
season. Taking a more self-interested
attitude toward shooting the puck was the latest installment in that
process. It came despite his skating
fewer minutes at evens and with different partners, a reflection of getting
more second line minutes this season than the first line minutes he got in
2013-2014. There is still the matter of stepping
up his game in the postseason. The
lessons, and the fruits of them, that he learned and applied in the regular
season did not manifest themselves in the playoffs. Five goals in 44 career playoff games from a scoring
line forward has to improve. That might
be the next step in his evolution. It
is, at least, something to shoot for.
Grade: B
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America
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