Record: 3-0-0
Ten was a “10.” Week
10 was the Caps’ third perfect week of the season in terms of wins and losses,
Weeks 2 (3-0-0) and 7 (4-0-0) being the others. The week ended with the Caps on a four-game
winning streak, the third time this season they cobbled together winning
streaks of four or more games. With wins
over the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning, the Caps extended their home
winning streak to seven games. They have
not lost on home ice since dropping a 3-2 decision to the Dallas Stars on
November 19th (7-0-0). The Caps also
closed the week with the best record in the Eastern Conference, and by a wide
margin. They have a five-point lead on
the second place Montreal Canadiens and hold three games in hand over the Habs.
Offense: 3.67/game
(season: 3.03 /game; rank: 3rd)
Week 10 was a solid week overall in the offensive end of the
rink. It there was a movie title for it,
it might be “First Line Ascendant.” The
top line of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and T.J. Oshie was a combined
2-2-4 in Week 9, but in Week 10 they had a good time, mostly at the expense of
the Tampa Bay Lightning to close the week.
Ovechkin (2-2-4), Backstrom (1-3-4), and Oshie (4-3-7) combined for
seven of the week’s 11 goals and recorded 15 points among them. Ovechkin and Oshie did all their damage in
that game against the Lightning, the first time two Capitals recorded four or
more points in a game since Ovechkin and Backstrom did it (Backstrom getting
five points) against the same Tampa Bay Lightning team in a 6-5 Gimmick win on
December 10, 2013. Coincidentally, in
both of those games against the Lightning the Caps fell behind by 3-0 scores
and pulled their goalie (both times Braden Holtby in favor of Philipp Grubauer) before coming back for the win on home ice.
Backstrom was solid all week, but did most of his damage
(1-2-3) against the Pittsburgh Penguins to start the week. It was the 50th time in his career
that Backstrom recorded three or more points in a game and the fourth time he
accomplished the feat against the Penguins.
It was his assist against the Lightning to close the scoring on the week
that was most significant, though. It
was Backstrom’s 600th point in the NHL. He became the fourth player in franchise history
to reach the 600-point mark, joining Ovechkin (924), Peter Bondra (825), and
Mike Gartner (789). He is one of 37active players with 600 or more points.
Defense: 1.67/game (season: 2.16 /game; rank:1st)
Washington started Week 10 by allowing the Penguins to
record 45 shots on goal, a season high in shots allowed, the first time any
opponent topped 40 shots on goal against the Caps. They closed the week in much better fashion,
though, holding the Senators and the Lighting to a combined total of 46 shots
on goal. The 19 shots on goal allowed by
the Caps was the third time this season that they held an opponent to fewer
than 20 shots on goal. They now have a
3-0-0 record when doing so, the only one of seven teams having allowed fewer
than 20 shots three or more times to have an undefeated record.
At a possession number level, the week was uneven at best,
poor at worst. Overall, opponents out-attempted the Caps by a 144-108 margin at
5-on-5, a 42.9 percent Corsi-for at evens.
On a game-by-game basis, the Caps wrapped two disappointing results
(36.6 percent against Pittsburgh, 41.3 percent against Tampa Bay) around a 52.6
percent Corsi-for effort against the Senators.
This is an area in which the Caps are continuing to struggle and is,
frankly, a cause for concern. The last
time the Caps had consecutive games with more shot attempts than opponents was
November 12-13 against Philadelphia and Calgary. Since then, Washington’s Corsi-for at 5-on-5
is 46.6 percent and has been under 50 percent in 11 of 15 games.
If you are going to take one play on defense away for the
week, make it this one…
Goaltending: 1.67 /.945 (season: 2.03 / .926 / 1 shutout)
In a perverse way, getting pulled from a game and still
managing to post a 2.02 goals against average and a .940 save percentage is a
measure of just how good a season (not to mention a Week 10) Braden Holtby has
had so far this season. Holtby stopped
44 of 45 shots against the Penguins to start the week, then stopped 26 of 27
against the Senators in the second game of the week. Against the Lightning, he allowed three goals
on 12 shots before being relieved by Philipp Grubauer. It could be said that the five goals Holtby
did allow for the week were either superior plays, a nod from the hockey gods, or poor play
in front of him. The goal he allowed to
Evgeni Malkin in the Pittsburgh game was a redirect from between the hash marks
that hit the pipe and caromed in (thank you, hockey gods). Bobby Ryan’s goal for Ottawa was a matter of
being at the right place at the right time, the puck off a shot from Kyle
Turris striking him on the rebound and caroming into the net.
Even against the Lightning the goals had an odd character
about them. Alex Killorn scored a goal
that was part patience, waiting for Holtby to commit, and part turbulence in
front of the net as Holtby got tangled up with Braydon Coburn. The Andrej Sustr goal was one Holtby might
want back as he seemed a bit off his line and Sustr found the net on the far
side, but again off a post and in. The
third goal, by Steven Stamkos might have been a case of too much respect being
given as the Caps defense backed off, and Matt Niskanen was too late getting
his stick in the way of Stamkos’ lethal wrist shot.
That left the rest of the week – the last 30:56 of the Tampa
Bay game – to Philipp Grubauer, who might have made the single play to save the
week’s perfect record. With Tampa Bay
holding a 3-1 lead early in the third period, they were buzzing about the Caps’
net. The puck finally came to Vladislav
Namestnikov, who had what looked like an open net from the top of the
crease. Grubauer got his right pad out and turned Namestnikov’s attempt away.
On the ensuing rush, T.J. Oshie scored to make it 3-2 in what would end
up being a 5-3 win. If Namestnikov
scored on that play, this is an entirely different look at the week in review.
Power Play: 4-for-10 / 40.0 percent (season: 25.0 percent;
rank: 2nd)
After a pair of weeks in which the power play struggled
(2-for-19/10.5 percent), the Caps broke out in Week 10. That was largely thanks to the Tampa Bay
Lightning, against which the Caps were 3-for-4 on the man advantage, the second
time in two games at Verizon Center that the Caps went 3-for-4.
It was an efficient week for the Caps, who shot 4-for-19
(21.1 percent), the 19 shots on goal coming in 12:47 of power play ice time
(1.48 shots per minute). Alex Ovechkin
had two of the four power play goals, both of them against the Lightning. It was his first two-power play goal game of
the year (his first any two-goal game of the year), and his first multi power
play goal game since he had a pair against the Montreal Canadiens in a 5-4 Gimmick
win last April 2nd.
The other two power play goals came from players who had
been having trouble converting with the man advantage. T.J. Oshie recorded a power play goal against
the Penguins, his first power play goal in seven games and only his second man
advantage goal in 25 games. Marcus
Johansson scored a power play goal against the Lightning in the last game of
the week – the game-winning goal as it turned out – his first man advantage
goal in seven games and just his second in 29 games since he scored one on
Opening Night.
Penalty Killing: 7-for-8 / 87.5 percent (season: 83.9
percent; rank: 6th)
The Caps have been alternating good and less good penalty
killing weeks all season. Week 10 was a
good week, killing off seven of eight shorthanded situations. Overall it was a rather efficient week,
too. The Caps held opponents to one goal
on 14 shots (7.1 percent shooting), those 14 shots coming in 15:26 of
shorthanded ice time (0.91 shots per minute).
It should not have been an unexpected result, though. The only team to record a power play goal
against the Caps this season – Ottawa – is ranked 11th in the league
in power play efficiency. The teams that
the Caps shutout – Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay – are ranked 28th and 25th,
respectively, in power play efficiency.
There is something here that reflects the development of a
young player. Tom Wilson was on ice for
3:18 of the total of 15:26 in shorthanded ice time this week. It might have been more but for his having
been excused from the competition against Ottawa for committing a match penalty
against Curtis Lazar. Wilson finished
the week ranked fourth among Caps forwards in average shorthanded ice time per
game (1:09/game).
Even Strength 5-on-5 Goals for/Goals Against: 6-4 / plus-2 (season,
5-on-5 goals for/goals against ratio: 1.34; rank: 2nd)
A 6-4 edge in 5-on-5 goal scoring might not sound like a
lot, but a 1.50 ratio of goals scored to goals allowed is rather impressive,
even if it is just a one-week/three-game sample. It is part of a larger story for the Caps
this season. They rank second in the
league in their ratio of goals scored to goals allowed at 5-on-5 (1.34), and it
is their best such mark since they finished the 2009-2010 seaosn with a 1.54
goals for/goals against ratio. They are
on a pace to obliterate their best season in 5-on-5 goals allowed in the most
recent playoff era of the club. Since
the 2007-2008 season the fewest number of 5-on-5 goals allowed was 130 in
2010-2011. They are on a pace to finish
this season with 116 5-on-5 goals allowed.
Faceoffs: 84-for-175 / 48.0 percent (season: 50.1% / rank: 15th)
The Caps had their issues in the faceoff circle again in
Week 10, finishing at or under 50 percent in each of the three games and under
50 percent for the week. It was not
quite as bad as it seemed, the final result dominated by a 41.1 faceoff winning
percentage in the neutral zone for the week.
The Caps dominated in the offensive zone, winning 55.6 percent of their
draws on a 25-for-45 result. They were
one under .500 in the defensive zone (36-for-74).
On an individual basis, Jay Beagle continued to be a
reliable performer. He was 22-for-41 for
the week (53.7 percent). Among players
taking at least 250 draws this season, Beagle finished the week in fourth place
in the league (58.4 percent).
Michael Latta was the only other Capital to take at least
ten draws in Week 10 and finish over 50 percent (9-for-15/60.0 percent). Nicklas Backstrom (49.2 percent), Evgeny
Kuznetsov (37.8),a nd T.J. Oshie (45.5 percent) were Caps taking at least ten
draws and finishing under 50 eprcent.
Goals by Period:
On a period-by-period basis, the Caps fought opponents to a
near draw over the first two periods of games (five for, four against), then
dominated in the third period by a 6-1 margin.
Four of those goals came against the Lightning in the last game of the
week. It was the first time the Caps
scored four third period goals since putting up four in the third against the
New Jersey Devils in a 5-1 win on February 23, 2013.
The Caps, who are the best scoring defense team in the
league, continue to be stingy on a 60-minute basis. They are the only team in
the league through Week 10 to have allowed fewer than 25 goals in each of the
three regulation periods.
In the end…
What a week it was.
Three wins, Jason Chimera played in his 900th NHL game;
Nicklas Backstrom recorded his 600th point; Alex Ovechkin had his
first multi-goal game of the year; the Caps scored four goals in a third period
for the first time in 226 games; Michael Latta had his second multi-point game
of his career; Tom Wilson caused havoc, got a match penalty, faced suspension,
then got his match penalty rescinded; Braden Holtby got pulled from a game and
still ended the week leading all NHL goalies in wins (20), goals against average
(1.92), and save percentage (.931, minimum: 750 minutes). They beat the Penguins, held on against the
Senators, and came back against the Lightning.
It was a big week with a lot going on.
But in the end it was a 3-0-0 week, and that was the best part of all.
Three Stars:
- First Star: T.J. Oshie (4-3-7, plus-2, 66.7 percent shooting
- Second Star: Nicklas Backstrom (1-3-4, plus-2, 600th career point)
- Third Star: Braden Holtby (2-0-0, 2.02, .940)
No comments:
Post a Comment