Record: 2-1-0
Week 14 was the ninth consecutive winning week for the Caps
and their 13th winning week overall for the season. They finished the week with a league-leading 33
wins, three more than the Chicago Blackhawks (the Caps holding three games in
hand), and 31 wins in regulation and overtime, two more than the
Blackhawks. With the two wins for the
week coming on home ice, the Caps finished Week 14 with the league’s best
record on a standings points-per-game basis (1.67), ahead of the Blackhawks
(1.56) and the Dallas Stars (1.55).
When the Caps beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-1, in the middle
game of the week, it extended Washington’s most recent winning streak to five
games, the fourth time this season that the Caps have had a winning streak of
five games or more. The strange thing
about the week, though, was the loss. Of
the Caps’ five losses since December 1st (three in regulation, two
in extra time), four of them were suffered against teams that today would not
be in the playoffs: Winnipeg (2-1 in overtime on December 5th),
Carolina (4-2 on December 31st), Columbus (5-4 in a Gimmick on
January 2nd), and Buffalo (4-1 on January 16th).
Offense: 4.00/game
(season: 3.23 /game; rank: 2nd)
The Capitals faced two teams to start the week – Ottawa and
Vancouver – who were in the bottom five in the league in shots on goal allowed
per game. Against a team like the Caps
that has considerable depth on offense, that can be a problem. It was for the Senators, who allowed seven
goals to the Caps, and the Canucks, who allowed four goals to Washington.
Against the Sabres to end the week, the Caps just couldn’t
find a way to get started. They were
out-attempted (8-6) and out-chanced (4-2) by Buffalo at 5-on-5 in the first
period when they fell behind, 2-0. It
did not get any better in the second period in terms of attempts, but the Caps
could not convert their scoring chance advantage (5-3, numbers from
war-on-ice.com). By that time it was
4-0, Sabres, and the goose, as they say, was cooked.
The Caps got two-goal weeks from Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny
Kuznetsov, and Tom Wilson. Ovechkin
scored his pair – his 500th and 501st career goals – in the
win over Ottawa to start the week, and Kuznetsov got his pair in the win over
Vancouver on Thursday. Wilson had one
against each of the Senators and Canucks.
Assists were something of an unexpected matter. Andre
Burakovsky might contribute four assists over three games on a more regular
basis when he has a few more years under his belt, but four in Week 14 he had,
getting a pair in each of the games against Ottawa and Vancouver. Jason Chimera also had a four-assist week,
getting his second three-assist game of the season against Ottawa.
Defense: 2.00/game (season: 2.14 /game; rank:1st)
It is nice to see consecutive weeks allowing 2.00 goals per
game, but allowing two-thirds of the week’s goals to the league’s 27th-ranked
offense made for some funky aftertaste to what was otherwise a good week. What made it stranger was the fact that the
Caps allowed the Sabres only 45 shot attempts (only 25 at 5-on-5) for the game
in their 4-1 loss. The 29 shots on goal
allowed was the lowest of the three games, too.
The problem was in allowing Buffalo too many good looks at the net in
the opportunities they had, recording 11 scoring chances to go with their 25 shot attempts
at 5-on-5 (numbers from war-on-ice.com).
It made for an odd week in terms of the underlying
numbers. The Buffalo loss was the
difference between a good week overall, which it was, and a really good week. As it was, the Caps had an overall Corsi-for
percentage at 5-on-5 of 55.9 and a close score Corsi of 58.0. Take away that Buffalo loss, and the numbers
would have been 54.7 and 61.8, respectively.
At an individual level it was a bit odd, too. Justin Williams (best Corsi-for and best
Corsi-relative at 5-on-5 among the forwards, ten games minimum) had an
uncharacteristic three-goals against on ice for the week, two at even
strength. Three other Caps were on-ice
for three goals against for the week: Dmitry Orlov, Nate Schmidt, and Evgeny
Kuznetsov.
Goaltending: 2.00 /.935 (season: 2.02 / .929 / 2 shutouts)
It is not common for Philipp Grubauer to get more minutes
for a week than Braden Holtby, but such was the case in Week 14. Grubauer had 93 minutes for the week, stopping
44 of the 46 shots he faced (1.29/.957).
Holtby finished the week with 87 minutes, stopping 42 of 46 shots (2.75/.913),
and he was relieved after giving up three goals on 16 shots in 27 minutes of
work.
Grubauer has pieced together an impressive body of work over
the last month. He does not get a lot of
calls with Holtby at or near the top of the rankings in most goaltender statistics,
but in his last five appearances he is 3-1-0 (one no-decision), 1.48, .950.
Holtby saw his incredible string of appearances without a
regulation loss come to an end in the 4-1 loss at Buffalo on Saturday. For the week he was 1-1-0. In the 23-appearance stretch over which he
was 20-0-2, he posted a 1.85 goals against average and a .939 save percentage
with two shutouts.
Power Play: 2-for-9 / 22.2 percent (season: 25.4 percent;
rank: 2nd)
The Caps slipped just a bit on the power play in Week 14,
the first time since Week 9 that they did not finish a week at 25 percent or
better. The week started as if the Caps
would continue that string, going 2-for-3 in the 71 win over Ottawa last
Sunday. Drawing blanks against Vancouver
on two chances and again against Buffalo on four opportunities dropped them
under 25 percent for the week. The
consecutive games without a power play goal was the first time that happened
since Games 34-35 back on December 26-28 (the last of three straight without a
power play goal).
It was a case of sometimes the shots just not going in. Washington pummeled opposing goalies for 26
shots in just 15:46 of power play time (1.65 shots per minute). And the shots came from the players they need
to have getting them. Alex Ovechkin had
seven power play shots on goal to lead the club (one goal). Justin Williams had four. Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov split
six shots from their perch on the right wing of the power play. T.J. Oshie had a goal on the two shots he
recorded.
The disappointment, in addition to the finish of the week,
was yielding a shorthanded goal to Buffalo when a goal on that power play would
have tied the game. It was just the
second shorthanded goal allowed by the Caps this season and jut the second
scored by the Sabres, but it might have been the turning point that turned a
potential perfect week into something that was not.
Penalty Killing: 10-for-12 / 83.3 percent (season: 84.8
percent; rank: 4th)
There have been some cracks in the armor of the Caps’
penalty kill lately. After finishing the
2015 portion of the season with five straight games allowing no power play
goals (15-for-15), the Caps are just 19-for-24 (79.2 percent) in the new year. They started the year allowing power play
goals in consecutive games, then ran off three in a row in which they did
not. They finished this week allowing
power play goals in each of the last two games.
It was not an especially efficient penalty kill, especially as
the week wore on. Washington allowed
only seven shots on goal (no scores) in eight minutes of shorthanded ice time
against Ottawa. It was five shots (one
goal) in 4:45 against Vancouver, and a whopping 15 shots (one goal) in 9:07 of
shorthanded ice time against Buffalo.
Faceoffs: 101-for-181 / 55.8 percent (season: 50.1% / rank: 14th)
The Caps had a good week overall and their specifics. In that sense it resembles Week 13. They were over 50 percent in all three games
and in all three zones for the week.
Better still, they dominated in the ends, going 41-for-69 in the
offensive zone (59.4 percent) and 30-for-54 in the defensive zone (55.6
percent).
Evgeny Kuznetsov (26-for-37) and Marcus Johansson
(11-for-17), two players you would not think to be dominant in the faceoff
circle, combined to win 72.2 percent of their draws for the week. Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie were especially
successful in the offensive end, combining to go 17-for-24 (70.8 percent). In the defensive end, it was Nicklas
Backstrom going 10-for-15 (66.7 percent).
A bit of an odd week all around the circle.
Goals by Period:
Again, the Buffalo game bit into what was a week that looked
very good, this time in goals by period.
Going into the game against the Sabres, the Caps held Ottawa and
Vancouver without a first period goal, and they pounded them for a 5-1
advantage in the second period and a 4-1 advantage in the third. Allowing two goals in each of the first and
second periods spelled doom for the Caps in their effort to make it a perfect
week. As it is, they still hold a plus-10
or better goal differential in each of the three periods this season, the only
club who can say that.
In the end…
Florida has a 12-game winning streak this season, yet they
are 12 standings points behind the Capitals.
Chicago has a ten-game winning streak that is still alive, but they are
five points behind the Caps, and Washington holds three games in hand. The Caps do not have a double-digit game
winning streak this season, but it is their ability to put together consistent
stretches of fine play – four streaks of five wins or more – that has enabled
to take and hold the top spot in the league standings. In that sense, a 2-1-0 week is somewhat
typical of the season to date. Put
another way, if they win two of every three games over the remainder of the season,
they would finish with 120 standings points.
It would be a season that ages well with a good finish.
Three Stars:
- First Star: Alex Ovechkin (2-0-2, even, 15 SOG, 32 shot attempts, 500th and 501st career goals)
- Second Star: Evgeny Kuznetsov (2-2-4, plus-2, 26-for-37 on faceoffs (70.3 percent))
- Third Star: Philipp Grubauer (1-0-0, 1.29, .957)
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