The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!
The Washington Capitals will take the ice in the second of a
four-game road trip through western Canada when they visit Vancouver on
Saturday night to face the Canucks. The
Caps will be looking to start a winning streak after losing consecutive games
to the New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers, while the Canucks will be trying
to end a three-game losing streak (0-2-1) after starting the season with four
wins.
Vancouver has not been an especially hospitable place for
the Caps. Their 3-2 win over the Canucks
last October was their first since they skated off with a 4-3 overtime win in
February 2001, breaking a six-game losing streak in British Columbia (0-5-1).
Through seven games, the Canucks have not been an especially
dominating offensive team. In fact, they
are anemic in that regard. They scored
more than three goals just once, and that was in an overtime win (4-3 over
Carolina on October 16th) and average just 2.00 goals per game, last in the
league. The difference in their
four-game winning streak to start the season and the three-game losing streak
they bring into this game is in allowing goals.
The Canucks allowed just six goals in their four wins, but they allowed
ten in their three losses.
Vancouver’s offense, such as it is, comes from the usual
suspects – the Sedin brothers, Daniel and Henrik. Now 36 years of age, the twins show little
evidence of slowing down. Daniel, the
left winger of the pair, recorded 28 goals last season, the most he had since
he finished with 30 in 2011-2012. In
fact, since he had 12 goals in the season that followed, the abbreviated
2012-2013 season, his goals have increased with each year (from 12 to 16 to 20
to 28 last year). He is in a bit of a
rut, coming into this contest having posted consecutive games without a point
for the first time this season. Daniel
is 7-6-13, plus-3 in 16 career games against the Caps.
Brother Henrik, the center of the duo, is tied for the team
lead in goals (3, with Bo Horvat) and points (5, with Brandon Sutter). His numbers, unlike those of brother Daniel,
did dip a bit last season. His games
played in 2015-2016 dropped from 82 in 2014-2015 to 74, his goals dropped from
18 to 11, and his total points slid from 73 to 55. His 44 assists in 74 games was the second
lowest on a per game basis (0.59/game) since the 2004-2005 lockout (0.56 in
2013-2014). Going into Friday’s game
against the Edmonton Oilers, his minus-4 is second worst on the team (Phillip
Larsen is minus-5). That is a
particularly odd situation for Henrik to find himself in, since he has not
finished a season in minus territory since he was minus-2 in his rookie season
in 2000-2001. But, it’s early. He is 3-11-14, plus-3 in 17 career games
against Washington.
To the extent the Canucks have had their troubles, it has
not been a product of goaltending. The
only difference between the performances of Ryan Miller and Jacob Markstrom
thus far has been the scoring support in front of them. Their goals against averages are almost
identical (Markstrom: 1.95; Miller: 1.97), as are their save percentages
(Markstrom: .923; Miller: .933), the difference between them being one goal
Markstrom allowed that, had he stopped it, would leave him with the same save
percentage as Miller. Perhaps that goal
was the game-tying goal he allowed to the Los Angeles Kings in his last time
out that led to the only blemish on his record, a Gimmick loss that left him
3-0-1. On the other hand, Miller is just
1-2-0, but he’s had just three goals of offensive support in three games. His lone win came in the trick shot
competition, a 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames in the season opener. Markstrom is 0-3-0, 3.97, .875 in three
career appearances against the Caps, while Miller is 17-14-0, 2.54, .916, with
three shutouts in 32 appearances against Washington.
1. Goals in general
are hard to come by in games involving the Canucks. So far, only the New Jersey Devils (4.17
total goals) feature fewer total goals by both teams per game than the 4.29 in
Canuck games.
2. Vancouver is last
in the league in shots on goal (24.9), leaving little in the way of surprise as
to why they are last in scoring offense.
3. The Canucks are
28th in the league in home power play efficiency (6.3 percent on
1-for-16). One of the teams below them
(Carolina) has not yet played a home game.
4. Vancouver replaced
the Caps as the least penalized team in the league. They have taken only 20 penalties thus far
(tied with Columbus for fewest), only 19 minor penalties (tied with Columbus
and the Caps), and their 6:08 in penalty minutes per game is lowest in the
league.
5. All of Vancouver’s
wins so far are of the one-goal variety (tied for most one-goal wins in the
league). They have not yet won a multi-goal
decision (0-2-1).
1. The Caps are
coming into this game looking to avoid losing three straight games in
regulation time since Games 61-63 of the 2014-2015 season (to Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh, and Carolina).
2. Alex Ovechkin is
on a four-game goal streak. The last one of those he had was in Games 49-52
last season (against Philadelphia, Nashville, Minnesota (a hat trick), and
Dallas). The last time he had a longer
streak was in the five games to start last season. Coincidentally, the fifth game in that
five-game streak to open last season came against the Canucks in Vancouver.
3. Washington is
second in the league in shots on goal (33.5).
They are also last in the league in shooting percentage (7.0).
4. The Caps have
scored first in five of six games so far, but they have just three wins in
those games (tied for 13th in winning percentage…don’t make a lot of that at
this point of the season).
5. If he gets the
call on Saturday, it will be Braden Holtby’s 250th game in the NHL. He would join Don Beaupre (269) and Olaf
Kolzig (711) as the only goalies to reach the 250 game mark in club history.
The Peerless’ Players to Ponder
Vancouver: Brandon Sutter
Last season was something of a lost year for center Brandon
Sutter. After being traded by the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Vancouver Canucks
along with a third-round draft pick for Nick Bonino, Adam Clendening, and a
second-round draft pick, he played in just 20 games for the Canucks last season,
losing 33 games to a hernia and the last 29 to a broken jaw from a puck to the
face barely a week after he returned from his hernia injury. He finished the season 5-4-9 in 20 games,
about the same scoring pace he had in his last season in Pittsburgh in which he
tied his career high in goals (21) and recorded more than 30 points (33) for
the first time in three seasons. He has
started quickly, points-wise (five points, tied for the team lead), even if his
goals are few (one so far). He comes
into this game with his first consecutive games of the year without a point and
his first two “minus” games. Sutter is
3-6-9, plus-5, in 32 career games against the Caps.
Washington: Daniel Winnik
Fourth liners scoring goals is unusual. Fourth liners having a multi-goal game is
shocking. Such was the case for Daniel
Winnik when he recorded both of the Caps’ goals, including the game-winner, in
a 2-1 win over the New York Islanders on October 15th. However shocking that might be, it is usually
the fans who are shocked. In this
instance, Winnik appears to have sustained something of an after-shock. In four games since his outburst, he does not
have a goal, he does not have a point, and his has just one shot on goal. On the other hand, the lack of scoring hasn’t
been accompanied by being a liability in the defensive end. Winnik is “even” in each of his last four
games, and he remains a positive Corsi player at 5-on-5 (51.35 percent; numbers
from Corsica.hockey). Players can
contribute in many ways. He is 6-7-13,
plus-10, in 30 career games against the Canucks.
In the end…
Six games is 7.3 percent of an NHL season. In that respect, losing a couple of games in
a row is no reason for panic. And, as if
it means much just 7.3 percent of the way through the season, the Caps are
still a wild-card team. But this is an
interesting stretch of games coming up for the Caps, staring in Vancouver. The Canucks have lost three in a row (pending
their game against Edmonton on Friday night), Calgary is 3-4-1, Winnipeg (with
whom the Caps have a home-and-home coming up) are 3-4-0, and Florida is
3-3-1. These are all winnable games, but
the Caps need to improve on both sides of special teams and generally give
their goalies more support than they have thus far received. It’s only “early” for so long.
Capitals 4 – Canucks 2