The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!
The Washington Capitals take baggage in hand and head off to
Newark, NJ, on Friday night to face the New Jersey Devils as they continue
their road-home-road-home-road alternating schedule to start the season. The Caps have gone to extra time in both of
their road contests to date, splitting the decisions with a win in Ottawa in
the season opener and a loss in Tampa last Monday. In trying to get above .500 in the road
portion of their schedule, the Caps will be seeking to allow something fewer
than four goals, the number tallied by both of their road opponents to date.
The Devils, on the other hand, qualify as a “surprise” team
in the early going with a perfect 3-0-0 record.
Granted, two of those wins came at the expense of the Buffalo Sabres and
the Colorado Avalanche, teams that will probably be on the outside looking in
on the postseason next spring. But their
last win was a convincing 6-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are among
the darlings of the “it” crowd as a contender to get out of the Eastern
Conference in the playoffs.
So far, the Devils are doing it with a collection of
no-names (at least little known at the moment).
Jesper Bratt, whose name sounds like a Star Wars character, leads the
team with three goals and in total scoring with six points. The 19-year old Bratt, a sixth-round pick of
the 2016 draft is, at the moment, the lowest-drafted member of that 2016 class
to appear in, let along score in, an NHL game (162 overall). It is quite a start for a player who, before
suiting up for the Devils, had not played a game in North America. For the last three seasons he played for AIK
IF in HockeyAllsvenskan, the second-highest league in Sweden.
Another part of the youth movement in New Jersey is their
second-leading point producer, defenseman and fellow rookie Will Butcher. A somewhat undersized defenseman (5’10”/190),
Butcher was a fifth-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2013, but could not
come to an agreement on a contract with the Avs and became a free agent last
August. He signed a two-year/$1.85
million deal with the Devils and jumped right into their lineup not having
played a minor league game for either franchise (he spent the last four years
at the University of Denver). Butcher’s
five assists (no goals) leads the team.
Until last season, goalie Cory Schneider never had a full
season with a goals against average above 2.30 (2.26 in 2014-2015) and never
had a save percentage below .920 (.921 in 2013-2014). He never had fewer than three shutouts in any
season in which he appeared in more than 25 games. Last season, he failed to hit all three of
those marks, going 20-27-11, 2.82, .908, with two shutouts. It makes his 3-0-0, 2.00, .948 record to start the season a welcome
sight for Devils fans, and what might make them feel better is that even with his
troubles last season he had a 0.67 goals against average and a .976 save
percentage against the Caps in two appearances (one loss, one no-decision). Over his career he is 3-6-2, 2.14, .923 with one shutout against
Washington.
2. The Devils have
already spread around the scoring.
Through three games, ten different skaters have goals, and 17 of 20
skaters to dress have points. Damon
Severson is the only skater to appear in all three games for the Devils having
failed to record a point.
3. New Jersey is the
only team in the league in the top-five in both scoring offense (5.33
goals-per-game/2nd) and in scoring defense (2.00/T-4th;
through Wednesday’s games).
4. The Devils are one
of three teams to take a lead into the third period in each of the games they
played so far (St. Louis and Chicago are the others). They and the Blues are the only ones to win
all of those games.
5. It is the second
period in which the Devils have done their damage thus far. Their eight middle frame goals and plus-6
goal differential both lead the league.
2. Big starts, iffy
finishes. The Caps are tied for third in
the league in first period goals scored (7) and are tied for allowing the
third-fewest goals in the opening frame (2).
But, they are a minus-1 in goal differential over the last 40 minutes of
games – eight scored and nine allowed.
3. Yup…still dead
last, and getting worse. The Caps are
last in the league in shots on goal per game (24.8). And allowing 36.8 shots per game isn’t
helping, either (tied for seventh-most).
Washington is one of three teams (Vancouver and Detroit being the
others) not to have out-shot an opponent in a game yet. It’s not even an accuracy thing or getting
shots to the net. The Caps are a
minus-37 in shot-attempt differential at 5-on-5, tied for worst in the league
with Chicago and St. Louis (numbers from NHL.com).
4. The Caps have the
first (Evgeny Kuznetsov), tied for first (Alex Ovechkin), and tied for seventh
(Nicklas Backstrom) point getters in the league through Wednesday games.
5. If you’re looking
for even-strength scoring, the Caps have had it. They are third in the league in even-strength
goals scored (12), trailing only Toronto (13) and Chicago (18) through
Wednesday’s games.
The Peerless’ Players to Ponder
New Jersey: Marcus
Johansson
My dearest Abigail…
I find myself in a new assignment with my new regiment. Where I found myself a young charge among battle-tested veterans when I served with the Army of the Potomac, I am now one of those battle-tested veterans in my new billet. They are so young, and only six of the 20 men in our skating regiment are older than I am. I find adjustments to my new surroundings to be pleasant and acceptable, even rejuvenating. We have been blessed to score two goals and assist on two others, my points earned a full fourth of the 16 we have scored so far. I find myself in a situation that reminds me of that which I had with Nicklas Backstrom when I skated in Washington. The roles now, it seems, are reversed. Jesper Bratt is the fresh troop joining our squad, a native of Sweden, as I was back in ’11 when I was in Washington. Just as Nicklas helped me along, so too might I play that role for young Bratt as he makes his contributions to our cause. I look forward to our first skirmish – and mine – against our old Washington teammates. Yours always… Marcus.
I find myself in a new assignment with my new regiment. Where I found myself a young charge among battle-tested veterans when I served with the Army of the Potomac, I am now one of those battle-tested veterans in my new billet. They are so young, and only six of the 20 men in our skating regiment are older than I am. I find adjustments to my new surroundings to be pleasant and acceptable, even rejuvenating. We have been blessed to score two goals and assist on two others, my points earned a full fourth of the 16 we have scored so far. I find myself in a situation that reminds me of that which I had with Nicklas Backstrom when I skated in Washington. The roles now, it seems, are reversed. Jesper Bratt is the fresh troop joining our squad, a native of Sweden, as I was back in ’11 when I was in Washington. Just as Nicklas helped me along, so too might I play that role for young Bratt as he makes his contributions to our cause. I look forward to our first skirmish – and mine – against our old Washington teammates. Yours always… Marcus.
Washington: John Carlson
It is only four games, two of which went to extra time, but
defenseman John Carlson is averaging more than three minutes more per game (25:53)
than he averaged last season (22:43).
That is five more shifts per game (31.75 to 26.61). In his eight previous seasons, Carlson never
averaged more than 24:31 in ice time per game (2013-2014 season) or 28.57
shifts per game (2014-2015). But Carlson
is now the dean of the defense corps, based on games played with the Caps (530),
and with that comes added responsibility, especially given the state of the
defense – younger and without as much depth – as the 2017-2018 season
opens. Carlson has a pair of assists in
the four games to date, but despite being second on the club in shots on goal
(12), he has yet to find the back of the net.
Only Victor Hedman of the Lightning has as many or more shots in three
games (14) without a goal among defensemen.
If there is a team against which he might break through, it could be New
Jersey. Carlson is 3-13-16, plus-11 in
27 career games against the Devils.
In the end…
At least in the early going, the Devils look like one of
those annoying teams of youngsters that skate like a herd of golden retriever puppies
getting all over you and making you sick with their seemingly limitless
reservoir of energy. Eleven of their
skaters to dress so far are 25 or younger.
Only one player to dress for all three games – Andy Greene – is older
than 30. The Devils look as if they are
the latest entry in fulfilling the NHL’s version of the Olympic motto. Instead of “faster, higher, stronger;” it is “younger,
faster, cheaper (they have the fourth-lowest cap hit in the league, according
to capfriendly.com).” It presents the
latest challenge to the Caps and their ability to use experience and guile to
offset a team that might be quicker.
Guess you know how we think they will meet that challenge…
Capitals 4 – Devils 2
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