Record: 2-0-0
The Capitals’ knocked off the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-1, and
then followed that up with a 3-2 win in Ottawa against the Senators to close
the abbreviated schedule for the week.
The two-win week left them at the top of the Metropolitan Division, a
spot they have occupied uninterrupted since November 30th. The two wins extended their most recent
winning streak to four games, their third winning streak of four or more games
in their last 19 contests over which they posted a 16-3-0 record.
The Caps’ recent run has pulled them into the upper reaches
of the Eastern Conference. They closed
the week only three points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for second place in
the conference with two games in hand.
They still have work to do to challenge the Tampa Bay Lightning for the
top spot in the East. The Bolts finished
the week 11 points ahead of the Caps, having played two more games than
Washington. At the moment, Tampa Bay is
the only team that could lay claim to being hotter than the Caps. The Lightning are 16-1-1 in their last 18
games.
The two wins ended an odd stretch of the schedule. The Caps wrapped up a nine-game stretch over
which they played only Eastern Conference teams, posting a record of 8-1-0, the
only loss a 2-1 decision at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Offense: 3.00/game (season: 3.57/game, rank: 3rd)
It was not the most prolific of weeks, but it was
balanced. The six goals scored by the
Caps came off the sticks of six different players. It was also something of a youth
movement. Tom Wilson, 24 years of age,
opened the scoring in the Caps’ 3-2 win over Ottawa with his 11th
goal of the season in only 18 games. In
the same game, Tyler Lewington, also 24, recorded his first NHL goal in only
his second NHL game. And also in that
game against Ottawa, Madison Bowey, 23 years old, scored his first NHL goal in
his 78th game, what would turn out to be the game-winning goal in
that contest.
Four different Capitals had multi-point weeks. Lewington had one, adding an assist to his
goal against Ottawa (he would also add a fighting penalty to his ledger for
that game, earning the “Gordie Howe Hat Trick”). Wilson and John Carlson recorded a goal and
an assist, the goal by Carlson (an empty-netter) in the 3-1 win over Carolina
being his first since October 22nd, breaking a 26-game streak
without one. Nicklas Backstrom had a
two-assist week to round out the multi-point players for the Caps.
Defense: 1.50/game (season: 2.84/game, rank: 11th)
The Caps had a rather typical week in allowing shots on goal
and shot attempts, which is to say, not a great one…on paper. They were a minus-19 in shot attempts for and
against at 5-on-5, tied for 24th in the league for the week. And, of the six teams with worse numbers,
four played three games. On the other
hand, the team having played two games with the worst differential in the
league – Pittsburgh (minus-23) – outscored their opponents by an 11-3 margin in
their two wins for the week. It happens.
It is worth noting that the numbers might have been
influenced by game status. Washington’s
shot attempts for percentage at fives when behind was 0.0 percent, owing to the
fact that at no point in Week 13 were the Caps trailing. On the other hand, the Caps were 30th
in the league in differential at 5-on-5 when ahead (minus-28) and worst in the
league among teams playing only two games (Dallas was minus-30 in three
games). The Caps did spend 89:15 with a
lead for the week out of 120 minutes, so that was going to be a high minus number,
given how shot attempts generally play out when leading in games.
Goaltending: 1.50 / .952 (season: 2.68 / .915 / 3 SO)
On the heels of Week 12’s superb performance in goal
(1.01/.971/1 shutout), Braden Holtby and Pheonix Copley had another fine
week. Holtby stopped 28 of 29 shots in
the 3-1 win over Carolina, and Copley turned away 31 of 33 shots in the 3-2 win
over Ottawa to end the week.
Copley continued an amazing run as Holtby’s backup. Consider that after 37 games this season, he appeared
in 13 games (12 starts) with a record of 9-2-1, 2.61, .914, with one shutout (a
.923 save percentage in 11 games since he allowed six goals in his first game
this season). After 37 games last
season, Philipp Grubauer appeared in 12 games (nine starts), 2.98, .898, with
no shutouts. Grubauer had a fantastic
finish in the 2018 portion of the season (13-5-0, 2.14, .931), but Copley has
had a fine start in replacing Grubauer in that role.
And that brings us to an interesting fact about Caps backup
goalies. In Calendar 2018 to date, the
Grubauer-Copley backup tandem appeared in 35 games, started 30 of them, and had
a record of 22-7-1, 2.32, .925, with one shutout. There might not be another position on the
ice in 2018 from which the Caps got more production relative to expected role.
Power Play: 1-for-4/25.0
percent (season: 23.5 percent, rank: 8th)
Washington’s entire performance on the power play in Week 13
came in their 3-1 win over Carolina to open the week. That they had one goal in four chances after
going 0-for-three times as many chances (12) in Week 12 was a plus. That they did it against one of the better
penalty killing teams in the league (Carolina finished the week 11th
in penalty killing, fourth-best in road games) made it better.
In their second game of the week, in Ottawa against the
Senators, the Caps failed to muster as much as a single power play chance. It was the first time this season in 18 road
games that the Caps were denied a chance with a man advantage. It was the first time they were shut out on
the road in power play chances since they went without a power play in a 2-0
win at San Jose against the Sharks last March 10th.
As it was, Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom combined for
five of the seven power play shots on goal against Carolina (three and two,
respectively), but it was T.J. Oshie getting the lone goal on his only “shot,”
a redirection of a John Carlson drive that would end up being the game-winning
goal in the 3-1 win.
Penalty Killing: 5-for-5 / 100.0 percent (season: 77.3 percent,
rank: 24th)
Based on Week 12 and 13 results, we are once more left with
the question, is the Caps penalty kill coming out of its season-long funk? We were right here after Weeks 9 and 10, over
which the Caps killed 20 of 21 shorthanded situations (95.2 percent) and killed
all nine shorthanded situations they faced in Week 10. Now, the Caps wrap up Week 13 having killed
14 of 15 power plays over the last two weeks (93.3 percent), including all five
shorthanded situations they faced this past week.
The bad news about that is that the Caps followed up their
fine Week 9-10 penalty killing with two poor weeks (16-for-25/64.0 percent). The good news is the underlying performance
of Week 13. The Caps did allow Carolina
four power play chances, but they permitted only three shots on goal in 8:00 of
shorthanded ice time. In their lone
shorthanded situation faced against Ottawa, the Caps did not allow a shot on
goal over the two minutes. The five
shorthanded situations faced for the week are the second-fewest faced in a week
this season (four situations faced in two games in Week 5, also an instance in which
all of them were killed off).
Faceoffs: 57-for-116 / 49.1 percent (season: 47.8 percent,
rank: 27th)
At this point, it is safe to say that this version of the
Capitals is not especially adept in the faceoff circle. They do muster good efforts from time to
time, but as a team and individually, they are inconsistent – from zone to
zone, game to game, and week to week.
The issue in Week 13 was the difference between offensive and defensive
zones. Washington was unproductive in
the offensive zone for the week, under 50 percent in both games and only 35.0
percent for the week (14-for-40). It was
better in the defensive zone, but barely.
The Caps split the two games, 10-for-16 against Carolina but only
8-for-18 against Ottawa to finish one win over 50 percent for the week
(18-for-34).
Individually, the light schedule made for only three Caps
with at least ten faceoffs taken.
Nicklas backstrom was the only one of the three to finish over 50
percent for the week owing to his being over that threshold in all three zones. Lars Eller had a difficult week, his 44.8
percent saved only by his neutral zone performance (6-for-9). He was 7-for-20 in the ends (35.0
percent). Evgeny Kuznetsov had a typical
week (read: under 50 percent), but he did have the distinction of being the
only Capital taking more than one faceoff against the Senators in the second
game of the week to finish over 50 percent (6-for-11/54.5 percent).
Goals by Period:
There was not much meat on the bones in terms of the goals
by period for the week, given there were only two games played. But there were good signs here. The Caps did not allow a first period goal
while scoring two of their own (both against Ottawa), and they scored first in
both games.
The Caps have slowly, but steadily improved their first
period goal differential so that it is now third best in the league (plus-11),
trailing only San Jose (plus-16) and Pittsburgh (plus-15). They finished the week second in the league
in second period goals scored (55) to Tampa Bay (57) and joined Tampa Bay as the
only teams in the league with a second period goal differential of plus -20 or
better, the Caps at plus-20 and the Lightning at plus-28.
The Caps could stand to finish better, though. They were a minus-1 for the week and finished
Week 13 tied for 24th in third period goals scored (33) and a
minus-5 in goal differential.
Year over Year:
If there is one thing that one notices looking at the
year-over-year numbers, it is how much more efficient this year’s team is over
last year’s. For instance, the Caps are
down by 1.8 percent in 5-on-5 shot attempts, yet their total shots on goal are
up by 4.3 percent. And, with more shots
on goal, the Caps are scoring on a higher percentage of them – 12.0 percent so
far this season (second in the league to, yes, Tampa Bay at 12.4 percent). It makes for a 17.9 percent increase in goals
scored and going from a plus-5 goal differential through 37 games last season
to a plus-27 through 37 games this season.
In other respects it is noteworthy how much this season
looks like last. Differences in goals
against, power play chances, shot attempts-for percentage, hits, and giveaways
are virtually unchanged from this point last season.
In the end…
The Caps are about to end their best calendar year in team
history with a strong finish. Their
16-3-0 record going into the year’s finale against the Nashville Predators on
Monday is the league’s second-best record since November 16th (Tampa
Bay is 17-2-1). No team has allowed
fewer goals (45), and only five have scored more than the Caps (73). The good news there is that the success was
largely a product of superior 5-on-5 play, but the flip side of that is that
the special teams have been comparatively weak, the power play at 17.8 percent
(18th) and the penalty kill at 82.5 percent (11th).
Through 13 weeks, the Caps have earned a spot in the
conversation as to which teams are the most serious Cup contenders this
season. Their consistency (only one
losing week in 13 to date) makes them a formidable opponent over long spans of
games, of the sort one sees in the spring.
That they are doing it with an incomplete lineup (defensemen Brooks
Orpik, Christian Djoos, and Matt Niskanen are out of the lineup as of the end
of Week 13) is testament to their steely nature, hard won from last year’s
playoff run, and their ability to grind out wins in a variety of ways.
Three Stars:
- First Star: Tyler Lewington (1-1-2, plus-2, first NHL assist, first NHL goal, first NHL fight, first NHL “Gordie Howe Hat Trick”)
- Second Star: Braden Holtby (1-0-0, 28 saves on 29 shots)
- Third Star: Tom Wilson (1-1-2, plus-1, seven hits, 3-for-3 on faceoffs, no penalty minutes (three straight games without one))
