Record: 1-1-1
If you are looking for a silver lining in this week, it
might be that the results were better than expected. Last season, the Caps went 0-2-2 in four
games against the Dallas Stars and Nashville Predators, two overtime losses
against the Stars and two games against the Predators that made one think of
the saber-toothed tiger of the Predator logo feasting on docile prey,
outscoring the Caps 13-5 in their two games.
The 4-1 win in Dallas over the Stars to close the week was especially
encouraging. Washington had not won a
game in regulation in Dallas since October 17, 1995. How long ago was that? There are 165 players to have dressed so far
this season in the NHL who were not yet born on that date.
Offense: 4.00/game (season: 3.17/17th)
It would be hard to find much fault with the offense in Week
2. The scoring was balanced – seven
different Caps among 19 skaters to dress had goals in the three games, 14 had
points, 16 recorded at least one shot on goal.
Even more impressive, the Caps did it against teams that finished second
(Dallas Stars) and fourth (Nashville Predators) in scoring defense last
season. Want even more impressive? When the Caps scored four goals in Dallas
against the Stars, it was the first time in 15 home games, dating back to last
February 19th, that the Stars allowed more than three goals on home
ice. And, the team was efficient,
scoring 12 goals on 83 shots overall (14.5 percent).
On an individual level, Alex Ovechkin led the team with
three goals in the three games, bringing his total to four for the season (tied
for sixth in the league) and his career total to 662, six short of Luc
Robitaille for 12th place all time.
John Carlson led the team for the week in assists (five) and points
(seven), and was a team-best plus-3. His
ten points for the season were tied for third in the league at week’s end and
led all defensemen. He also had the
Caps’ only game-winning goal for the week, becoming the tenth defenseman in the
league to record at least one this season.
Three other Caps tied for second behind Carlson in overall
scoring with four points apiece – Nicklas Backstrom, Tom Wilson, and
Ovechkin. In his first week back after
opening the season on a three-game suspension, Evgeny Kuznetsov went 2-1-3.
Defense: 3.67/game (season: 2.83/12th)
The defense was decent-bad-good over the three games, from
beginning to end of the week. They held
Dallas to 26 shots on goal to open the week in Washington and to 25 shots on
goal in Dallas to close the week. In
between was another matter. Nashville
jumped on the Caps for 13 first period shots to set a tone, and the 16 shots on
goal they posted in the third period was indicative of the dominance that
earned them a 4-1 win of the period on their way to a come-from-behind 6-5
win. They had 38 shots on goal for the
game.
There was an ominous turn as the week wore on, too. The Caps held Dallas to 22 shot attempts at
5-on-5 and were plus-18 in shot attempt differential at fives, the fourth
straight game to open the season on the plus side of that ledger. But the Caps gave up 43 shot attempts at
5-on-5 to Nashville and were minus-15 for the game. That carried over into the last game of the
week, in Dallas, where the Caps allowed 33 shot attempts at 5-on-5, the second
highest allowed in six games, and they were minus-7 in differential.
Goaltending: 3.71 / .876 (season: 2.80 / .897)
A glass half full/glass half empty week in net for the
Caps. The half empty part is the part
that had better fill up soon. Braden Holtby
got the nod in the first two games of the week, and even if you subscribe to
the notion (with which we concur) that no goaltender’s numbers, good or bad,
are entirely a product of his play, Holtby had a disappointing week. In the two games he stopped only 54 of 64
shots overall (a .844 save percentage) and was 36 for 45 in saves on even
strength shots (.833), fourth-worst among 56 goalies to dress in Week 2 across
the league. October has never really
been Holtby’s month to shine. He has a
fine 26-17-5 win-loss record over his career of Octobers, but his 2.71 goals
against, .908 save percentage, and seven shorthanded goals allowed (most of any
month) have not been impressive. But
those numbers look better than his numbers so far this season. But, it’s early.
It’s early in Ilya Samsonov’s career, too. And a fine start it has had. Samsonov got the call for the game in Dallas
to end the week, and he was impressive in his second career start in a place
that has been unkind to the Caps. He
allowed a single goal, becoming the first Capital ever to allow less than two
goals in a complete game in Dallas since the Stars moved there in 1993. He became the first rookie Capital goalie to
win his first two starts since Michal Neuvirth did it in 2009 (Holtby won his
first two appearances, but the first was in a relief role).
Power Play: 3-for-14/21.4 percent (season: 20.0 percent/T-18th)
Better than Week 1, but not where it might be with this
skill level. Still, the power play did
show signs of health as the week wore on.
The Caps were 0-for-5 against Dallas to start the week, a streak of
futility that reached six when they failed on their first power play chance
against Nashville. However, the Capitals
scored on two of their next three man advantage opportunities against the
Predators in the 6-5 loss, the one on which they failed being an abbreviated 17
second chance to end the game. After
going 1-for-5 against the Stars on Saturday, the Caps closed the week 3-for-8
after starting it 0-for-6.
The Caps still have some work to do in applying pressure,
insofar as it means getting pucks to the net.
The Caps managed 17 shots on goal with a man advantage in 17:22 of power
play ice time.
Penalty Killing: 13-for-14/92.9 percent (season: 85.7 percent/9th)
Another glass-half-full/glass-half-empty week. Yes, the Caps were very effective in killing
penalties, their 13-for-14 week allowing them to jump into the top ten in
penalty killing. The 92.9 percent kill
rate was better than any of the 14 weeks last season in which the Caps faced
ten or more shorthanded situations.
On the other hand, there were those 14 shorthanded
situations in three games. It was the
third-most faced by any team in Week 2, and both teams ahead of them – Dallas
(20) and Carolina (18) played four games.
Compare that to the seven shorthanded situations the Caps faced in Week
1, and one gets the feeling the Caps might have lost another standings point
(or two) had their penalty killing been less effective.
What the Caps did very well in Week 3 was suppress power
play shots on goal against. In 25:10 of
shorthanded ice time, the Caps allowed their three opponents a total of 13
shots on goal.
Faceoffs: 108-for-206 / 52.4 percent (season: 52.3 percent/7th)
Week 2 was almost identical to Week 1 in the circle, the
Caps following the 52.3 percent week with a 52.4 percent week. It was a somewhat high-volume week, given
that three games were played, and the opportunities were spread around rather
liberally. Twelve Caps took at least one
draw, and six took more than ten. Nic
Dowd had the best week among the ten-plus group, winning more than 64 percent
of his faceoffs. Nicklas Backstrom was
the only member of that group to finish under 50 percent.
The individual performances led to fine overall efforts in the ends. Washington was over 55 percent in both the offensive and defensive ends, more than offsetting an under 45 percent performance in the neutral zone for the week.
The individual performances led to fine overall efforts in the ends. Washington was over 55 percent in both the offensive and defensive ends, more than offsetting an under 45 percent performance in the neutral zone for the week.
Goals by Period:
It sticks out like a sore thumb – third period goals
allowed. Seven in three games. At least one goal allowed in the third period
in all three games. Those third period
collapses in the first two games of the week cost the Caps three standings
points, the extra point they would have earned against Dallas to start the week
and two points outright in the four-goals-against collapse against Nashville in
the middle game of the week. As a
result, the Caps have not allowed the most third period goals (they are tied
for third most allowed), but when coupled with overtime goals allowed, no team
has allowed more goals after 40 minutes than the Caps (11 in the third period
and overtime, tied with Los Angeles).
Year-over-Year:
The record is not much different, but how the Caps are
getting there this season bears little resemblance to last year through two
weeks. Goals scored and allowed are
down, not really a surprise, even this early, given the alterations in
personnel among the bottom six from more offensively oriented players to more
two-way players. Shots and shot attempts
have changed rather radically, and for the better in both categories. The power play is off, and the penalty kill
is better, leaving the total special teams index both last year and this well
into the positive territory (111.8 last season, 109.7 this season).
Grittership categories look off so far this season, but the
hits, blocked shots, and takeaways drop offs could very well be the result of
better team defense that limits opponents’ possession opportunities.
In the end…
That the Caps got a win in Dallas, a place where they had
only one other regulation win in their history there, was a good way to end the
week. But two blown third period leads,
especially the four-goals allowed collapse in Nashville, were opportunities
squandered. This is a team that is
integrating quite a few new parts, either added late last season or over the
summer, that effect both the forward and defensive groups. And perhaps those getting to know you pains
have opened up holes that Braden Holtby has been unable to close frequently
enough. How the Caps improve on that
will be something to watch in Week 3 when the Caps take on teams of a more
run-and-gun bent.
Three Stars:
- First Star: John Carlson (2-5-7, plus-2, three power play points, one game-winning goal, 25:57 in average ice time)
- Second Star: Ilya Samsonov (1-0-0, 1.00, .960, first goalie in Caps history to allow fewer than two goals in a complete game in Dallas)
- Third Star: Tom Wilson (2-2-4, even, one power play goal, one shorthanded goal)
Captain rates the week…
Two puppers
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