The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!
If it is Monday, it must be hockey in Washington. For the second straight week and the third
time in three Monday games this season, the Washington Capitals host a game at
Capital One Arena, this time welcoming the Anaheim Ducks in a 7:00 start. The Caps had their 13-game points streak
stopped last week when they dropped a 5-2 decision to Montreal, but they
rebounded with a 3-2 Gimmick win over Boston on Saturday. Anaheim comes to Washington fresh off a 4-1
win over the St. Louis Blues that ended a five-game losing streak (0-3-2).
Then and Now…
This is not one of the great rivalries among those the Caps
have with NHL teams. It will be only the
38th regular season meeting of the clubs, and the Caps will be looking
to even their wins and regulation losses, taking a 17-18-1 (one tie) all-time
record against the Ducks into this game.
Washington is 9-9-1 on home ice against the Ducks in the all-time
series. Since 2005-2006, the Caps are
11-7-1 overall and 5-4-1 on home ice against Anaheim. The Ducks won both games of the season series
last year, a 6-5 win in Washington on December 2nd and a 5-2 win in
California on February 17th.
The Ducks have won the last three meetings of the clubs, and the Caps
have not defeated Anaheim in regulation since February 2017.
Active Leaders vs. Opponent…
Noteworthy Opponents…
The name “Jakob Silfverberg” is not likely to command a lot
of attention outside of Southern California, and frankly, it might not command
much in that part of the country. But
Jakob Silfverberg is making his way up the all-time rankings for the Anaheim
Ducks, knocking on the door of the top-ten in a number of categories he does
not already occupy. If he plays 35 more
games this season he will become the 11th player in team history to
appear in 500 games with the franchise.
He is eighth on the club’s all-time list in goals scored (116), 13th
in assists (134), 11th in points (250), 11th in
plus-minus (plus-35), and tied for seventh in game-winning goals (17). He has established himself as, if not an
elite scorer, than a reliable secondary scorer, a more or less 20-goal/45-point
player per 82 games in his seven years with the Ducks.
This season, Silfverberg is on a career pace in goals,
assists, and points. Currently 9-8-17 in
21 games, he is on pace to put up 35 goals (career best to date: 24 last
season), 31 assists (he had 26 twice in his career), and 66 points (he had 49
points in 2016-2017). He is one of seven
players so far this season with two shorthanded goals, and he is one of 19
players in the NHL with at least ten shorthanded goals since 2012-2013. He has shorthanded goals in seven of the last
eight seasons, one of only three players in the league with as many (Michael Grabner
and Brad Marchand are the others). He
comes into this game with points in seven of his last ten contests over which
he is 4-5-9, minus-5. Silfverberg is
5-5-10, even, in 15 career games against the Capitals.
Cam Fowler was the 12th overall pick of the 2010
Entry Draft and the third defenseman taken in that draft. The Ducks are no doubt pleased that Erik Gudbranson
(taken third overall by Florida) and Dylan McIlrath (taken 10th by
the New York Rangers) did not slip to their spot or that Fowler was taken by
either of those teams. No defenseman in
his draft class has appeared in more NHL games than Fowler (641), he is second
to Justin Faulk in goals (62 to 85), and he leads his class of defensemen in
points (281). Those 62 career goals are
most by a defenseman in Ducks history, as are his 641 games played, 2109
assists, and 281 points. He even has
four career shorthanded and game-winning goals to top the career list among
defensemen and is one of three defensemen in Ducks history to record a hat
trick (Hampus Lindhom and Lubomir Visnovsky are the others), turning the trick
in a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets in November 2018.
Fowler has had recent difficulties staying in the lineup,
though. After appearing in 80 games for
second time in three seasons in 2016-2017, he missed 15 games in 2017-2018 to
knee and shoulder injuries, and last year he missed 23 games after taking a
puck that deflected off his own stick into his cheek, causing multiple facial
fractures. He has appeared in all 21
games for the Ducks this season and is having a typical year with four goals (most
among Duck defensemen) and five assists, going plus-5 in the process. But his season has unfolded in two
parts. Fowler was 2-3-5, plus-7, in his
first eight games, but he is just 2-2-4, minus-2, in his last 13 games. In 13 career games against the Caps, Fowler
is 0-8-8, minus-6.
So, who will it be in goal? Will it be Ryan Miller, the
third-leading active goaltender in wins against the Caps (19) and who is 3-0-2,
2.61, .919 in five games this season? Or
will it be the goalie the Ducks hope will be their number one for years to come,
Josh Gibson, who is 7-9-0, 2.83, .915 this season, but is just 1-2-2, 3.22,
.901, with one shutout in six career appearances against the Caps? Miller has lost his last two decisions, both
in overtime at home, to Chicago and Detroit, stopping 66 of 73 shots in the two
games (.904), after stopping 92 of 99 shots (.929) in four appearances (three
wins and a no-decision) to start his season.
Gibson has been streaky, winning his first three decisions of the
season, losing a pair of consecutive games, and then after beating Buffalo to
end that streak, lost four in a row. He
is 3-3-0 in his last six decisions, 3.34, .904. Miller has won his only two
appearances against the Caps with the Ducks, stopping 42 of 46 shots (.913),
one win on home ice (a 5-2 win last February) and one in Washington (a 6-5 win
in December 2018 in which he relieved Gibson).
Gibson is 1-1-1 in Washington in his career with a 4.94 GAA and a .855
save percentage.
1. Anaheim is 30th
in the league in shots on goal per game (28.60, and they have yet to win a game
when out-shooting the opposition (0-6-1) the only team without such a win left.
2. Conversely, the
Ducks have 10 wins when out-shot by opponents, the most such wins in the
league.
3. The Ducks don’t
play well with others. They have been
penalized 92 times this season, third-most in the league.
4. Anaheim has only
two power play goals on the road this season, tied for fewest with Detroit.
5. In nine road games
this season, the Ducks had a positive shot attempts differential at 5-on-5 only
twice, October 14th against Boston and October 22nd
against Nashville. The Ducks lost both
games in regulation.
1. The Caps have had
negative shot differential at 5-on-5 in three of their last four home games,
minus-24 combined.
2. After going
0-for-13 on the power play in their first three home games, the Caps are 6-for-22
over their last seven home contests (27.3 percent).
3. Similarly, after
going 10-for-12 on the penalty kill in their first three home games (83.3
percent), the Caps are 14-for-16 in their last seven home games (87.5 percent).
4. When the Caps were
held to a single even strength goal against Montreal in their most recent home
game, it was the first time since their home opener that they were held to
fewer than three seven strength goals in a game on home ice.
5. The Caps can do a
better job managing the puck. In eight
of ten home games they have more giveaways than takeaways and have 111
giveaways to 78 takeaways on home ice through ten games on the home schedule.
The Peerless’ Players to Ponder
Anaheim: Ryan Getzlaf
Ryan Getzlaf is the grand old man of Ducks Hockey, the only
player in team history to appear in at least 1,000 games. His 1,005 games played with the club are more
than 350 more than any current teammate (Cam Fowler: 641). It should be no surprise that he ranks among
the all-time best in club history in a number of categories – goals (269/fourth),
assists (668/first), points (937/second), plus-minus (plus-148/first), even
strength goals (181/third), power play goals (80/fourth), shorthanded goals
(eight/fifth), and game-winning goals (54).
At age 34, though, some chips are appearing in the armor. After four straight seasons appearing in at
least 74 games, he missed 26 games in 2017-2018 to a facial injury and a variety
of lesser ailments. He missed 15 games
last season to groin and upper-body injuries.
With the absences came diminished production. His 14 goals last season made it four
straight years with 15 or fewer goals, and his 48 points last season were his
fewest in a season since he had 39 points in 57 games in his rookie season in
2005-2006.
Getzlaf has appeared in all 21 games to date for the Ducks,
but the production has yet to rebound.
His eight goals are more than half-way to the 14 he posted last year,
but he has only six assists in 21 games, perhaps a reflection of how
offense-starved the Ducks have been for much of the season. His ice time seems to be taking a hit as
well. He is averaging 18:06 per game so
far this season, his lowest average ice time since he skated 15:04 per game
over 82 games in his sophomore season in 2006-2007. He has been warming up of late, going 5-4-9,
plus-1, in his last ten games. Getzlaf
is 7-18-25, plus-5, in 18 career games against the Caps.
Washington: Dmitry Orlov
It does not seem all that long ago that Dmitry Orlov was a
second-round draft pick of the Washington Capitals. But here he is, now in his eighth season with
the club, and he has passed Larry Murphy for 12th place on the Caps’
all-time list of games played by a defenseman, and he is within 31 games of
becoming the 12th defenseman in Caps history to play in 500 games. Part of that has been his durability. If he plays in all 82 games this season, it
would be his fifth straight year of playing in every regular season game, and
it would leave him as only the third defenseman in Caps history to record five
82-games played seasons (Karl Alzner has six, and John Carlson has five).
It isn’t as if his playing time has been spent
unproductively, either. It is possible
that by the end of this season he will crack the top-ten among defensemen in
team history in goals (he has 34 and needs eight more to tie Robert Picard for
tenth place), points (he needs 15 more to tie Al Iafrate for tenth place), and game-winning
goals (he needs one to tie Picard and Matt Niskanen for tenth place). He is already tenth on the list in assists,
tied with Niskanen and Rick Green.
Orlov has had some difficulty recovering his goal scoring
touch from his career best of ten goals set in 2017-2018. He has only four goals in 104 games on 130 shots
(3.1 percent) in the season and change since then. This season he recorded his only goal on
Opening Night in St. Louis on what was his first shot on goal of the
season. He is 0-for-28 shooting since
then. If there is a silver lining in his
offense, it is that he has recorded assists in bunches – four in a six-game
stretch in mid-October sand three over a five-game stretch to close October and
begin November. He is without a point in
his last four games, though. Orlov is
looking for his first career point against Anaheim, shut out in ten career
games to date with a minus-6 rating.
In the end…
Anaheim doesn’t score much, their special teams are weak,
particularly the power play, they struggle with shot attempt differential, and
they are 2-4-0 in their last four road games.
One would think that the Caps would have to play down to their level to
make this a competitive game. However,
the Caps do not have a great home record so far (5-2-3), losing two straight
(0-1-1) since running off a five-game winning streak at home. And, there might be Ryan Miller facing them
in goal, a netminder with a career of success against the Caps. Even with the recent offensive hiccups, the
Caps are too deep to permit the Ducks anything more than a passing glimpse of
being competitive in this game. Or so
one would hope, because the games are played on ice, not on paper.
Capitals 5 – Ducks 2
No comments:
Post a Comment