“Forward, as occasion offers. Never look round to see
whether any shall note it... Be satisfied with success in even the smallest
matter, and think that even such a result is no trifle.”
-- Marcus Aurelius
It might be said of Washington Capitals center Lars Eller
that he likes certain odd numbers. There
is, of course, the number “1,” as in “number of career Cup-clinching goals,” he
being the player who broke a third period tie in Game 5 of the 2018 Stanley Cup
final to secure that club’s first and only (to date) Stanley Cup. But then there is the strange thing Eller has
with games played. Three times in his
career he dressed for exactly 77 games (2010-2011, 2013-2014, and 2014-2015).
Twice he dressed for exactly 79 games (2011-2012 and 2015-2016). This year, Eller completed his third
consecutive year having played in exactly 81 games. No player in NHL history has played in
precisely that many games in more consecutive seasons.
This season was consistent in other respects for Eller. Once more he was a mid-30’s point producer
(38 last season, 36 this season), almost unchanged in penalty minutes (38 last
season, 37 this season), almost unchanged in even strength assists (17 last
year, 18 this year), nearly the same in shots on goal (161 last season, 163
this season), and almost the same faceoff winning percentage (49.2 percent last
season, 49.0 percent this season).
Eller’s ten-game segments were not quite as consistent, but
it was not a roller coaster, either. He
did not post fewer than three points in any segment, but it was a case of
starting (11 points in first two segments) and finishing (12 in his las two
segments) strong. His shots on goal
followed a reasonably consistent pattern.
There were two areas in which he showed considerable improvement from
the season’s start to finish. Eller was
minus-14 through the first five segments of the season, but he finished with a
plus-13 over the last three segments. He
logged 25 penalty minutes – about two thirds of his season total – in the first
three segments, but he recorded only six penalty minutes in his last three
segments.
Fearless’ Take… Eller has established himself in only three
seasons as one of the most productive centers for the franchise since the
2005-20065 season. Among players playing
primarily the center position (not including such as Marcus Johansson or Brooks
Laich, who played a significant amount of time on the wing), Eller is fourth in
games played (243), third in goals scored (43, trailing Nicklas Backstrom (231)
and Evgeny Kuznetsov (101)), fourth in assists (56), and third in points (99). One piece that was consistently coming up
short for the Caps in their annual postseason disappointments was solid and
consistent play out of their depth centers.
Eller has provided that.
Cheerless’ Take… A
center does not have to be a big goal scorer, but his overall points
contributions can be an important ingredient for success. Eller appeared in 81 games this season and did
not record a point in 54 of them. That
is tied for ninth-most among Capital centers since 2005-2006 (tied for seventh
if you think of Brooks Laich more as a winger).
In fact, Eller has two of the top nine (or seven) such seasons in that
span.
Given that the Caps were 18-4-5 in the
games in which he did record a point, those contributions were important. In a perverse way, perhaps, it documents his
value to the club and what they missed when they did not have a player such as
Eller anchoring the third line.
Odd Eller Fact… In his three seasons as a Capital, Eller is
plus-25 on home ice (fifth among Capital forwards) and minus-17 (second-worst
among forwards) on the road.
Game to Remember… November 19th at Montreal
When a player logs more than 450 regular and postseason
games with a club and moves on to another city, facing his old team is an
occasion. Such was the case for Lars
Eller when the Caps visited the Montreal Canadiens in November. The Caps were struggling with a 9-7-3 start to
the season, only once having won consecutive games. Having beaten the Colorado Avalanche in
Denver in their previous outing, the Caps had a chance to win consecutive games
for the second time this season and first time on the road.
Montreal broke on top on a Mike Reilly goal 9:20 into the
first period, but the Caps took the lead to the locker room at the first
intermission on goals by Brett Connolly and Alex Ovechkin. The Habs scored three times in the first 95
seconds of the second period to take a 4-2 lead to chase goalie Pheonix Copley
to the bench in favor of Braden Holtby. Nicklas Backstrom got one back before
the end of the second period to make a game of it.
Ovechkin scored 62 seconds into the third period to tie the
game, but neither team could break the deadlock thereafter. The game went to overtime where Montreal had
a bit of an advantage early on with three shots in the first three minutes of the
extra session. But the Caps
counterpunched with Jakub Vrana skating down the right side with defenseman
Michal Kempny in the middle and Eller on the left side. Pulling up at the top of the right wing
circle, Vrana found Eller with a cross ice pass. Eller stepped up to the top of the left wing
circle and wristed a shot between goalie Carey Price’s right arm and his body
to give the Caps a come-from-behind 5-4 overtime win. It was Eller’s only game-winning goal of the
season.
Game to Forget… October 11th at New Jersey
The Caps opened their defense of their Stanley Cup
championship with a pair of home-road, back-to-back sets of games. They beat Boston in the Stanley Cup banner
raising at Capital One Arena, 7-0, before dropping a 7-6 overtime decision in
Pittsburgh the following night. The Caps
then beat Vegas in a rematch of Stanley Cup finalists, 5-2, before heading to
New Jersey to face the Devils. The Caps
fell into a 2-0 hole in the first period, allowed a goal in the third minute of
the second period, and then the Devils pulled away with three goals in the
third period in a 6-0 win. Eller had as
forgettable a game as any Capital. He
skated just 11:52, his lowest ice time of the season in which he skated an
entire game (he logged six minutes and change in a February 1st game
against Calgary in which he sustained a lower body injury), was on ice for
three goals against in posting a minus-3 rating, took a penalty, had three
giveaways, won just two of eight faceoffs.
Postseason… It would be hard to top last year’s postseason, Eller being the only player in Caps history to score a Stanley Cup clinching goal. Still, Eller did have a goal and two assists in seven games. The odd part of his scoring was that two of the points (both of them assists) came on the road and in what would be losses. And his goal, scored in Game 1 of the first round series against Carolina, was an empty netter in a 4-2 win. But what was perhaps the strangest number of all was his on-ice shot attempt percentages at 5-on-5. In what was generally a difficult series in this category for the Caps, Eller was under 40 percent for the series (39.22 percent). There were times when Eller looked like the player he was in last year’s postseason, but the instances were not as frequent, something that can be said of the Caps generally.
Looking ahead…
Eller just completed the first year of a five-year deal that
carries a $3.5 million annual cap hit and keeps him in the fold through the
2022-2023 season. Eller has been an
extraordinarily durable player. In his
nine full seasons, he has missed a total of 25 games and never missed more than
five in any season. He posted his second
consecutive 35-plus point season in 2018-2019, a first for him. Given his consistency and durability, it
would be reasonable to pencil him in for a mid-teens goal total, mid-30’s point
total, and a being a solid lineup fixture.
In the end…
Lars Eller, the hero of Game 5 of the 2018 Stanley Cup
final, author of the game-winning, series-clinching, Cup-seizing goal, has
found success as a Capital as a solid, consistent anchor on its third line of
forwards. While he can, and does play on
other lines as needs arise, he is one player whose role and performance of it
is something to be counted on, game in and game out, giving the club the chance
to address other areas not quite as solid or consistent. It is not the sexiest of roles, but the Caps
missed it dearly when there was no one to fill it adequately. That measure of success is no trifle
for this club.
Grade: B