Record (2-1-0)
It is no secret to any Caps fan that the 2022 portion of the season has been a disappointment for the Caps. In normal times, at least normal for more than a decade, a second winning week out of the last three would not be considered impressive. But after a six-week stretch over which the Caps posted no winning weeks (four break-even weeks by points earned and two losing weeks), Week 21 has to be considered progress. It was a week in which it was the “who” the Caps beat as much as the “how many” wins. Shutting out Carolina, 4-0, has to qualify as one of the quality wins of the season for the Caps. It was only the second time the Hurricanes were blanked this season and the first time on the road. And, for those who dismiss the 5-2 win over Seattle as just a win over an expansion team, the Kraken did beat the Caps by the same 5-2 margin earlier this season, and the Saturday win came in what might have been a “trap” game, following an impressive win and as the getaway game before heading west on a road trip.
Offense: 4.00 / game (season: 3.21 / 12th)
A four goal per game week will never be unimpressive, especially when the Caps scored four goals against the best scoring defense in the league in Carolina. It was only the ninth time in 55 games that Carolina allowed four or more goals in regulation.
Six different Caps recorded goals for the week, Tom Wilson and Conor Sheary leading the Caps with three apiece. Alex Ovechkin and Dmitry Orlov also has multi-goal weeks, Ovechkin’s pair inching him closer to Jaromir Jagr third place on the all-time career goal scoring list. His 764 goals are only two behind Jagr.
Thirteen different Caps posted points for the week, led by Ovechkin, Sheary, and John Carlson with five apiece. Ovechkin, Orlov, and Wilson all posted ten shots on goal over the three games. Orlov and Sheary each were on ice for four goals at even strength to lead the team.
Defense: 2.33 / game (season: 2.74 / 8th)
The Caps had a somewhat average week in some respects on defense in Week 21. They allowed 31.7 shots on goal per game over three contests, tied for 13th-fewest in the league for the week. On the plus side of that, though, is that Toronto and Carolina are both top-ten teams in the league in shots on goal, Toronto with 34.6 shots per game (seventh) and Carolina with 33.4 shots per game (ninth).
Where the Caps stumbled more severely was in even strength shot attempts allowed at 5-on-5. There might have been score effects in this area, the Caps holding a multi-goal lead over Carolina for the last 31:30 of that contest (Carolina finished with a 48-35 edge in 5-on-5 shot attempts) and for a total of 31:51 in their game against Seattle (the Kraken finished with a 50-30 edge in 5-on-5 shot attempts).
Trevor van Riemsdyk, Nic Dowd, Conor Sheary, and Garnet Hathaway all dressed for all three games and were on ice for no even strength goals against. At the other end, Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov both were on ice for five even strength goals against.
Goaltending: 2.01 / .936 / one shutout (season: 2.59 / .910 / 7 shutouts)
Ilya Samsonov had a short work week – 20 minutes, seven saves on ten shots against Toronto. It was the 16th time in 24 games since he posted consecutive shutouts in November that he allowed three or more goals in a game, the third instance in which he did so in abbreviated duty (40 or fewer minutes).
Vitek Vanecek took advantage of the situation to go 2-1-0, 1.13, .964, with one shutout for the week, one of the best goaltending weeks for the Caps this season. In looking at his performance by period, he improved as games went on generally, posting a .938 save percentage in the first periods of games, .968 in the middle periods, and closing things out with a .973 save percentage in the third periods of games.
If there is a bright spot in the 2022 portion of the season so far, it is Vanecek. Since January 1st, he is 6-3-0, 1.83, .937, with three shutouts. His goals against average ranks third among the 60 goalies with at least 250 minutes played, and his save percentage ranks third as well. He is tied for the league lead in shutouts in the new year. He has not allowed two goals in any appearance since January 20th. Since then, Vanecek has stopped 241 of 255 shots, a .945 save percentage covering ten appearances.
Power Play: 5-for-11 / 45.5 percent (season: 17.9 percent / 23rd).
Week 21 was the best week of the season for the Caps and the second-best power play of the week (Buffalo, of all teams, went 3-for-6 for 50.0 percent). The 11 chances the Caps had for the week tied a season high (Weeks 2 and 19), and their five goals were two better than any of the previous 20 weeks.
The Caps spread things around, too. Ten players skated at least one minute with the man advantage over three games for the week. Seven players had shots on goal. And perhaps most important, four different Caps had powerplay goals (Alex Ovechkin (2), Eveny Kuznetsov, Tom Wilson, and Conor Sheary). To those four players you can add John Carlson, T.J. Oshie, and Nicklas Backstrom as players with power play points for the week.
Penalty Killing: 10-for-10 / 100.0 percent (season: 80.9 percent / 12th)
The Penalty killing performance made for a special week for special teams. Week 21 was the second consecutive week of a perfect penalty kill. The ten shorthanded situations faced were a bit of a concern (the third time in 21 weeks that the Caps faced ten or more shorthanded situations).
Nick Jensen and Trevor van Riemsdyk were the player the penalty kill leaned on, those two players being the only ones for the Cap to log more than ten minutes of penalty kill time for the week (Jensen – 13:28; van Riemsdyk – 12:37). Nic Dowd led the forwards with 8:35 in shorthanded ice time. As it was, the Caps spread the time around on this side of special teams as well, 13 Caps logging at least one minute in penalty kill ice time and 11 averaging at least one minute per game.
The cherry on top of this category for the week was Tom Wilson netting a shorthanded goal, his second of the season to tie Evgeny Kuznetsov for the team lead.
Faceoffs: 80-for-156 / 51.3 percent (47.1 percent / 30th)
A week over 50 percent is uncommon for the Caps this season, and when it has happened, the results have been uneven often, with good performances in one zone and poorer ones in other zones. In Week 21, the Caps were relatively consistent, zone-to-zone, in posting that 51.3 percent winning percentage. They were 50.0 percent in the offensive zone, 47.6 percent in the defensive zone, and 56.9 percent in the neutral zone. Three Caps taking ten or more draws finished over 60 percent for the week, a level of individual performance that has been lacking. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom struggled, and Backstrom’s is a bit of an odd case, his week in this area marred by going 0-for-9 against Seattle.
Goals by Period
Back in 1983, Philadelphia 76’ers center Moses Malone made a famous prediction for his team in the playoffs, his “fo’, fo’, fo’” quote, referring to three four-game sweeps, became one of the more famous quotes in sports history. While not a playoff matter, the Caps went “fo’, fo’, fo’” in goal scoring by period. The consistency allowed the Caps to avoid a negative goal differential by period for the week, finishing with positive goal differentials in the second (plus-3) and third (plus-2) periods. The four goals in each of the three periods is entirely consistent with their overall performance this season, tied for tenth in first period goals scored, 11th in second period goals scored, and tied for tenth in third period goals scored. They also finished the week as a top-ten team in goals allowed in the first period (41/seventh) and the third period (46/fourth). That second period remains a problem (62/24th).
Year-over-Year
We have now passed last year’s 56 games, and the year-over-year segment will be suspended here.
In the end…
If you are complaining about Week 21, you have some smaller things to make your argument, but on the whole, it was a good week, especially in the context of the Caps performance, particularly at home, over the last two-plus months. It came just in time to head west to Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver in Week 22, a week that will pose its own challenges. But the Caps look to be in better position to meet those challenges than they might have when Week 21 began.
Three Stars
- First Star: Vitek Vanecek (2-1-0, 1.13, .964)
- Second Star: Conor Sheary (3-2-5, plus-4, one game-winning goal, seven shots on goal, 12 shot attempts, three takeaways, plus-4 goal differential on ice at even strength (led team))
- Third Star: Dmitry Orlov (2-0-2, plus-3, 10 shots on goal (tied for team lead), 13 shot attempts, seven hits, four blocked shots)
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