Washington Capitals: That Was The Week That Was - Week 10

The Washington Capitals had a good week, a good week indeed.  Three wins and a one-goal loss.  It brought them to the brink of playoff eligibility in Week 10, and given the injury situation, things could have been much worse for this club at week’s end.  They have been a resilient bunch, and now one with some wind in their sails moving forward.

Record (3-1-0)

A second straight three-win week and their first set of consecutive winning weeks since Weeks 2-3 earlier in the season.  The first two three-win weeks of the season, in fact.  It extends a longer run of good fortune for the team; since November 23^rd, the Caps are 9-3-1.  No team has earned more standings points (19, tied with Pittsburgh and Toronto), and their .731 points percentage ranks sixth.  This despite playing eight of their 13 games in this stretch on the road, where they were 5-2-1.

And not only have the Caps won, they won in dominating style.  Seven of their nine wins in this 13-game stretch were by three or more goals, tied with Tampa Bay for most in the league over that period.  There are those two losses of the three in regulation by three or more goals, but on balance, Caps fans will take that trade-off.

Offense: 4.50 /game (season: 3.03 / 21st)

Eighteen goals for the week.  Quite the production for the Caps, who went from 27^th in the league in scoring offense (2.83 goals per game) at the start of the week to 21^st in the league (3.03 goals per game).  Eleven different Capitals had goals, led by Alex Ovechkin, who had four, including a hat trick against Chicago to bring him to 800 career goals, the third player in NHL history to reach that milestone.

The surprise, however, was who were the runners-up in goals scored for the week.  Defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk had three, getting single goals in three of the four games for the week.  He had only one goal for the season coming into Week 10.  The other three-goal scorer was defenseman Erik Gustafsson, who had a hat trick in the 5-2 win over Toronto to end the week.  It was the first hat trick of his career and only the second multi-goal game of his career (February 2, 2018 versus Minnesota).  It was the third hat trick by a defenseman in Caps history, the other two by Kevin Hatcher (January 13, 1993 versus the New York Rangers in a 5-4 loss), and Sergei Gonchar (January 4, 2000 in a 6-1 win over Montreal).

Seventeen of the 20 skaters to dress for the Caps in Week 10 posted points, led by Ovechkin with six (4-2-6).  Four other Caps had four points apiece – Sonny Milano (0-4-4), Conor Sheary (1-3-4), Anthony Mantha (1-3-4), and Evgeny Kuznetsov (1-3-4).  In an unusual area, the Caps had four skaters finish the week with ten or more shots on goal – Dmitry Orlov and Ovechkin leading the team with 15 apiece, John Carlson with 13, and T.J. Oshie, who left the contest against Toronto early with an injury, with 11.

Defense: 2.25 / game (season: 2.85 / 12th)

It was a solid week for the defense.  They allowed 123 shots on goal for the week, the 30.8 shots allowed per game just a tick over their season average (30.7).  The 36 shots they allowed Toronto to end the week was the first time in seven games they allowed more than 35 shots and only the second time in their last 15 games.

What the Caps did not do well against Toronto was limit shot attempts at 5-on-5.  The Caps were just 39.4 percent in that game, but teams generally do not do well in this area against the Maple Leafs, who lead the league in shot attempts-for percentage at 5-on-5 (60.9 percent).

Goaltending: 2.28 / .926 (season: 2.62 / .914 / 2 shutouts)

Once more, it was The Charlie Lindgren Show, and he did not disappoint as Darcy Kuemper continue to recover from his recent injury.  Lindgren has not only been excellent in his relief of Kuemper, he has been consistent (with one exception, which we will get to).  In six of his last seven appearances he posted save percentages over .900, five times over .930, including .944 against Toronto when he faced 36 shots.  That was the highest shot total he faced in a game since facing 38 shots in a 6-3 win against New Jersey in his second game of the season back on October 24^th.

Lindgren was excellent in the first 40 minutes of games, posting a .957 in the opening periods of the four games (44 saves on 46 shots) and .953 in the middle periods (41 saves on 43 shots).  However, he was 28 for 33 (.848) in the third periods of games.  Much of that might be score effects and low shot volumes (he faced more than ten third period shots just once), but the two goals allowed on seven shots against Dallas were the blemish on what might have been a perfect week in the win column.

Power Play: 2-for-7 / 28.6 percent (season: 21.8 percent / 17th)

Week 10 was an illustration of the difference between efficiency and effectiveness.  A 28.6 percent power play is efficient – only four teams in the league finished the week with a season percentage over that mark.  But seven power play chances is not that effective in adding to the offensive output (yes, we might be greedy, given the Caps averaged 4.50 goals per game for the week).

Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin recorded the man advantage goals for the Caps, and five different Caps had power play points for the week.  Speaking to the depth here, Sonny Milano and Conor Sheary were two of the other three players posting power play points (each with an assist).  John Carlson had the other point (an assist).

Perhaps it was a reflection of teams paying more attention to Ovechkin in the left wing circle, but it was Kuznetsov who led the team in power play shots for the week (four).  Ovechkin was on ice for 12:31 of power play ice time for the week, 99.2 percent of the Caps’ total.

Penalty Killing 8-for-10 / 80.0 percent (season: 80.7 percent / 9th)

It was a good, if not great week for the Caps on the penalty kill.  That they allowed only 2.50 chances per game for the week (they are averaging 2.82 chances against per game for the season/fourth fewest in the league) might have been the best aspect of it. 

Dmitry Orlov and John Carlson were on ice for both power play goals scored against the Caps, which was a bit of a surprise, since they finished third and fourth, respectively, among defensemen in shorthanded ice time.  At the other end, the leaders in shorthanded ice time, Trevor van Riemsdyk (2:25) and Nick Jensen (2:21) had a clean sheet on power play goals against.

Faceoffs: 94-for-200 / 47.0 percent (season: 48.4 percent / 23rd)

It was, by season standards, an average week for the Caps, who had been improving in this area in recent weeks.  It was a week played close to the break even point in all three zones, the Caps being three faceoff wins under 50 percent in the offensive an neutral zones, and right at 50.0 percent in the defensive end.  The Caps had a bit of a tilt to the defensive end, where they took 72 faceoffs compared to 64 in the offensive end.

On an individual level, Evgeny Kuznetsov deserves mention here.  He was under 50 percent for the week (17-for-36/47.2 percent), but since he went a ghastly 1-for-11 (9.1 percent) against Calgary on November 25^th (tied for the third-lowest winning percentage in a game this season for any skater taking at least ten faceoffs), he is 64-for-116, a 55.2 winning percentage, and has been over 50 percent in eight of 11 games.

Among other individual skaters in Week 11, Lars Eller and Nic Dowd were the skaters taking ten or more draws to finish over 50 percent.  The good part among the four Caps to take at least ten total faceoffs was that three of the four finished over 50 percent in the defensive end.  The flip side of that, however, was Dylan Strome going 1-for-6 (16.7 percent). 

Goals by Period

One of the positive takeaways from the week was the Caps having positive goal differentials in each of the regulation periods for the week – plus-2 in the first periods of games, plus-6 in the second period, and plus-1 in the third period.  This is the kind of consistency that speaks to a solid full-game effort, although the third periods might have been better, and will be important to the team going forward in the weeks ahead.

Year-over-Year

The Caps of this season are not close to last year’s in win-loss performance, but that is hardly a surprise given the injuries with which they started the year and that they have had to contend with in-season.  The club does have a positive overall goal differential, although they remain a net-24 behind last year’s pace.  Special teams have been a two-edged sword, power play chances up significantly, but so are penalty killing situations.  What bears watching is something that looks like a “scoring” effect.  Hits, blocked shots, giveaways, and takeaways – all are up significantly this season over last.  Given the somewhat arbitrary nature of what constitutes an event in these categories, one does wonder if it isn’t more the eye of the scorer than objective increases in these areas.

In the end…

That Caps are through Week 10 with the record they have, hanging close to the playoff mix, is laudable, given that they finished the week with only nine players having appeared in every game this season and their number one goalie on the bench with an injury for the last two weeks.  They will be tested in the week ahead, though, depending on how serious the injury to T.J. Oshie is and how long it will keep him out of the lineup.  But this team has responded to adversity with resolve, something that they will have to sustain to make the jump into the playoff-eligible group of teams as the year winds down.

Three Stars

• First Star: Alex Ovechkin (4-2-6, plus-3, 29^th career hat trick, 800^th career goal scored, 15 shots on goal, 28 shot attempts, eight credited hits)
• Second Star: Erik Gustafsson (3-0-3, plus-6, first career hat trick (broke 31-game streak to start season without a goal), one game-winning goal, nine shots on goal, 16 shot attempts, three takeaways (tied for team lead))
• Third Star: Charlie Lindgren (3-1-0, 2.28, .926, second among all goalies in save percentage for the week)