Washington Capitals: That Was The Week That Was -- Week 5

Week 5 was chock full of ups and down, of milestones reached, of line juggling, of high points and low.  It was a lot to pack into a week’s worth of games.  Let’s try to unpack some of it.

Record: 2-1-1

It was a return to a winning week for the Caps after two weeks in which they failed to get more than 50 percent of the available standings points.  It might have been modest progress, but the 2-1-1 week did enable the Caps to jump from sixth in the Metropolitan Division at the start of the week to fourth by week’s end, and from 13^th in the Eastern Conference to tenth.  Folks might remember Elliotte Friedman writing that teams more than four points out of a playoff spot on November 1^st rarely reach the post season in the “loser point” era of the NHL (i.e., the Gimmick point).  The Caps ended last week (November 1^st) two points out of a playoff spot; they ended this week one point out of the top eight.

Offense: 3.75/game (season: 3.14/game; rank: 4^th)

“In this league, if you get to three, you should win the hockey game. That’s what good teams do.”  That’s what head coach Barry Trotz said after the Caps lost the Arizona Coyotes after a 6-5 loss last Sunday to open Week 5.  The Caps got to three in each of the week’s four games, so by that standard it was a good week (two wins in doing so is another matter).  It was a balanced week.  Ten different Caps shared in the 15 goals scored; 15 different skaters recorded points.  Joel Ward led the goal-scorers with three.  Nicklas Backstrom, Troy Brouwer, and Marcus Johansson each had a pair.  Alex Ovechkin had six assists to reach the 400 assist mark in his career.  One of them, in the 4-3 overtime loss to Calgary, gave Ovechkin the franchise record for career points, surpassing the 825 recorded by Peter Bondra.

Defense: 3.75/game (season: 2.86/game; rank: 18^th)

The Caps were a bit leakier than usual in allowing shots in Week 5.  Twice in four games they allowed 30 or more shots, including a season high 40 shots in the 3-2 win in Chicago over the Blackhawks.  Still, the Caps remain second in the league in shots allowed per game (26.4), behind only the Minnesota Wild (23.0).  The game against Chicago by itself put the Caps in minus Corsi territory for the week (minus-10; Corsi-for percentage: 48.64 percent).  The possession week was an odd one in another respect, specifically with respect to one player: Marcus Johansson.  For the week, Johansson was Corsi plus-9 at 5-on-5.  The way he got there was the thing, though.  Plus-13 against Arizona, even against Calgary, minus-14 against Chicago, and plus-10 against Carolina.  An example of the perils of looking at possession numbers on an individual game basis.

Goaltending: 3.65 GAA / .875 SV (season: 2.73 GAA / .894 SV / 1 SO)

Each goalie got two games of work in Week 5, the product of back-to-back weekends with back-to-back games.  Justin Peters started and ended the week, earning a loss and a win, respectively.  Overall it was a rough week as far as his raw numbers were concerned.  A .842 save percentage, a 4.41 goals against average, and he allowed at least one goal in five of six regulation periods.  He allowed five goals on 20 third period shots (.750 save percentage). 

Braden Holtby’s week was just plain strange.  He allowed four goals on 23 shots in the 4-3 overtime loss to Calgary on Tuesday, his ninth straight appearance facing fewer than 30 shots (including only seven shots when he was relieved against San Jose on October 14^th).  He was 3-3-2, 2.66, .891 over those games.  Then he faced 40 shots against Chicago, stopping 38 of them in a 3-2 win.  It was the 10^th time in 115 appearances in which Holtby faced 40 or more shots.  He is 6-4-0, 2.82, .936 in those games.  He is 58-30-10, 2.58, but with just a .915 save percentage in career games in which he does not face 40 shots.

Power Play: 4-10/40.0 percent (season: 28.9 percent; rank: 2^nd)

Starting in Week 1 with going 2-for-9 (22.2 percent) on the power play, the Caps bettered their season power play efficiency rate in three of the following four weeks.  They did so in Week 5 on a 4-for-10 effort.  The power play was both effective (four goals in four games, scoring goals in three games for the week) and efficient (40 percent conversion, 16 shots in 15:21 of power play time).  It was the forwards’ show in goal scoring.  Joel Ward had a pair of power play goals, and Alex Ovechkin and Troy Brouwer had one apiece.  In scoring power play goals in three of the week’s four games, the Caps have now scored power play goals in 10 of 14 games this season.  They are 4-4-2 in those games.  If there was a smudge on the week it was in opportunities. In no game did the Caps have more than three power play opportunities, and they had only one against Chicago.  This continues a trend that started shortly after the start of the season.  In their first four games the Caps had 18 power play opportunities (4.5 per game) and were 2-0-2.  In 10 games since they had 27 opportunities (2.7 per game) with a record of 4-5-1.

Penalty Killing: 8-12/66.7 percent (season: 77.1 percent; rank: 23^rd)

While the power play has been showing more or less constant improvement over the first five weeks of the season, there is no “more or less” about the deterioration of the Caps’ penalty kill.  It would be hard to keep their 9-for-9 from Week 1 going for extended periods, but the season efficiency rate has dropped in every week since, to a current 77.1 percent penalty kill rate.  Giving up four goals on 12 shorthanded situations meant that special teams did no more than break even for the week.  As has been the case in many instances overall this season, it was a case of playing better than the results.  The Caps allowed only 11 shots on goal in 18:54 of shorthanded ice time, they kind of shots per minute you would like to see.  Seven saves on those 11 shots is another matter.  It is recent history of poor save percentages when shorthanded.  Here is how bad.  Caps goaltenders were 11-for-11 on shorthanded shots in their first two games.  Since then they are 35-for-45, a save percentage of .783.  Of 44 goalies appearing in at least five games so far, Braden Holtby ranks 22^nd in shorthanded save percentage (.868), while Justin Peters ranks 43^rd (.722).

Even Strength Goals For/Goals Against: 11-11 / even (season, 5-on-5 goals for/goals against ratio:1.07; rank: T-14^th)

It was a decent week in terms of plus-minus, especially if you think finishes (plus-3 in the last two games) are better than starts (minus-3 in the first two games).  But again, there were save percentage issues.  Holtby and Peters stopped 97 of 108 even strength shots for the week (.898 save percentage).  Neither Holtby (.904; 37^th) nor Peters (.907; 35^th) are acquitting themselves very well in the group of 44 goalies with at least five appearances.

The Caps spread the even strength scoring around fairly well.  Marcus Johansson and Nicklas Backstrom each had a pair of goals at even strength. Seven other players pitched in an even strength goal.  It did not help keep the Caps from slipping a bit in their ratio of goals for to goals against at 5-on-5, though.  And the bottom line here for the week is that the Caps won the two games in which they won the even strength goal battle; they lost the two games in which they did not win that battle.

Faceoffs:  130-for-260 / 50.0 percent (season: 49.5 percent; rank: T-16^th)

A 50 percent week on draws was misleading at the game-to-game level.  Twice the Caps finished above 55 percent, twice they finished below 45 percent.  Not that it mattered a great deal; the Caps were 1-1 in games they won the faceoff battle, 1-0-1 in games they did not.  Those results matched the zone results, to a point.  The Caps won the neutral zone in each of the four games (53.0 percent overall), but they alternated games won and games lost in the offensive (48.8 percent overall) and defensive zones (48.4 percent overall) for the week. 

Nicklas Backstrom continues to take the lion’s share of the draws (36.9 percent of all draws for the week), and he had a very good week (53.1 percent overall; over 50 percent in both the offensive and defensive ends).  He is now up to 25^th overall in faceoff winning percentage (54.4 percent).

Evgeny Kuznetsov and Andre Burakovsky continue to be works in progress.  Kuznetsov was 11-for-26 for the week (43.3 percent); Burakovsky was 9-for-29 (31.0 percent).

Goals by Period:

What stands out for the Caps, and not in a good way, is the third period…again.  Outscored by a 6-2 margin in the third period in four games this week, the Caps have allowed 11 third period goals in their last seven games.  They allowed third period goals in six of those games and had a record of 1-5-1 in them, the only win coming against Carolina in the last game of Week 5.  The save percentage thing rears its head here, too.  Holtby and Peters stopped 32 of 38 shots in the third periods of four games this week, a save percentage of .842.  Peters was the victim (or culprit, depending on your point of view) here, stopping only 15 of 20 shots (.750).

In the end…

The Caps stopped the bleeding after suffering two straight weeks without a winning record (by standings points).  The odd part of it was that they played, as they have for much of the season, contrary to what the possession statistics should predict.  When playing well in a possession sense, they have not been (and were not this week) rewarded.  When losing the possession battle, especially against Chicago, they won on the scoreboard.  The underlying numbers might have been decent overall, skewed as they were by the Chicago game, but they were undermined to an extent by goaltending.  Whether that was a product of poor goaltending on its own terms or inadequate support in front, the fact remains that the save percentages for both Holtby and Peters are going to have to improve, or the fancy fancystats will not matter very much.

Three Stars:

• First Star: Alex Ovechkin (1-6-7, even; set franchise record for points, recorded 400^th assist, recorded 18^th game in career history with four or more points (vs. Arizona))
• Second Star: Nicklas Backstrom (2-4-6, game-winning goal against Carolina, recorded 137^th and 138^th career multi-point games)
• Third Star: John Carlson (1-3-4, plus-3, is now tied for fifth among NHL defensemen in scoring)

A TWO-point night -- Game 14: Capitals 4 - Hurricanes 3 (OT)

Check out what we wrote about the Caps’ 4-3 overtime win over at Japers’ Rink in our QuickCap and our Recap.

The Washington Capitals made it two in a row the hard way with their 4-3 overtime win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night.  Both teams were playing the back-half of a back-to-back set of games, the Caps coming off a 3-2 win in Chicago over the Blackhawks while the Hurricanes were arriving in Washington after dispatching the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2, in overtime.

The Caps drew first blood in the eighth minute of the first period on the first of what would be three odd goals.  With Carolina defenseman Justin Faulk in the penalty box, Nicklas Backstrom set up the Caps power play from the right wing wall. He sent the puck deep to Marcus Johansson on the goal line extended to goaie Anton Khudobin’s left.  Johansson stepped out to try to stuff the puck under Khudobin, but the goalie denied the shot.  The puck slid out to Troy Brouwer in the slot, and his shot popped into the air.  Carolina’s Patrick Dwyer tried to bat the puck over the net but instead directed the biscuit into the net, Brouwer credited with the goal.

The Caps added to their total with just over four minutes left in the first period on another odd goal.  Carolina struggled getting the puck out of their own end, John Carlson keeping it in for the Caps at the blue line.  Carlson sent a drive high and wide to Khudobin’s left.  The puck hit the end boards and settled for Jay Beagle below the Hurricane’s goal line.  Beagle jumped on the loose puck and whipped it out in front where it struck the back of Khudobin’s left leg and into the net to make it 2-0.

The Caps could not hold that lead into the first intermission, though.  Riley Nash scored a power play goal with just 49 seconds left in the period to make it 2-1 after 20 minutes.  The Caps added to their advantage late in the second period on yet another fluky goal.  The Caps worked the puck down the right wing wall from their own end deep into the Carolina zone.  With Jason Chimera trying to chase it down, Carolina defenseman Brett Bellemore got inside position and sent it back up the wall in an effort to clear the defensive zone.  Eric Fehr cut off the attempt, then cut inside Eric Staal for a clear path to the Hurricane’s net.  Fehr pulled Khudobin out of his crouch with a deke to the far side, then tried to slip it in the near side past Khudobin’s left pad.  The shot might have gone wide, but it didn’t matter, since Bellemore, trying to scurry back into position to cut Fehr off, redirected the puck past Khudobin with his stick, and the Caps were back in front by a pair of goals, 3-1.

The Caps could not hold that lead, either.  The Hurricanes slowly tilted the ice in the Caps’ direction in the third period, finally breaking through with goals by Eric Staal and Elias Lindolm a little more than five minutes apart mid-way through the period to tie the game.  The Caps held on to carry the game into overtime where they almost finished it in the first minute.  John Carlson’s shot from the top of the offensive zone was stopped by Khudobin, but not cleanly.  Nicklas Backstrom had a chance with the loose puck at his feet, but when he turned and fired, the puck was sent wide past the open net. 

Backstrom got another chance in the last minute, and he did not waste it.  Mike Green started the play when he slid the puck out to Alex Ovechkin in the neutral zone.  Ovechkin curled and headed up ice.  As he crossed the Carolina blue line he fired a slap shot that Khudobin saved with his right pad.  The puck kicked out to the top of the left wing circle and onto the stick of Backstrom who rifled it past a diving Khudobin for the game-winning goal with 14 seconds left in the extra session and a 4-3 Caps win.

Other stuff…

-- It was Nicklas Backstrom’s first game winning goal in more than a year, the last one coming on November 1, 2013 against the Philadelphia Flyers.  That one was far less dramatic, coming as it did as the first goal in a 7-0 win.  It was Backstrom’s first overtime winner since he scored the game-winner in double overtime against Boston in Game 2 of the 2012 Eastern Conference quarterfinals playoff series.  His last regular season overtime winner came more than three years ago when he scored two minutes into overtime for a 5-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks after he scored with just 42 seconds left in regulation to tie that game.  Caps fans might remember that as the “fat f**k” game in which Alex Ovechkin was benched for the last shift and the Caps behind by a goal. 

-- Alex Ovechkin’s assist on Backstrom’s game-winner was his 400^th in the NHL.  He is one of 44 active players with 400 or more assists, but he is 11^th on that list in assists per game, just ahead of Martin St. Louis.

-- Two more third period goals allowed made it 11 in the Caps’ seven games.  They allowed third period goals in six of those game, winning only one (tonight’s).  They were out-shot, 14-8, in the third period while outshooting Carolina 26-10 otherwise (including 4-1 in overtime).

-- Mike Green and Nate Schmidt once more had a clean sheet in goals against/on-ice.  Only six of 164 defensemen playing in ten or more games have been on ice for fewer goals than Schmidt (5).

-- The Caps dominated the 5-on-5 numbers (52.94 percent Corsi-for percentage at 5-on-5), and part of that was winning faceoffs – 33-for-59 (55.9 percent) at even strength.

-- Alex Ovechkin getting ten shot attempts is not news.  Marcus Johansson getting nine?  Yeah, that’s news.

-- Brooks Orpik had six blocked shots to lead both teams.  He is now fifth in the league among defensemen in that statistic.  He is also second in the league in hits among defensemen for good measure after leading both teams with four tonight.

-- This was the first Capitals win over Carolina on home ice since they beat the Hurricanes, 3-1, on April 11, 2013.  Tonight’s win broke a three-game home losing streak against Carolina.

-- On a team with Eric Stall, Alexander Semin, and Jeff Skinner, the leader in shot attempts for Carolina was… Justin Faulk?  Yep.  He had nine of Carolina’s 56 shot attempts.  He, Staal, and Semin accounted for 22 of the Hurricanes’ total.  Semin’s search for his first goal of the season continues, though.

-- Justin Peters has two wins in five appearances for the Caps this season, both wins coming in extra time, the other one a 2-1 trick shot win against Florida on October 18^th.

In the end…

This isn’t how one would have drawn it up.  A period of utter dominance, a period of controlling the tempo, then a period of giving their hard earned gains away before escaping in overtime.  But two points is two points.  And the guys who were quiet all night came through in the end, which might be just the way one would want to draw it up.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 14: Hurricanes at Capitals, November 8th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

For the second time in a week, the Washington Capitals head back to D.C. after skating on the road to face the second half of a back-to-back set of games at Verizon Center.  Last week it was a game in Tampa against the Lightning on Saturday followed up by a contest with the Arizona Coyotes the following night downtown on F Street.  This week it is a Friday tilt in Chicago against the Blackhawks followed by a quick trip back to Washington to face the Carolina Hurricanes at The Phone Booth.

The ‘Canes are coming into the second half of their own set of back-to-back games, having beaten the Columbus Blue Jackets in Raleigh on Friday night.  Oddly enough, that contest against Columbus was the back-half of a home-and-home set of games against the Blue Jackets.

Carolina started the 2014-2015 season as if they were determined to win the top spot (or bottom, if you will) in the Connor McDavid Sweepstakes.  The Hurricanes did not win a game in October, losing their first eight games (0-6-2), the first time in team history that they club went without a win in its first eight contests.  It was not as if the Hurricanes were unlucky.  They were outscored 32-15 (4.0 – 1.9 per game).  Their power play was 5-for-26, a respectable 19.2 percent, made less so by the fact that it was 1-for-17 in the last six games of the month (5.9 percent) after going 4-for-9 in their first two games.  The penalty kill was 23-for-29, not bad (79.3 percent), but they could see “bad” from there.

Things have changed, though.  The Hurricanes have won four in a row to start November.  They have done it with defense and goaltending.  While Carolina has scored a respectable 13 goals in those four games (3.25 per game), they allowed only six goals 1.50 per game.  Cam Ward was the goalie of record in each of the four wins.  It has been a tale of two four-game segments for Ward.  In his first four segments he was 0-3-1, 3.95, .840.  In his last four, Ward is 4-0-0, 1.48, .944, with one shutout.  Ward has spent a lot of his career facing the Caps, 33 of his 469 games in the NHL.  In those appearances he is 16-12-4, 2.56, .921, with four shuouts. 

It will not be Ward facing the Caps, though.  Coach Bill Peters said last night it would be Anton Khudobin getting the call for Saturday night’s game.  Khudobin has not had the spark after a slow start the Ward has had, with a record of 0-3-1, 3.24, .891 in his four appearances so far.  He has not appeared in a game since October 24^th, when he allowed five goals on 28 shots in a 6-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.  Khudobin is 3-1-0, 2.74, .913 in four career appearances against Washington.

If there is a Hurricane to watch in this game, it will be Elias Lindholm.  The fifth overall draft pick in 2013 is 4-2-6 in the Hurricane’s four-game winning streak, including the game winning goal in three of the wins, one of them the overtime winner last night against Columbus.  In three appearances against the Caps in his young career, Lindholm has one goal on one shot.

Here is how the Caps and 'Canes compare so far this season:
 

1.  Whatever Carolina’s recent good fortune, they have lost each period so far this season, outscored by 10-8 in the first period of games, 14-9 in the second, and 13-10 in the third period.  In that four-game winning streak, however, the profile is different, outscoring teams 5-1 in the first, 5-3 in the second, and holding them even in the third, 2-2.  Carolina has the only overtime goal, that coming last night against the Blue Jackets.

2. Only three teams in the league have scored fewer 5-on-5 goals than the Hurricanes (18).  Winnipeg, Buffalo, and Florida are those teams behind Carolina. At the other end, only seven teams have allowed more 5-on-5 goals than the Hurricanes (27).

3.  Carolina has been an equal opportunity loser so far.  They have a sub-.500 winning percentage in one-goal games (2-1-2), two-goal games (1-2), and decisions of three or more games (1-3).

4.  If the Caps out-shoot the Hurricanes, it is a good indicator that the Hurricanes are in trouble.  Carolina is 0-4-2 when teams out-shoot them.

5. Just don’t give up the first goal against the Hurricanes.  Carolina is 4-0-1 when scoring first, 0-6-1 when allowing the first goal.  They are the only team without a regulation loss when scoring first and without a win when allowing the first goal.  Carolina and Buffalo are the only teams without a win when trailing first in games.

1.  Last night was the Caps’ first win of the season when allowing the game’s first goal (1-4-3). 

2.  Only four teams have more 5-on-5 goals than the 28 scored by the Caps.  Last season the Caps were tied for 21^st in 5-on-5 goals scored.

3.  Last night was the Caps’ second win of the season when not scoring a power play goal, their first in regulation time.  They are 2-1-1 in such games.

4.  The Caps improved to 2-3-3 in one-goal decisions, but that just means they are still 29^th in the league in winning percentage in such games, with only Colorado behind them.

5.  Last night was the first time that the Caps allowed 40 shots in a game this season.  Last season they allowed 40 or more shots 13 times with a 7-4-2 record in those games.

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Carolina: Alexander Semin

No goals, three assists, three points, three more seasons at $7 million per after this one.  Not exactly a “value” player, eh?  Alexander Semin has been all but invisible in ten games so far this season.  He has been a healthy scratch twice in his last four games.  He did manage an assist against Columbus last night, he first point since he recorded two assists against the New York Islanders in Game 2 on October 11^th.  It is part of what looks to be a slow air leak in his production ever since he arrived in Carolina.  After he closed the 2012-2013 season fast with three goals in his last four games, he has 22 in 75 games over the last two seasons, not exactly what Carolina fans might have had in mind when he was signed away from the Capitals.  In nine career games against the Caps, Semin is 2-5-7, minus-2.

Washington: Nate Schmidt

The Caps sign two big-name free agent defensemen.  Mike Green enjoys a resurgence from the blue line.  John Carlson and Karl Alzner have their faithful fan followings.  Dmitry Orlov is recuperating from a broken arm.  Meanwhile, there is Nate Schmidt, plugging along.  He is not getting a lot of ice time (14:30 a game, sixth among the regular six defensemen), but he is managing it well.  He does not have a point (the only one of the regular six without one), but he is a plus-7, best on the team, and he has been on ice for only five goals against, again best on the team.  Not every defenseman is an Erik Karlsson (or a Mike Green) in the offensive end, and not every defenseman is Shea Weber in the defensive end.  Some guys are effective without anyone knowing about it.  Consider yourself informed. 

In the end…

Carolina is playing well, doing it with an improved defense.  That will be tested tonight when Anton Khudobin steps between the pipes in place of Cam Ward.  At the other end, the Caps had a good win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night, but it was hardly a win in the manner the coaches would have drawn up – a three-goal offensive burst in the last five minutes of the third period while being otherwise dominated by the home team to the tune of 40 shots and a 2-to-1 disadvantage in shot attempts.  This is an opportunity for the Caps to get back on track with their game plan in the first of a three-game home stand.  Sounds like an idea…

Capitals 4 – Hurricanes 2

A TWO-point night -- Game 13: Capitals 3 - Blackhawks 2

The Washington Capitals thumbed their nose at Corsi.  They gave the middle finger to Fenwick.  Then they used a three-goal burst in a span of 4:52 late in the second period to catch and pass the Chicago Blackhawks to give them the winning margin in a 3-2 win at United Center on Friday night. 

It did not have the look of a winning evening for the Caps as the game began.  The teams went scoreless for the first 17 minutes of the first period, but the Blackhawks had the better of the play, outshooting the Caps to that point, 14-8.  On their 15^th shot of the period, Brandon Saad finished a 2-on-1 rush with Marian Hossa to give Chicago a 1-0 lead at the first intermission. 

Less than a minute into the second period, Duncan Keith celebrated his 700^th NHL game by slamming a rebound of a Brad Richards shot past goalie Braden Holtby on a power play to make it 2-0, Chicago.  At that point it looked as if the Caps were going to go quietly to their sixth straight loss.  Through 15 minutes of the period the Blackhawks enjoyed that two goal lead and a 24-14 edge in shots on goal.  Then, things took a turn.

As the clock ticked down to the five-minute mark of the second period, Marcus Johansson stole a pass in the Capitals’ zone and fed Andre Burakovsky at the Caps’ blue line.  With Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook having pinched in on the play, Burakovsky took off with Troy Brouwer on what became a 2-1on-1 break with oply Keith back for the Blackhawks.  As Burakovsky and Brouwer broke into the Chicago zone, Keith laid out to deny Burakovsky a passing lane to Brouwer.  Burakovsky then called his own number and wristed a shot over goalie Corey Crawford’s glove and under the crossbar on the far side to halve the Blackhawks’ lead.

Four minutes later the game was tied.  The Caps worked the puck in deep, Marcus Johansson spinning it around the end boards from the left wing wall.  Brouwer was there to accept the puck, then send it in front to Burakovsky, whose shot was muffled in front.  The puck slid out to Matt Niskanen at the top of the right wing faceoff circle.  His shot attempt rolled off his stick but right onto that of Johansson who turned and fired the puck past Crawfoed’s right pad to tie the game with just 47 seconds left in the second period.

That might have been how the teams went to the locker room for the second intermission.  The Caps kept up the offensive zone pressure, though, and it was rewarded just before the horn at the end of the period.  It began with Joel Ward behind the Chicago net sliding the puck to Jason Chimera in the corner to Crawford’s right.  Chimera sent the puck out to Karl Alzner at the left point, and Alzner relayed it to Matt Niskanen at the right point.  Niskanen had nothing but open ice to wind and fire, and his shot was tipped by Ward over Crawford’s glove to give the Caps a 3-2 lead with just 4.4 seconds left in the period.

The Caps then put the game in Holtby’s hands, and the goalie, who had been struggling in the face of low shot volumes, stopped all 13 shots he faced in the third period to preserve the 3-2 win and end the Caps’ losing streak at five games.

Other stuff…

-- The 40 shots on goal for Chicago is a high for shots allowed this season by the Caps, only the second time that they allowed more than 30 shots in a game, and the first time they allowed a team more than ten shot in each period.

-- Andre Burakovsky broke a personal three-game streak without a point with his goal and assist.  His performance lifted him into second place in scoring among NHL rookies (3-7-10).

-- Marcus Johansson’s two points (1-1-2) made it four straight games with points (3-3-6).  His goal was his sixth, leaving him tied for second on the club with Alex Ovechkin.

-- Joel Ward took over the team lead in goals with his game-winner, his seventh overall and his second game-winning goal of the season, which also leads the team.

-- Matt Niskanen’s two assists broke a five-game streak without a point.

-- What does Barry Trotz think of Nicklas Backstrom’s game apart from his offense?  With the Caps nursing a one-goal lead, Backstrom played 5:38 of the last 11 minutes of the contest and 2:33 of the last 3:19.

-- Corsi was not kind to the Caps.  Chicago out-attempted the Caps, 66-32.  That’s right, 66-32.  It was 53-27 at 5-on-5. 

-- This was the tenth time in his career that Braden Holtby faced 40 or more shots in a game.  In those contests he is 6-4-0, 2.63, .936.

-- Brooks Laich returned to the lineup for this game and skated a modest 12:54 in ice time.  The odd part of that was a stretch in the second period in which on three consecutive shifts he skated six seconds, eight seconds, and seven seconds.  By the third period, though, he was skating a more normal load, finishing the last 20 minutes with 5:16 in ice time.

-- The Caps held the Blackhawks without a goal in the third period.  It was the first time the Caps shut out an opponent in the final period since they did so in a 3-1 win over Calgary back on October 25^th.  In the five games following that win, all losses, the Caps allowed a total of nine goals in the last period.  The Caps are 4-1-0 when holding a team scoreless in the third period, 1-4-3 when they do not.

In the end…

The Caps are Team Contrary when it comes to possession numbers in their first 13 games.  They were “playing” the right way in their five-game losing streak but getting no reward.  Against the Blackhawks the home team carried play for most of the game, but the Caps had that one burst at the end of the second period to carry the day.  In that respect it was Braden Holtby’s night to shine.  Having played inconsistently in recent starts, Holtby shook off goals on consecutive shots at the end of the first and the start of the second period and slammed the door on any further Chicago hijinks.  It might not have been the way the coaching staff drew it up, but it is a just reward for a team that was frustrated in recent games while winning the fancystat wars.  There is balance in the realm of hockey.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 13: Capitals at Blackhawks, November 7th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

Fresh off a home stand that seemed more like road kill, the Washington Capitals take their act to the road in hopes of not being road kill at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Friday night.

Washington is having a tough time of it.  Losers of five straight, at least they managed to get the fifth and latest of those games into overtime before falling to the Calgary Flames, 4-3.  What that fourth goal meant, though, is that the Caps have allowed four or more goals in five straight games for the first time since November 11-24, 2008.  

In the Chicago Blackhawks, the Caps will be facing a team that has struggled scoring goals in the early part of the season. In 13 games the Blackhawks have scored more than two goals only five times, and they have been shut out twice in their last five contests.  They are averaging only 2.46 goals per game, 21st in the league, after finishing second in scoring offense in each of the last two seasons.

It is hard to pinpoint a reason for the low offensive output to date.  The Blackhawks are reasonably balanced (nine players with two or more goals, 11 with five or more points); they just seem to have received not enough from up and down the lineup.  For example, Jonathan Toews leads the team in scoring (5-5-10), but he is only tied for 42nd in league scoring.  The same applies to Patrick Kane, whose nine points (4-5-9) is tied for second on the club but only tied for 56th in the league.

The Blackhawks came out of an extended offensive funk with a 5-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, but before that they scored a total of 12 goals over a span of seven games, only once scoring more than two goals.  Jonathan Toews had three of those 12 goals, and Brent Seabrook had a pair during that slump.  Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, and Brad Richards each had three assists.  After that, the secondary scoring was almost non-existent, at least until the 5-0 win over Montreal when five different players recorded goals.

The scoring problems have put a heavier burden on Chicago’s goaltending, but it has been up to the task.  Corey Crawford was second in the league in goals against average going into Thursday night's games (1.53) and sixth in save percentage (.938).  He was tied for tenth in save percentage at even strength among qualifying goaltenders.  Only once in seven appearances has he allowed more than two goals.  Like Caps goaltenders, Crawford has benefitted from low shot volumes.  Since facing 34 shots in a 3-2 trick shot win in his first appearance of the season, Crawford has not faced more than 28 shots in any game, and he is facing an average of 24.7 shots per 60 minutes.   In four career appearances against the Caps he is 2-1-1, 3.77, .875.

Here is how the teams compare in their numbers to date:

 

1. No team in the league has had more one-goal decisions than Chicago.  They are not doing well with them.  In ten one-goal decisions the Blackhawks are 4-5-1, tied for 19^th in winning percentage.  At the other end of the spectrum, Chicago is one of five teams yet to lose a decision by three or more goals (Pittsburgh, Detroit, Ottawa, and the Caps are the others).

2.  Chicago is 25^th in 5-on-5 goals scored per game (1.46).  Carolina, Anaheim, Winnipeg, Florida, and Buffalo are the others.

3.  Where Chicago has shined so far is on the penalty kill.  No team has allowed fewer power play goals so far this season (3). Over their last nine games the Blackhawks are 25-for-26 (96.2 percent) on the penalty kill.

4.  The long change of the second period does not seem to agree with Chicago, at least on offense.  While the Blackhawks have scored 13 goals in the first period (tied for fourth) and 14 goals in the third period (tied for eighth), they have only four goals in the second period of games, last in the league.

5.  Hits are a somewhat arbitrary metric, but there were the Blackhawks sitting 27^th in the league in hits going into Thursday's games.  They and the Red Wings are the only teams left yet to take a major penalty of any kind.

1.  The Caps are pretty conventional when it comes to record when scoring or trailing first.  They are 4-1-1 when scoring the first goal, 0-4-2 when scored upon first.  They, along with Carolina and Buffalo, are the only teams in the league without a win when allowing the first goal.

2. No team has spent less time skating with the man advantage than the Caps (54:19), almost five fewer minutes than the New York Rangers (58:59).

3.  Scoring third period goals is not the Caps’ thing, at least this early in the season.  Only four teams – Columbus, Buffalo, Florida, and Winnipeg – have scored fewer than the nine third period goals scored by the Caps.

4. The Caps are a middle-of-the-road team when it comes to taking faceoffs (49.6 percent; 16^th in the league).  What they don’t do is take many draws.  Only Minnesota, Florida, and Carolina have taken fewer faceoffs than the 723 taken by the Caps.

5.  Alex Ovechkin’s next assist will be his 400^th in the NHL.  Since he came into the league, only ten players have more:

• Joe Thornton
• Henrik Sedin
• Sidney Crosby
• Martin St. Louis
• Ryan Getzlaf
• Pavel Datsyuk
• Daniel Sedin
• Evgeni Malkin
• Brad Richards
• Henrik Zetterberg

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Chicago: Marian Hossa

When Marian Hossa scored a goal late in the third period of Chicago’s 5-4 trick shot win over Ottawa on October 30th, it was his 1,000th point in the NHL.  It is the high point of a season in which he stumbled out of the gate.  Over his first 16 seasons in the league, Hossa averaged 0.91 points per game.  However, through 13 games this season he has just five points (0.38 per game) and has not recorded one since that goal against Ottawa, a pointless streak of three games.  Part of it is that he might be shooting in bad luck.  He has just two goals on 41 shots so far (4.9 percent), by far the lowest shooting percentage of his career if sustained over a full season (11.0 in 2007-2008 being his lowest).

Washington: Evgeny Kuznetsov

Caps fans might not have envisioned Evgeny Kuznetsov skating on the fourth line with the occasional power play assignment, but that is where he has been spending most of his time since the season began.  In spite of that, however, Kuznetsov was tied for eighth in scoring among rookies (1-5-6) going into Thursday night's games while skating 12:36 a game in ice time, 37^th among rookies.  When he was shut out on the score card against Calgary on Tuesday, it broke a three-game points streak that tied his longest of the season and longest of his just-begun career.  Kuznetsov will be making his second career appearance against Chicago.  He had an assist in a 4-0 Caps win over the Blackhawks last April 11^th.

In the end…

This preview of the 2015 Winter Classic features two teams that are struggling.  Chicago can’t score, and the Caps can‘t hold a lead.  This game, however, might turn on something else, strength on strength, the Caps’ second-ranked power play against the Blackhawks’ second-ranked penalty kill (before last night's games).  Washington has power play goals in 9 of their last 11 games (33.3 percent), so they will present a challenge for that Blackhawk penalty killing group.  The Caps have won four of their last six meeting against Chicago, so what’s one more?

Capitals 3 – Blackhawks 2

A ONE-point night -- Game 12: Flames 4 - Capitals 3 (OT)

Another lead, another loss. The Washington Capitals lost their fifth straight game last night, this time to the Calgary Flames, 4-3, in overtime. It also represented the fifth straight game in which the Caps could not hold a lead in dropping the decision. It spoiled a night on which Alex Ovechkin became the franchise’s all-time points leader, surpassing Peter Bondra when he assisted on Nicklas Backstrom’s game-tying goal in the first period.

That goal was a game-tying one because Calgary's Lance Bouma opened the scoring at the 9:09 mark when he put back a rebound of a Kris Russell shot. The Caps tied it just 1:09 later when Ovechkin took a pass from Tom Wilson at the left point. He wristed a shot from long range that Backstrom redirected through goalie Jonas Hiller’s pads for the score. For Ovechkin it was his 826th point, passing Peter Bondra for the top spot in franchise history.

Calgary took back the lead mid-way through the second period on Mark Giordano’s fourth goal of the season. The Caps struck back quickly once more, this time just 43 seconds later. It was an odd play. Troy Brouwer fed Marcus Johansson the puck in the neutral zone, and Johansson circled into the Flames’ zone. From the top of the right wing circle Johansson wrong-footed a snap shot that went wide to Hiller’s left. The puck caromed hard of the end boards and rebounded off Hiller into the net for the goal to tie the game for the second time.

Joel Ward gave the Caps the lead three minutes later on a power play. With Calgary skating down two men, Nicklas Backstrom waited patiently for an opening from Hiller’s left. He found it when defenseman Mark Giordano, defending the top of the crease, moved his skate just enough to create an opening for a pass. Backstrom threaded the puck through the opening to Ward on the other side, and Ward fired the puck into Hiller’s pads. Hiller’s left skate kicked the puck behind him and over the goal line to give Washington a 3-2 lead.

For the fifth game in a row, it was a lead they could not hold. Markus Granlund tied the game on the sort of goal a team in a skid like the Caps gives up. From behind the Capitals’ net, Granlund centered the puck in front. Marcus Johansson was there to direct the puck into the corner, but in doing so he shot the puck off the skate of Troy Brouwer and past goalie Braden Holtby into his own net with just 4:10 left in regulation.

In overtime, Sean Monahan ended it in the last minute when he carried the puck into the Caps’ zone, left the puck for Josh Jooris, then took a nice return pass from Jorris, finishing the play and the game by snapping the puck over Holtby’s right pad. It was another quiet exit for Caps fans as the Caps dropped the second half of their two-game home stand, 4-3.

Other stuff…

-- Right off the opening draw there was a change.  Mike Green and Brooks Orpik started as a defensive pair.  It did not go well.  Green was on ice for all four Calgary goals and was paired with Orpik for two of them.  Nate Schmidt was Green’s pair for a third, and Matt Niskanen was alongside Green on the overtime winner.

-- That left John Carlson and Schmidt as the next pair of defensemen to take the ice.  That one worked better, if only by the default that Green and Orpik (or Green and whoever else) worked so poorly.  Carlson recorded an assist on Johansson’s goal, making it four straight games in which he recorded a point.

-- Ovechkin had two assists in taking over the top spot in career points with the Caps.  Nevertheless, he still inspires in a different way…

-- Calgary leaned heavily on four defensemen.  Kris Russell, Mark Giordano, Dennis Wideman, and T.J. Brodie all topped 25 minutes in ice time.  Ladislav Smid had barely 13 minutes, and Deryk Engelland didn’t make it to 12 minutes.  He did have a fight, though (his 38th career bout, Liam O’Brien’s third), so there was that.

-- Jason Chimera skated a team low 12:22 in ice time.  That’s four straight games under 13 minutes for Chimera.  He has just one point in his last seven games (none last night) and he has gone seven games since scoring his only goal of the season. 

-- Tom Wilson got another point.  That makes points in consecutive games, the first time since he  accomplished the feat since last Janaury against New Jersey and Montreal.

-- Marcus Johansson recorded a goal on two shots last night.  That’s three straight games in which Johansson recorded multiple shots on goal, and it was his ninth multiple shot game of the season.  If that doesn’t sound impressive, compare his getting his ninth multiple shot game in Game 12 of the season to his getting it in Game 25 last season.

-- You hold a team to 11 shots, total, over the last 20 minutes of regulation, you really should win.  The third goal was a fluke, but that awkward looking backhand by Giordano… that’s the kind of goal that is nullifying all the good work the Caps are doing in holding shot attempts and shot totals down.

-- Speaking of which, that is ten games in 12 that the Caps out-shot their opponent, and the Caps are 3-4-3 in those games.  Only Minnesota has allowed fewer shots per game (22.8) than the Caps (25.2). 

-- That was the third game this season that the Caps lost when taking a lead into the third period.  No team has lost more games (San Jose and Colorado also have three losses).

In the end…

Barry Trotz said the other day that if you get to three (meaning goals scored), it should be enough to win in this league.  The Caps are just 3-2-2 when getting to three, and they got to three in each of their last three losses.  In football, quarterbacks take an out-sized share of credit for wins and blame for losses.  The same with goalies in hockey.  However, Braden Holtby is under .900 in save percentage in four of his past five games, despite facing fewer than 25 shots in four of them (23 last night).  He has yet to face 30 shots in a game in nine appearances, yet his overall save percentage is .891.  Of 37 goalies appearing in at least five games, Holtby’s even strength save percentage of .887 ranks 36th.  There is the odd fluke goal in there, but a lot of good work is going to waste because not enough pucks are being stopped.  With Chicago next up, the task in doing so is not going to get easier.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 12: Flames at Capitals, November 4th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

The Washington Capitals end their mini-two-game home stand on Tuesday night when the Calgary Flames come to town in the second and last game of the season series between the clubs.  The Caps are trying to right themselves after heading into a ditch since their 3-1 win in Calgary on October 25th.  In four games since then the Caps have not scored consistently enough (12 goals, but five of them coming in a 6-5 loss to Arizona on Sunday), have given up far too many goals (18 in those four games), have had a poor time of it killing penalties (12-for-17; 70.6 percent), and have not been able to make up for that shortcoming despite a pretty good power play (4-for-13; 30.8 percent).

On the other hand, the Flames come into this game with points in three contests since dropping their game in Calgary to the Caps (2-0-1).  After losing in a Gimmick to Montreal at home on October 28th, 2-1, the Flames knocked off Nashville, 4-3, then beat the Canadiens in a rematch, 6-2, at Bell Centre.

One of the keys for Calgary has been minimizing shorthanded situations faced.  After facing 32 such situations in their first ten games, the Flames have found themselves shorthanded only five times over their last three contests, only once in each of the last two games.  That they are 4-for-5 on the penalty kill over those games is something that has contributed to their good fortune of late.

Calgary is not a team that does it, at least so far this season, with forward-dominated scoring.  Three of the top four point-getters are defensemen, only Jiri Hudler (3-7-10) representing forwards in that top-four group.  Hudler is ranked 36^th among league forwards in points.  What is worse for the Flames, at least for this game, is that their leading goal-scorer among forwards is Mason Raymond (5).  He is tied for 21^st among NHL forwards in goals.  The unfortunate part for the Flames is that Raymond is on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.

Here is how the teams compare in their numbers through Sunday’s games:

1.  Calgary is giving up 0.75 fewer goals per game through 13 games (2.15; 9th in the league) than they did last season (2.90; 24th).  It certainly doesn’t hurt that the big change is in goal.  Last season Karri Ramo took the lion’s share of appearances and did a credible job behind a poor team (.911 save percentage on a team whose other three goalies had a combined save percentage of .895).  This season Ramo is continuing that level of work, if less frequently (.914 save percentage in five appearances).  Meanwhile, Jonas Hiller, signed to a two-year/$9.0 million contract as a free agent last July, has a .938 save percentage  in eight appearances and a miniscule 1.84 goals against average.

2.  Calgary has also amped up its 5-on-5 play.  Last year the Flames 5-on-5 goals for/goals against ratio was 0.80 28th in the league).  After 13 games this season it is 1.41 (6th).  Only three of 16 Flames players appearing in at least ten games so far is a “minus” player (Ladislave Smid, Brandon Bollig, and Lance Bouma).

3.  Calgary is not doing it with shot differential.  Their 27.1 shots per game ranks 28th in the league, while their 29.4 shots allowed per game ranks 15th.  Their shot differential of minus-2.3 shots per game ranks 21st in the league.

4.  As of Sunday’s games the league has four defensemen with ten or more points.  The Flames have two of them – T.J. Brodie (4-8-12) and Mark Giordano (3-8-11).  The Flames have five power play goals and 13 points from defensemen on the power play (by way of comparison, the numbers are two goals and seven points for Caps defensemen).

5. Calgary is doing it with mirrors.  Their possession numbers are awful – Corsi-for percentage at 5-on-5 of 43.33 (28^th in the league), Fen-Close for at 5-on-5 of 46.17 (26^th; numbers from war-on-ice.com).

1.  In the last six games, over which the Caps are 1-5-0, the Caps goaltenders have a combined cumulative save percentage of .864).  It has been an equal opportunity effort.  Justin Peters has a .857 save percentage in two appearances, while Braden Holtby has a .868 save percentage in four appearances.  Holtby has had a disturbing tendency to drift as games go on.  He has a .887 first period save percentage, but included in that was an awful three goals on seven shots effort against San Jose.  Take that out, and he has a .938 first period save percentage.  After that it is .912 in the second period, .900 in the third.  More evidence that low shot volumes (24.9 per 60 minutes) are a problem for him?

2.  When Nicklas Backstrom recorded three assists in the 6-5 loss to Arizona on Sunday, it was the 27th time he recorded three or more assists in a game.  That is the most in the league since he arrived (Sidney Crosby: 26).

3.  Alex Ovechkin’s four-point effort against the Coyotes on Sunday was the 18th time he recorded four or more points in a game.  Only Crosby (25), Joe Thornton (20), and Evgeni Malkin (19) have done it more (Backstrom, by the way, is tied for seventh on that list with 14 instances).

4.  The Caps have outshot opponents nine times in 11 games so far.  No team in the Eastern Conference has outshot their opponent as many times (Minnesota and Chicago have done it ten time in the West).  The Caps also have the sixth worst winning percentage in the league when doing so (.333; 3-4-2).

5.  The Caps, despite that train wreck against Arizona, are still sixth in the league in Corsi-for percentage overall (53.20) and seventh in Corsi-for percentage at 5-on-5 (53.45).   Their Fen-Close for percentage is fourth (54.55; numbers from war-on-ice.com).  Really?  And 4-5-2?  Didn’t we ask this question last game, too?

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Calgary: Johnny Gaudreau

“Johnny Hockey” took a little while to get used to the NHL game, but he seems to be settling in just fine.  A fourth-round draft pick in 2011 out of Boston College, Gaudreau went without a point in his first five games, then was a healthy scratch against the Columbus Blue Jackets.  In seven games since that slow start, he is 2-6-8 with three multi-point games.  Both of his goals were game-winners, one against Winnipeg in a 4-1 win on October 19th, and one against Nashville in a 4-3 win on Hallowe’en.  Gaudreau, who is listed (perhaps generously) at 5’9”, 150 pounds, has seen his ice time jump from the low double digits in his first six games to 15 or more minutes in each of his last six contests.  As of Sunday he was still waiting on being told by the club to find a permanent residence instead of the hotel in which he is living in Calgary. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=737022 He’s making it hard to the team to do anything but tell him to check the apartment listings.  He was held without a point in 17 minutes of ice time in the Caps’ 3-1 win in Calgary on October 25th.

Washington: Matt Niskanen

Last Season in Pittsburgh, defenseman Matt Niskanen recorded 162 shots in 81 games (2.0 per game) and finished the season with a career high 10 goals and 46 points.  It earned him a big pay check in free agency, courtesy of the Washington Capitals.  So far, Niskanen has 11 shots in 11 games (1.0) and is looking for his first goal for the Caps.  His role is not as diverse as that which he played in Pittsburgh, especially when Kris Letang was sidelined with a stroke.  However, his offensive play has gone into a spin lately – no shots on goal in three of his last four games, no points, and minus-5.  He has been on ice for 11 even strength goals, tied for most on the team with partner Karl Alzner.  Maybe we’re still in the eHarmony phase of the relationship, but the Caps are going to have to get better play from Niskanen in all three zones to shake the funk in which they find themselves.  He is 3-4-7, plus-3, in 19 career games against Calgary.

In the end…

The Caps’ win at Calgary ten days ago is their only win in their last six contests.  It was not an especially dominating one as the Caps won, 3-1, although they did dominate the shot meter, 30-21, and held the Flames without an even strength goal.  Since that game the Flames have dug themselves out of a hole, going 2-0-1 to lift themselves into a tie for second in standings points in the Pacific Division with Vancouver and San Jose.

At the moment, there are teams going in different directions.  Calgary is winning with offense (3.67 goals per game in their last three games since losing to the Caps) and defense (2.00 goals per game), while the Caps try to find both (outscored 18-12 in their last four games, all losses, since beating Calgary).  So of course, we think the curse will be reversed.

Capitals 4 – Flames 2

A NO-point night -- Game 11: Coyotes 6 - Capitals 5

For 16 minutes last night, the Washington Capitals looked like a team to be reckoned with.  For the last 44 minutes, they looked like a wreck as the Arizona Coyotes pasted the Caps for five straight goals after the Caps took a 3-1 lead in those first 16 minutes.  The Caps scored a couple of window dressing goals late to make the 6-5 final more respectable, if not easier to swallow.

For a detailed look at the game, take a look at the quick-recap and more lengthy recap we penned over at Japers’ Rink.

Other stuff…

-- Arizona came into this game not having won a game on the road and suffering the ignominy of being shut out by the Carolina Hurricanes for the Hurricanes first win of the season the previous night.  Well, now the Coyotes have one road win.

-- The Caps had been outscored, 8-0, in the third period over their last four games before they scored those two goals in the last 1:53 of the game.

-- Alex Ovechkin, with four points on the evening, tied Peter Bondra for the franchise record in points (825).  Bondra set his record with a goal in a 4-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on February 15, 2004, in what was Bondra’s penultimate game with the Caps.  Oddly enough, Bondra’s last game with the Caps was against the Ottawa Senators, to which he would be traded the following day.

-- Caps fans can take small solace (yeah, very small) in Martin Erat going minus-2, pointless, and with a penalty for his evening. 

-- Ovechkin gets the coupon for the all-you-can-eat buffet… a goal, three assists, four points, seven shots on goal, 14 shot attempts, five hits, a takeaway.  Oh, yeah, two minor penalties, one of which led to the goal Shane Doan goal that tied the game and sucked what was left of the momentum out of the Caps’ end of the ice.  Sure, it was an iffy penalty, but like the sign says, “players are responsible for their sticks.”

-- In case you haven’t noticed, for all the needles at Brooks Orpik since the season started, the other big-money free agent defenseman doesn’t yet have a goal (he is averaging precisely half the shots on goal he averaged per game last season) and doesn’t have a point in his last four games.

-- Speaking of Matt Niskanen, he was one of only three Caps without a shot on goal (Karl Alzner and Andre Burakovsky were the others).

-- It was the type as well as the frequency of penalties that was annoying (ok, the refs were annoying, too)… holding, interference, hooking, hi-sticking, hi-sticking.  Stick and impedance fouls strike us as signs of laziness. 

-- Mike Green had his first “minus” game of the season.  He was a minus-1 after going a cumulative plus-8 in his first nine games, five of them in plus terrirtory.

-- Tom Wilson had a goal, an assist, and two roughing minors…sort of a “Gordie Howe Hat-Trick Lite.”  Be strong and get well, Mr. Hockey.

In the end...

It was a grisly effort by the Caps against a team that, frankly, stinks.  Four straight losses, five in six games, post-game closed-door players meeting, somber barely-able-to-contain-his-anger-coach at the press conference, players rolling out all the “contrite” and “thoughtful” quotes after the game.  Hey Caps fans, look familiar?