Washington Capitals: 2014-2015 By the Tens -- Forwards: Michael Latta

“If the power to do hard work is not a skill, it's the best possible substitute for it.”

-- James A. Garfield

If you hear the words, “Last Man Standing,” you might think of a television sit-com.  However, if you are a fan of the Washington Capitals, you might think, “Michael Latta.”  As in, the last man standing in Washington after the Great Train Birdbrain Lamebrain Featherbrain Bloodstain Disdain Impossible-to-Explain Excruciating-Pain Scatterbrain Painful-Eye-Strain Robbery of 2013.  Washington prospect Filip Forsbrg was sent to Nashville in the trade, Martin Erat (the principal object of return for the Caps in the deal) lasted 66 regular season and playoff games over two seasons before being shipped off to Phoenix for a defenseman (Rostislav Klesla) they quickly trade for a goalie (Jaroslav Halak) that they subsequently lost in free agency, and a prospect who is still in the AHL (Chris Brown).

So much noise, so little music.

Except that Michael Latta is the type of player who can make a lot of noise, of the sort that clanging pots make or cartoon explosions.  He is, to be polite about it, a feisty sort.  In 70 games over two seasons with the Caps, he has 80 penalty minutes, 50 of those minutes coming in ten fighting majors.  In 2014-2015 those numbers were 68 minutes in total, 40 of them coming on eight bouts.

To call Latta a “role player” is perhaps a bit generous.  Among 13 Capitals forwards appearing in at least 50 games, Latta had the lowest ice time per game (8:44).  That level of participation was not conducive to big numbers.  For example, among those 13 forwards, Latta finished…

• 13^th in goals (0)
• 13^th in assists (6)
• 13^th in points (6)
• 9^th in plus-minus (plus-4)

He was one of two Capitals forwards in that group without a game-winning goal (Tom Wilson was the other).  He was one of three forwards without a special teams point (Wilson and Jason Chimera were the others).  That ice time was a factor.  His 42 games logging 10 or fewer minutes almost doubled the next highest total on the club (Wilson: 26).

We do not mean to denigrate Latta’s performance or his game.  Like the closing line in Milton’s sonnet, “On His Blindness,” they also serve who only stand and wait.  The Caps did have a 4-1-0 record when he recorded a point and a 9-0-2 record when he skated 10 or more minutes. 

Fearless’ Take: Latta's contributions in the rougher edges of the game had some meaning.  The Caps were 6-2-0 in games in which he had a fighting major, and they were 8-3-2 in the 13 games in which his hits differential (hits recorded less hits taken) was plus-2 or better (numbers from war-on-ice.com).

Cheerless’ Take: Better watch the tire pressure, cuz.  You're pumping them a bit too much.  In the 53 games Latta played, the Caps were 29-17-7.  That’s 65 of 106 potential standings points (61.3 percent).  In the 29 games he did not play, the Caps were 16-9-4; 36 of 58 potential standings points (62.1 percent).  His presence was not of the difference-making kind.

Odd Latta Fact: 357 forwards appeared in at least 50 games in the NHL in 2014-2015.  Only Michael Latta among them did not record a goal.  Only Columbus' Corey Tropp recorded fewer shots on goal (22) than Latta (24) in that group, but he did have a goal.  Latta had to close with a rush (that term being relative) to get to “24” (a "meh" week's worth of shots for Alex Ovechkin).  He had six shots over the last ten games in which he appeared.  He did not record a shot in 34 of his 53 games. Maybe Marcus Johansson can give him tips.

Game to Remember: December 18^th versus Columbus.  When the Capitals headed to Columbus for their December 18^th contest, they were fresh off a 20-round shootout loss to the Florida Panthers.  While it was just their second loss in their previous six games, neither of them in regulation, getting back on a winning track was the goal.  Washington split their first two meetings with the Blue Jackets, but this would be the first meeting of the season in Ohio.  It would end up being something of a wild and woolly affair.

Washington opened the scoring mid-way through the first period on a Joel Ward goal.  In the last minute of the period the Caps doubled their advantage on what was a play by Latta worthy of Nicklas Backstrom.  Just after the Caps killed a Columbus power play, the Caps had a faceoff in the Blue Jackets’ end.  Latta won the draw from Ryan Johansen back to John Carlson.  A shot from Carlson was blocked, but the puck came out to Brooks Orpik at the left point.  He one timed a shot-pass to Latta, who set up at the top of the crease to goalie Sergei Bobrovsky’s right.  In one motion, Latta accepted the pass, then backhanded the puck across the crease to Jason Chimera for a tap-in goal.

Columbus took a 3-2 lead early in the third period and had the Caps on their heels.  The Caps tied the game on a somewhat accidental play involving Latta.  Chimera took a pass from Jay Beagle in the Caps’ end and skated the puck up the left wing.  As he was approaching the Columbus blue line, he laid it off to Latta in the middle.  Latta skated in and tried to curl off, but he had the puck poked off his stick when three Blue Jacket defenders converged on him.  With that many defenders on one player, the loose puck was in open ice where Karl Alzner picked it up, skated in, and fired it past Bobrovsky.  The Caps would need those two points from Latta – his first two-point game in the NHL – in what would end as a 5-4 Gimmick win.

Game to Forget: January 16^th versus Nashville.  When the Caps flew into Nashville on January 16^th, it would mark the first opportunity for Latta to face the team that traded him away.  It did not go nearly as well for Latta, coach Barry Trotz (also facing the Predators for the first time since he left as head coach), or the Caps.  Latta had barely eight minutes of ice time and only two shifts in the third period.  The Caps blew a 3-2 lead in the last five minutes after spotting the Predators two goals to open the game, the dagger coming off a brutal giveaway by Matt Niskanen with less than two minutes left.  The Caps lost, 4-3.

Postseason: 0-0-0, minus-1

There really is not much to say here.  Latta appeared in only four games – all in the first round – and had a total of 27:42 in ice time (John Carlson skated 29:10 in Game 7 of the second round against the New York Rangers).  Part of his absence was due to illness in the second round, but it was an iffy proposition on a night-to-night basis whether he would be called upon to skate.

In the end…

One cannot say it was an especially noteworthy year for Michael Latta.  Then again, of how many fourth liners might that be said in any year?  Last January, a famous hockey analyst and fashion icon called the New York Islanders’ fourth line “maybe the best fourth line ever in hockey.”  They were eliminated in the first round by the Capitals.  There are limits to what a fourth liner is going to contribute, just as there are limits in Latta’s game, at least in this, the early stage of his career.  What he does not possess in skill, he is going to have to replace with hard work.  Hard work is something that can be said to occupy Latta’s game this season.

Grade: C+

Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: 2014-2015 By the Tens -- Forwards: Brooks Laich

“Here is the rule to remember in the future, When anything tempts you to be bitter: not, 'This is a misfortune' but 'To bear this worthily is good fortune.'”

-- Marcus Aurelius

For five seasons, from 2007-2008 through 2011-2012, one Washington Capitals player recorded a total of at least 100 goals, at least 200 points, at least 35 power play goals, and at least five shorthanded goals: Brooks Laich.  Over those five seasons, Laich missed a total of four games, the 406 games in which he appeared being 16 more than the second-highest number on that list, 390 by Ovechkin.  He was the jack-o-all-trades, the player who fit into any situation, so much so that he could be employed as a defenseman in a pinch.  

Then, following a troublesome and persistent problem with groin injuries, he appeared in just 60 of 130 regular season games the next two seasons, recording a total of nine goals and 19 points, only one of those goals on a power play and one of them shorthanded.  He was a shell of his former self.

However, after treatment and surgical procedures to correct a sports hernia and a “tight adductor,”  He came into the 2014-2015 season in perhaps the best health he enjoyed since the 2011-2012 season.

That lasted five games.  In his last shift of the October 18^th game against Florida, Laich took a hit from Shawn Thornton in the left shoulder.  He missed 15 of the team’s next 16 games, returning only for the Caps’ 3-2 win in Chicago on November 7^th.

Laich returned to the lineup for good, in a manner of speaking, on November 28^th against the New York Islanders.  Over the first six games after his return, Laich recorded three goals and an assist.  It looked as if the time off gave him a chance to repair, but a seven-game streak without a point left him 3-2-5, minus-1, after 22 games. 

It looked as if Laich was starting to right his ship when he broke his scoreless streak with a 2-2-4 run over five games to end the 2014 portion of the season and start the 2015 portion.  He could never get into a rhythm, however, and he managed just one goal over his next 36 games.  Another flurry, this time a three-game stretch in which he went 1-3-4, including a game-winning goal in a 4-2 win over Carolina on March 31^st, would end his scoring for the season.

Even with a return to better health, Laich’s production was disappointing.  His goals per game was his lowest for a full season (0.11) since his 2005-2006 rookie year.  His points per game was insignificantly better (0.30 per game) than his 2013-2014 result (0.29) and was far off the totals of his heyday when he posted points-per-game averages of half a point per game or better in four of five seasons.

Fearless’ Take:  Brooks Laich led the team’s forwards in shorthanded ice time per game.  At even strength he had his best scoring season (16 points) since 2011-2012.  His individual scoring chances at 5-on-5 were up by 50.0 percent from last season (form 62 to 93), while his scoring, while is scoring chances/on ice plus-minus was the best it was (plus-30) since the 2010-2011 season (plus-40).

Cheerless’ Take:  You done, cuz?  Laich was 12^th of 14 Caps forwards playing in at least 20 games in shot attempt plus-minus.   He was 11^th among those forwards in shot attempts/on ice relative to shot attempts off ice per 60 minutes.  He was 12^th in shot attempts/for percentage.  He played at least 100 5-on-5 minutes with four other forwards, and three of them had better Corsi-for percentages apart from him than they had with him.  And in terms of results, the Caps were 20-7-7 in games in which Laich skated 15 or more minutes (1.38 standings points per game), 19-11-2 in games in which he did not (1.25).  It does not look all that significant.

Odd Laich Fact:  Brooks Laich recorded a goal in his only trick shot attempt this season, extending his personal streak of successful attempts to four.  The last time he was unsuccessful was December 23, 2010, in a 3-2 Gimmick loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Game to Remember: December 6^th versus New Jersey.  It took a while for Brooks Laich to appear in ten games, having suffered that upper body injury against Florida five games into the season.  It was his 11^th, in New Jersey against the Devils that would be more memorable than the first ten.  Jay Beagle had just given the Caps a 2-1 lead nine minutes into the second period when Eric Gelinas took a holding penalty against Marcus Johansson.  On the ensuing power play, Laich fed Evgeny Kuznetsov along the right wing wall, then headed for the net.  Kuznetsov stepped out, lined up a shot, and using Laich as a screen fired the puck over goalie Cory Schneider’s left shoulder to make it 3-1.  It was Laich’s 300^th point in the NHL.  For good measure, he added an empty net goal in the Caps’ 4-1 win.

Game to Forget:  April 4^th versus Ottawa.  The Caps were on a three-game winning streak when they visited Ottawa in early April.  Brooks Liach had just had a three-game points streak stopped in the Caps’ 5-4 win in Montreal before facing the Senators and was looking to get back on a scoring roll.  Not only did Laich not return to the score sheet, he skated only two shifts in the third period in finishing with just 8:46 in ice time, his lowest of the season and his lowest in 179 dating back to February 2012 when he finished with just 9:46 against the San Jose Sharks.

Postseason: 1-1-2, plus-1, 15 shots on goal.

Brooks Laich had a respectable 1.61 shots per game during the regular season, but in 14 games he managed only 15 shots on goal.  He did not have more than two in a game after recording four in Game 3 of the opening round against the New York Islanders.  He did not record a point in the postseason after lighting the lamp in Game 5 against the Islanders, a 5-1 Caps win.  The two points he recorded was his lowest output in a postseason in six appearances.

In the end…

It is not as if Brooks Laich had a terrible year.  Perception of his season is going to be colored by the burden his contract places on the salary cap.  One cannot help but think the Caps are not getting their money’s worth when Jay Beagle ($900K cap hit) has ten goals to the seven that Laich ($4.5M cap hit) had, or when he was getting less even-strength ice time (12:09) than Eric Fehr (13:16 with a $1.5M cap hit).

The hopeful perspective is that Laich needs a full off-season to finally get back to 100 percent after years of persistent health problems.  The less hopeful one is that he will be turning 32 in a couple of weeks, and one wonders if it is an “old” 32, worn down by those same persistent injuries.

Laich had borne quite a burden over the last several years and endured it with as much optimism and good spirit as one could expect.  He has two years on his current contract, though, and it remains unclear whether that will be a value or a burden to the club.  The 2014-2015 season offered little clue as to which it might be.

Grade: C-

Photo: Elsa/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: 2014-2015 By the Tens -- Forwards: Evgeny Kuznetsov

“In rivers, the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes; so with present time.”

-- Leonardo da Vinci

When the 2014-2015 season dawned, Washington Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov was in the conversation of who might be among the Calder Trophy finalists as NHL rookie of the year come the spring.

Oddly enough, the focus of this attention was having little of it, deflecting the very notion of it…

“Of course only once in your career do you have a chance to win it.  But you have to realize that the Calder Trophy should be given to someone who is 18 years old, someone who is playing professionally for the first time. This is not my first year playing professionally. Again, if I am given the chance… As long as we keep winning as a team, it won’t be just me, but Andre Burakovsky will also have a chance to win it. As long as the team is winning, all individual trophies will come naturally.”

And frankly, he did not exactly give supporters a lot of ammunition to support his candidacy early in the season.  He recorded three assists in his first four games of the season, but he scored just one goal of his own in his first 20 contests, after which he was 1-5-6, plus-2, and was riding a nine-game streak without a point.  He had as many penalty minutes as points, and not particularly many of either.

His pace picked up over his next 13 games, but a 3-5-8, plus-3, scoring line was not going to make anyone forget Nashville’s Filip Forsberg or Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau, who at the time seemed to be measuring one another for a dash to the Calder at year’s end.  Then he fell into another dry spell, going 11 games with just one assist to his credit.

It was part of a season marked by streaks for Kuznetsov, but he ended it with a flourish, going 5-8-13, plus-5, in his last 17 games.  Despite averaging a little over 13 minutes of ice time per game, 26th overall among rookies appearing in at least half of their teams’ respective games, Kuznetsov finished:

• Tied for 11th in goals (11)
• 8th in assists (26)
• 9th in points (37)
• 13th in plus-minus (plus-10)
• Tied for 6th in power play goals (4)
• Tied for 3rd in power play points (13)
• 9th in shots on goal (127)
• Tied for 11th in takeaways (32)
• 1st in shootout goals scored (5)
• 2nd in shootout attempts converted (55.6 percent, minimum: 5 attempts)
• Tied for 9th in points/60 minutes (2.08)
• 6th in primary assists (17)

Fearless’ Take:  Kuznetsov and Trotz had something of a feeling-out period.  The player was spoon-fed ice time, logging fewer than ten minutes in seven of his first 20 games of the season.  Ice time turned out to matter for Kuznetsov, who did not record a point in any game in which he skated less than ten minutes.  However, in 21 games in which he skated more than 15 minutes he was 5-12-17, plus-9.  That would appear to be a reflection of deployment – skating fourth line minutes versus second line minutes (and second power play unit minutes).

Cheerless’ Take: Four (twice), seven, nine (twice).  Those were the game-streaks Kuznetsov had this season of four games or longer.  In all, he didn’t record a point in 48 of his 80 games (Compare that to 34 games in 80 for Johnny Gaudreau and 37 in 82 for Filip Forsberg, to cite two other rookies of note).

Odd Kuznetsov Fact:  The team was streaky with respect to Kuznetsov, too, especially late in the campaign.  Over the last 17 games in which Kuznetsov scored a point, from January 28th through the end of the season, the Caps won four in a row, lost five in a row, then won seven of their last eight contests.

Game to Remember: November 28th versus New York Islanders.  Over his first 20 games, Evgeny Kuznetsov averaged a shade over 11 minutes a game, only three times getting the call for more than 15 minutes in a contest.  And, he was without a point in nine straight games going into the Caps’ November 28th matchup against the Islanders at Verizon Center with just two modest three-game point streaks on his resume to date.

His season might have turned around mid-way through the first period.  Manning the Nicklas Backstrom position along the right wing wall with the second power play unit, Kuznetsov kept the puck on a string, just out of reach of Islander defenders, first up, then down the wall.  As he was inching his way back down the wall, he backhanded a pass under the stick of the Isles’ Frans Nielsen and into the wheelhouse of Matt Niskanen, who one-timed a shot that was redirected by Andre Burakovsky past goalie Chad Johnson to give the Caps a 1-0 lead.  Then, with the Caps holding a one-goal lead in the third period, it was Kuznetsov’s turn to finish a play.  It was only fair, since he started it by intercepting an attempt to clear the zone by the Islanders. Kuznetsov fed Troy Brouwer, whose shot was blocked Travis Hamonic.  Kuznetsov ran the puck down in the corner to Johnson’s right, circled out, then faked a shot that Hamomic went down to block.  Kuznetsov curled the puck around him to give him a better shooting angle and wristed the puck over Johnson’s right shoulder inside the near post to give the Caps some breathing room in what would be a 5-2 win.

Game to Forget: October 9th versus Montreal. It was Opening Night on F Street, and after the previous spring in which Kuznetsov had three goals and nine points in 17 games to wrap up the season, folks might have been looking for him to get off to a good start in his first full season with the Capitals.  It would have been nice, but then again, he would have had to have been on the ice for that to happen.  Kuznetsov skated five first period shifts for 3:59 in ice time, and that would end up being the bulk of his ice time for the evening.  He skated a total of five shifts over the last two periods of regulation and one shift in overtime totaling 11 shifts in all and just 6:36 in ice time.  Then, in the second round of the trick shot phase, he shot wide on goalie Dustin Tokarski as the Habs went on to win the shootout in five rounds and the game, 2-1.  It would be Kuznetsov’s lowest ice time total for a game this season.

Postseason: 5-2-7, plus 4, one game-winning/series-clinching goal, 42 shots on goal

If there was one Capital who outperformed his regular season in the postseason, it was Kuznetsov.  He tied Alex Ovechkin for the team lead in goals (5), was tied for fourth in points (7), was tied for second in plus-minus (plus-4), and tied for the team lead in multi-point games (2).  It was his goal that propelled the Caps past the New York Islanders and into the second round:

As it is, here we are in the Stanley Cup finals, and Kuznetsov still leads all rookie skaters in the playoffs in shots on goal (42), goals (5), and plus-minus (plus-4).

In the end…

Kuznetsov will get his wish.  Someone else will win the Calder Trophy this season as the league’s top rookie.  That does not do much to diminish Kuznetsov’s performance, of which it might be said that he was better late than he was early in the season, and he might have been the Caps’ best player in the postseason (or at least on a very short list).  He is a much better player now than he was in October, and there is every reason to expect that the player he is now will pale in comparison to the one he will become next season and beyond.

Grade: A-

Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: 2014-2015 By the Tens -- Forwards: Marcus Johansson

“God is not on the side of the big battalions, but on the side of those who shoot best.”

-- Voltaire

It started in the fall.  In 263 regular season games before this season, Marcus Johansson – a scoring line forward for much of his career to date with the Washington Capitals – averaged only 1.29 shots on goal per game.  Among 19 Capitals who played in at least 100 games in the four seasons Johansson skated for the Caps before this one, Johansson ranked 13^th in shots per game.  That was fewer than defensemen Mike Green (2.40) and John Carlson (2.04), and it was fewer than forward grinders Jason Chimera (2.14), Joel Ward (1.36), and Matt Hendricks (1.30).  A scoring line forward that shoots so infrequently does not score very much, even if he is a relatively efficient shooting player (12.1 percent in his first four seasons).

With a new head coach though, that was going to change.  Barry Trotz wanted Johansson to shoot more as part of a general philosophy:

“You get the puck, and you’re looking for the next play.  And I think when you have a shoot-first mentality, you get the puck and you’re looking to throw it towards the cage. They’re so skilled and so good at it — if it’s not there, last-second, change your mind, make a quick pass — they’re that good.”

Johansson was a good student.  In his first 15 games he recorded eight goals on 37 shots, capped by a two-goal, eight shot effort in a 4-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Veterans Day.  He broke his career best in shots on goal in a season (107) in Game 63.  He broke his career best in goals (14) in Game 64.

His assimilation of more of a “shoot-first” mentality enabled Johansson to finish with career highs in shots on goal (138), shots on goal per game (1.68, best since his rookie season of 1.48), and goals (20).  Curiously enough, he accomplished this while posting a shooting percentage (14.5) substantially better than his career percentage (12.1). 

Drilling down through the numbers, his Corsi-for percentage at 5-on-5 was the best of his career (53.2, besting the 51.4 he posted in 2012-2013).  His Scoring chances/on-ice percentage was the best of his career (plus-47, better than his plus-10 in 2012-2013), and his individual scoring chances at 5-on-5 (122) almost equaled the total he posted over the previous two seasons (132; numbers from war-on-ice.com).

Johansson’s history had been one of a willingness to shoot when in close, but his increased shooting frequency was more a product of calling his own number from farther out, as this graphic from sportingcharts.com comparing last season to this illustrates:

His average shooting distance was 24.87 feet this season, compared to 22.65 feet in 2013-2014.

The increase in shooting frequency came despite his getting fewer minutes in which to do it.  His 16:49 in average ice time was the second lowest of his five-year career.  And, the ice time came with different dominant partners.  In 2013-2014, Johansson skated most frequently with Alex Ovechkin (56.2 percent of his 5-on-5 ice time) and Nicklas Backstrom (54.2 percent) among forwards.  This season, his most frequent partners were Troy Brouwer (60.0 percent) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (36.9 percent; numbers from stats.hockeyanalysis.com).

Fearless’ Take: Marcus Johansson was one of three 20-goal scorers for the Caps this season (Alex Ovechkin and Troy Brouwer were the others).  In doing so, Johansson was rather consistent.  He posted goals in each of his eight ten-game segments, and he closed with a rush, recording six goals over his last 19 games.  Then there was the matter of scoring goals in general. Does that matter more than assists?  Perhaps for Johansson, this season, it did.  When scoring at least one goal without an assist, the Caps had a record of 9-2-3.  When recording at least one assist without scoring a goal, Washington was 11-6-3.  “Small sample size” applies here, but shooting more – and scoring more on his own – did not hurt the club.

Cheerless’ Take: Sometimes the kid in class backslides a bit.  Johansson recorded 76 shots in his first four ten-game segments, but he had only 62 in his last four.  His 1.47 shots per game in those last four segments was roughly his production in his rookie year (1.48).

Odd Johansson Fact: Marcus Johansson did not record a single penalty minute in his first four ten-game segments.  He had at least one penalty charged to him in each of his last four segments.  Not that it was a torrent of penalties; he finished the season with only ten penalty minutes.

Game to Remember: November 11^th versus Columbus. Marcus Johansson was off to a hot start in the 2014-2015 season.  He was 6-4-10, plus-1 over his first 13 games, including a four-game points streak that was interrupted in his 14^th game, a 4-3 overtime win over the Carolina Hurricanes.  Looking to start a new streak, Johansson wasted little time in doing just that.  In the second minute of the contest, Andre Burakovsky peeled the puck off the right wing wall in the Columbus zone and fed Troy Brouwer in the middle of the ice.  Brouwer got off a shot just as he was being the Jacket’s Adam Cracknell.  The puck leaked through to the low slot where Columbus’ Alexander Wennberg tried to kick it away.  Wennberg did not get a good foot into his kick, and the puck squirted free where Johansson settled it with his stick and stuffed it behind goalie Curtis McElhinney to give the Caps a 1-0 lead.  Later, with the Caps holding onto a 3-2 lead late in the third period, Johansson struck again, taking a feed from Andre Burakovsky while backing behind the Columbus net.  He used his momentum to circle around the cage and stuff a wrap-around inside the post before McElhinney could slide across.  It came on Johansson’s seventh shot of the game.  He would finish the game with those two goals – one of two two-goal games he had for the season – and eight shots on goal, a career high.

Game to Forget: March 21^st versus Winnipeg. The Caps went into Winnipeg in late March on a three-game winning streak, but Johansson was lapsing into old habits.  He was 0-1-1 over his previous five games and recorded only six shots in doing so.  Against the Jets, the winning streak for the Caps came to an end, and the drought for Johansson continued.  He was on ice for each of the Jet’s first two goals, and he failed to record a shot on goal for the second time in three games (he had only one shot attempt).  It extended his streak without a goal to six games, a streak that would reach eight before it ended (over which he had nine shots on goal).

Postseason: 1-3-4, plus-2, 5.6 percent shooting percentage.

The playoffs are different from the regular season.  The urgency of the situation limits time and space, and puts more pressure on shooters.  Its effect on Johansson was significant.  He recorded only one goal on 18 shots in 14 games.  It was worse.  He scored on his first shot of his first game of the postseason and came up empty on his last 17 shots over 13 games.  It is part of a disturbing dichotomy in Johansson’s game.  There is that 12.8 percent shooting percentage in the regular season for his career, but a 7.5 percent shooting percentage in the postseason, despite his averaging more shots per game (1.52 to 1.38).

In the end…

Marcus Johansson made strides in his development this season.  Taking a more self-interested attitude toward shooting the puck was the latest installment in that process.   It came despite his skating fewer minutes at evens and with different partners, a reflection of getting more second line minutes this season than the first line minutes he got in 2013-2014.  There is still the matter of stepping up his game in the postseason.  The lessons, and the fruits of them, that he learned and applied in the regular season did not manifest themselves in the playoffs.  Five goals in 44 career playoff games from a scoring line forward has to improve.  That might be the next step in his evolution.  It is, at least, something to shoot for.

Grade: B

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: 2014-2015 By the Tens -- Forwards: Eric Fehr

“Through perseverance many people win success out of what seemed destined to be certain failure.”

-- Benjamin Disraeli

Over the last three seasons, the leaders for the Washington Capitals in goals per game are: Alex Ovechkin (0.66), Troy Brouwer (0.31), Joel Ward (0.25), and Eric Fehr (0.22).  In 2014-2015, Fehr finished with 19 goals, his highest total in a season since posting a career-high 21 goals with the Caps in 2009-2010.  The 75 games in which he appeared was a career high over ten NHL seasons, surpassing the 73 games he played last season.

Fehr did not have a spectacular season.  For example, while the Caps had seven players (including backup goalie Justin Peters and late-season pick-up Curtis Glencross) named one of the NHL’s three stars in at least one game this season, Fehr is not on that list.  But there he was, providing timely offensive contributions.  The Caps were 13-2-2 in the 17 games in which he scored a goal, 19-5-4 in the 28 games in which he recorded a point.

That he had a solid season should be no surprise.  In one respect, this has always been a part of his game.  In ten seasons he has had but one in which he finished with a Corsi-for percentage under 50.0 (that coming last season – 49.0; numbers from war-on-ice.com).  In nine seasons with the Capitals he has never been below 50 percent in close score situations.  This season he finished at 50.6 percent overall and 50.8 percent in close score situations.

It might warm the hearts of Caps fans to know that of the 19 goals Fehr scored this season, three of them came against the Pittsburgh Penguins, all of them against the Sidney Crosby line (Crosby scored one goal against the Caps this season with Fehr on the ice).  Nine of his 89 career goals have been scored against the Penguins. 

Fehr’s scoring is but a part of the offensive profile.  His scoring chance/on-ice plus-minus at 5-on-5 this season was plus-29.  In his three years in his second tour in Washington he is plus-91 in 200 games (numbers from war-on-ice.com).

And, as it turns out, Fehr likes the outdoors.  In two Winter Classic contests he has three goals, the most of any participant in the history of the New Year’s Day event, including this one at Nationals Park last January:

Fearless’ Take: Eric Fehr, Alex Ovechkin, Troy Brouwer, and Nicklas Backstrom were the Capitals forwards to record at least 80 hits and 40 takeaways.  Fehr did it in more than 300 fewer minutes than all of them.   Against teams qualifying for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference he was 7-5-12, plus-5, in 21 games (a 27-20-47, plus-20 scoring pace).

Cheerless’ Take:  Fehr had 13 goals in his first four ten-game segments, six in his last four segments.  He had 20 points in his first four ten-game segments, 13 in his last four.  He was plus-12 in his first four ten-game segments, minus-4 in his last four.  Not a pattern you like to see.

Game to Remember: December 27^th versus Pittsburgh.  The Caps were in the midst of a three-game road trip to wrap up the 2014 portion of the season.  They touched down in Pittsburgh after losing the first game of the trip, a 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers.  Their second game on the trip would be the first in the season series against the Penguins, a team against which the Caps had lost eight consecutive games.  The last time the Caps had defeated the Penguins, on January 11, 2012, Eric Fehr was skating for the Winnipeg Jets.  On this night, though, it would be Fehr starting the scoring for the Caps when he jammed a loose puck past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury from the left post late in the first period.  The Caps added a goal by Marcus Johansson early in the third, and Fehr cemented the win mid-way through the frame with another greasy goal.  John Carlson fired a shot from the right point that Joel Ward deflected down out of mid-air to the feet of Fleury.  As Fehr was being checked to the ice by defenseman Scott Harrington at the top of the crease, Fehr one-handed the puck past Fleury to cap the scoring in the Caps' 3-0 win.  It would be one of two two-goal games for Fehr in 2014-2015.

Game to Forget: March 5^th versus Minnesota.  The Capitals were nursing a 1-0 lead mid-way through the third period when the game took an odd turn.  With referee Ian Walsh injured and on the ice at one end of the rink, the Wild were rushing into the Caps’ zone at the other end.  Zach Parise controlled the puck long the left wing wall just inside the blue line and slid a pass to Ryan Suter entering the zone.  As Suter wound up for a shot, Fehr slid across but was an instant too late to block the drive, which Jason Pominville attempted to redirect past goalie Braden Holtby.  As Holtby was making a fine save on the Pominville attempt, Fehr did not give up on the play, getting to his feet and to the front of the net.  Once more, he was just a split second too late to prevent Pominville from putting back the puck to tie the game.  Five minutes later, it was Pominville finishing again as Fehr tied up Pominville to deny him as a passing option.  Despite a fine defensive effort on both plays, Fehr finished a minus-2 in the Wild’s 2-1 win.

Odd Fehr Fact: On Opening Night, Eric Fehr logged 21:07 in ice time.  It was the only game all season (including playoffs) in which he skated more than 20 minutes. 

Postseason: 0-0-0, two shots on goal

Eric Fehr missed the last three games of the regular season with an upper-body injury, but he was in the lineup for the Caps for Game 1 of the opening round series against the New York Islanders.  He skated a total of 30 minutes over the first two contests, but in Game 3, on his second shift, he took a hard hit from the Islanders’ Kyle Okposo and did not return.  He would play just one more game in the postseason, the Caps’ Game 7 loss to the New York Rangers in the second round.

In the end…

It has been a long winding journey for Eric Fehr since he was taken 18^th overall by the Caps in the 2003 entry draft.  Once thought of as a potential high-end goal scoring winger, he fought through a series of injuries to remake himself into a checking line center who can contribute offense without being depended on as a regular goal-scorer.   It was cruel irony that in what was his most durable season, injuries would strike in the postseason and might have been a factor in the last faceoff he took – the last faceoff the Caps took – of the season, one that he lost and the Rangers scored off of moments later to win Game 7 and the Eastern Conference semifinal series.   It was a blemish on what was otherwise a solid year for Fehr, one that might not have taken place if not for his perseverance in the face of many obstacles along the road as an NHL player. 

Grade: B

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Washington Capitals: 2014-2015 By the Tens -- Forwards: Jason Chimera

“Life is fits and starts, mostly fits.”

― Walker Percy

Jason Chimera’s career with the Washington Capitals has been a model of consistent inconsistency.  Up one year, down the next, in regular rhythm.  The 2014-2015 season was a “down” year in that cycle – 7-12-19, minus-1, in 77 games.  It added one more year to a profile that looks like this in terms of his per-82 game scoring rates:

• 2009-2010: 15-21-36
• 2010-2011: 10-16-26
• 2011-2012: 20-19-39
• 2012-2013: 5-19-24
• 2013-2014: 15-27-42
• 2014-2015: 7-13-20

His drop in production in 2014-2015 was not a product of minutes; his 12:56 in average ice time was 48 seconds less (about one shift) than his average over five and a half seasons with the Caps.  It was not shooting percentage.  Never a great shooter (8.7 percent over his full career), his 7.3 percent mark was not far off his average with the Caps (7.8 percent).

It was not necessarily his linemates.  In terms of those with whom he spent the most time at 5-on-5 this season, Joel Ward (41.8 percent of Chimera’s 5-on-5 ice time) and Eric Fehr (34.3 percent) were his most frequent linemates, the same pair with whom he spent most of his time in 2013-2014, although the shares were higher in 2013-2014 (81.6 percent with Ward, 37.2 percent with Fehr, numbers from stats.hockeyanalysis.com).

Shooting the puck might have been a factor in the year-to-year drop in performance this season; Chimera went from 2.04 shots per game in 2013-2014 to 1.25 per game this year, but it does not exhibit such a tidy trend over his five-plus seasons in Washington.  He recorded no shots on goal in 28 of his 77 games overall.

It was a pity he did not score more; the Caps did rather well in those instances in which he did (11-3-0).  The team also seemed to do better when he had more ice time.  In the 15 games in which he skated more than 15 minutes, the Caps were 9-4-2.

There was a persistence in his frustrating output.  Chimera recorded two points in each of his first six ten-game segments.  In five of them he recorded a goal and an assist (two assists in his third ten-game segment).  His performance ticked up a notch in the last two segments (0-4-4 and 2-1-3), and he recorded more than half of his penalty minutes (27 of 51) in those last two segments .   The penalty minutes were largely the product of a seven-game stretch in late February and early March in which Chimera recorded his three fights of the season, taking on Buffalo’s Mike Weber, Columbus’ Dalton Prout, and Philadelphia’s Zac Rinaldo.  For what it’s worth, the votes a hockeyfights.com had Chimera the victor in all three.  Perhaps angry Ice Cheetah is productive Ice Cheetah. 

Then there were the shots, or more precisely, the shot attempts.  Chimera ranked dead last among Capital skaters in shot attempt differential at 5-on-5 (minus-78).  He was tied for 714th among 882 skaters in the league, in fact (although Buffalo’s Rasmus Ristolainen, at minus-618, could retire the trophy).  

Fearless’ Take: One unsung aspect of Chimera’s game is his durability.  In his five-plus seasons in Washington, he appeared in 408 of 419 games (97.4 percent), five of those 11 missed games coming this season do to “did not play, coach’s decision” criteria.

Cheerless’ Take:  Uh, yeah…about those missed games.  Sometimes, the boss and the player just do not seem to see things the same way.  It happens.

One thing that did not change was his ice time deployment.  Chimera averaged 11 seconds a night on the power play, 1:23 killing penalties.  Both were actually down from last season (0:50/1:43).

Odd Chimera Fact: That up and down thing Chimera has with scoring coincides with his penalty differential, but with a reverse effect.  In his five full seasons with the Caps his penalties drawn-to-penalties taken differential at 5-on-5 is:

• 2010-2011: plus-5
• 2011-2012: minus-1
• 2012-2013: plus-9
• 2013-2014: even
• 2014-2015: plus-8

Game to Remember: March 29th versus New York Rangers. Washington went into its March 29th contest against the New York Rangers having lost two of their previous three games and had lost both previous meetings against the Rangers in the season series.  The Caps scored early on an Alex Ovechkin goal but surrendered the lead on two goals 61 seconds part just before the end of the first period.  Washington tied it on a power play goal in the second, leaving the third period to settle matters.  Chimera broke the tie in the fifth minute with some hard work in front of Ranger goalie Cam Talbot.  Setting up at the top of the crease, he battled with Carl Hagelin for position while Brooks Laich and Eric Fehr were taking whacks at the puck from Talbot’s left.  Fehr’s backhand attempt was laying in front of Talbot when Chimera got enough of his stick on the puck to nudge it through Talbot’s legs to put the Caps ahead.  Less than three minutes later, Chimera struck again on a much prettier play, charging down the middle to take a feed from Laich, then freezing Talbot with a fake to the five-hole, pulling the puck around his left pad and in for the insurance goal in what would be a 5-2 Capitals win and his only two-goal game of the season.

Game to Forget: December 11th versus Columbus. Riding a three-game winning streak, the Caps hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets in a mid-December matchup.  They got off to a good start with an Eric Fehr power play goal less than four minutes into the game.  But the Caps could not shake loose of the visitors, allowing the Blue Jackets to tie the game twice, the last time mid-way through the third period.  The teams went to overtime where, three minutes into the session, Chimera took an interference penalty against Jack Johnson.  The Caps were on the verge of killing off the penalty, but with 18.8 seconds left, Nick Foligno one-timed a feed from Johnson past goalie Braden Holtby’s left shoulder, and the Caps lost, 4-3.  Chimera was scratched in the following game, although the story line was that room had to be made for Andre Burakovsky.  

Postseason: 3-4-7, plus-4, one game-winning goal

For Jason Chimera the playoffs were two different experiences.  In seven games at home, he was 3-3-6, plus-7.  On the road, however, he was 0-1-1, minus-3.  He was one of four Capitals to record two two-point games, one in Game 5 in the opening round series against the New York Islanders in a 5-1 win, the other in Game 6 against the New York Rangers in Round 2, a 4-3 loss.  Both games were at Verizon Center.  It was the latest in what has been a consistent record for Chimera in post season play.  In 51 career post season games with the Caps he is 11-13-24, plus-9.  His 24 points over the Caps’ last five post season appearances ranks third on the team, behind Alex Ovechkin (40) and Nicklas Backstrom (30).

In the end…

The 2014-2015 season was a difficult one for Jason Chimera.  There was the curious on-again, off-again character of his performance, this season being one of the “off-again” variety.  Then there was the tension between player and new coach.   As the coach put it…

“Me and him disagreed on a lot of things this year.  And I wouldn’t give in and he wouldn’t give in in some ways, and I think we have a lot of respect for each other, and I thought at the end of the year he had grown a lot.”

It was a season that, like his career with the Caps, progressed in fits and starts, with its good moments and bad.  Maybe the last word about it belongs to the player… “Terrible season, good ending personally.”  It fits.

Grade: C+

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Washington Capitals: 2014-2015 By the Tens -- Forwards: Andre Burakovsky

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

-- Henry David Thoreau

Last July 12th, the Washington Capitals held their annual development camp “Fan Fest,” highlighted by an intrasquad scrimmage between teams of prospects.  Among the youngsters to whom attention was being paid was an Austrian-born, Swedish-trained, Canadian junior-developed forward taken with the 23rd overall pick in the 2013 draft.

For Andre Burakovsky it was both old and new.  It was his second D-camp experience with the Caps, but it was his first meaningful test at a new position: center.  Burakovsky might have been the prospect most likely to grab a roster spot with the big club in the fall, but learning a new position, with one season of hockey in North America, and with a new coaching regime in Washington, made it an uncertain proposition.  As new head coach Barry Trotz put it…

“The plan is I’m going to watch him.  I don’t know him. I’ve got to know him. I don’t have any plan for him. For me, I don’t have any plan for anybody. You play and you earn your ice time. If Burakovsky is ready to play and I can get him quality ice time, then he’ll play. If I don’t feel I can get him quality ice time, then he’ll probably go to Hershey, that type of thing. We just have to let it play out.”  

Fast forward to training camp.  After a week of playing center at development camp and extending his education at the position with the Malmö Redhawks when he returned home after camp,  Burakovsky was going to get a longer look in the middle playing against stiffer competition.

In what was a somewhat unexpected development, Burakovsky played his way onto the parent club roster and found himself in the starting lineup for the season opener against the Montreal Canadiens at Verizon Center.  And then this happened…

Burakovsky scored his first NHL goal and the first goal for the Capitals in the 2014-2015 season.  It was a fairy tale beginning to his career (even if smudged by a 2-1 Gimmick loss to the Habs in which he failed in his trick shot attempt in the fifth and what would be final round).  He would get off to a fast start: 2-3-5 in his first four games, 3-9-12 in his first 15 games.

It would not be all unicorns and accordions, though.  After that quick start, Burakovsky went five games without a point.  Then, right after Thanksgiving, his ice time was cut back.  After averaging 14 minutes a game over his first 20 contests, he averaged barely nine minutes in his next five games.  Then he sat for three games. He returned to the lineup against the Tampa Bay Lightning on December 13th but skated less than nine minutes.

At that point, Burakovsky embarked on a series of assignments to and recalls from Hershey.  From December 19th until April 5th, he was sent down and recalled on five separate occasions.

On the whole, 53 games seemed like a bonus for Burakovsky overall.  It made divining trends out of his ten-game splits difficult, but he was one of only five Capitals rookies since the 2004-2005 lockout to record an average of 0.40 points per game or more (minimum: 50 games).  The others – Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, and Evgeny Kuznetsov – have been or are expected to be important cogs in the Caps’ machine.  Burakovsky, who played in the fewest games in that group in his rookie season, can be thought of in the same way.

Fearless’ Take:  Road games did not faze him.  Burakovsky was 4-8-12, plus-6 in 28 home games; 5-5-10, plus-6 in 25 road games.  He was actually better on draws on the road (53.5 percent) than he was at home (37.5 percent).

Cheerless’ Take:  There are a couple of facts that look kinda “Brouwerish.”  Burakovsky skated more than 15 minutes in 16 games; the Caps were 7-7-2 in those games.  The Caps were 6-2-1 in games in which he had fewer than ten minutes of ice time.  He had points in 17 contests; the Caps were 8-6-3 in those contests.

Odd Burakovsky Fact:  That trick shot attempt that he took against Montreal on Opening Night was his only attempt of the season for the Caps.

Game to Remember: February 15th versus Anaheim.  The Caps arrived in Anaheim in mid-February having lost to the Los Angeles Kings the previous night.  They had not lost consecutive games in regulation in a month and were not looking to see that streak broken.  Barely three minutes into the second period the Caps took a 3-2 lead on a goal by Marcus Johansson.  Less than six minutes later Andre Burakovsky scored.  With Alex Ovechkin skating down the left wing side, Burakovsky filled in the middle.  With open ice ahead of him, he whacked his stick once on the ice to call for the puck, and Ovechkin, with a defender draped all over him, backhanded the puck to the rookie.  With a delayed penalty called, Burakovsky ripped a shot that beat goalie John Gibson.  After the Ducks climbed back within a goal late in the second period, Burakovsky provided the insurance.  On a play very similar to Burakovsky’s first goal, it was Ovechkin skating into the Anaheim zone with a defender on him.  When Burakovsky filled in this time, there was no Duck defender in sight.  Ovechkin led him perfectly, and Burakovsky did the rest, dekeing Gibson to the ice before sliding a backhander behind him, giving him the game-winning and insurance goals in his first two-goal game as a Capital.

Game to Forget: December 2nd versus Vancouver.  In his previous game, Burakovsky recorded the lowest ice time of any Capital – 10:39 – in a 6-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Compared to what he would get against Vancouver in the first game of December, it was a lifetime.  He got six shifts in the first period, three in the second, and two in the third, not taking the ice over the last 8:03 of the game.  He finished the night with just 5:37 in total ice time, his lowest total of the season.  His score sheet was almost blank – no shots on goal, no shot attempts, no hits, takeaways, no giveaways, no blocked shots.  The only marks on his line were a faceoff win and two losses.

Postseason: 2-1-3, plus-2, one game-winning goal

Except for a two-game spurt, Burakovsky’s post season was unremarkable.  His highlight was a two-goal game (his second as a Capital) in Game 4 of the Caps’ second round series against the New York Rangers. Neither was cheap.  The first one came with the Rangers holding a 1-0 lead late in the second period.  He stepped up to challenge a pass up the left wing wall to Chris Kreider, then picked the puck off the Ranger’s stick.  He then spun and cut to the middle, holding the puck a split second longer than he might have to get space between Marc Staal and Dan Girardi.  Finding that space he whipped a shot past goalie Henrik Lundqvist to tie the game.  Then, just 24 seconds into the third period, he scored what would be the game-winning goal, taking a chip up the wall from Alex Ovechkin, skating in, fending off Ryan McDonagh’s attempt to cut him off, and snapping a backhander past Lundqvist.  In an otherwise dreary post season, it provide a glimpse of what might be down the road.

In the end…

On balance, it might be said that Andre Burakovsky is ahead of schedule.  He played in just 64 regular season and playoff games, but then again, he only turned 20 on February 9th.  It would not have been unreasonable to think he would have played in Hershey all season.  Even with only 53 regular season games played, Burakovsky finished in the top-30 (among 197 rookies) in goals (30th with 7), assists (20th with 13), points (20th with 22), plus-minus (7th with plus-12), and game-winning goals (14^th with 2).  This was accomplished despite deployment strategies (often on the fourth line) and with his frequent shuttling between Washington and Hershey starting about a third into the season.  Taken as a whole, there was much unexpected in Andre Burakovsky’s game this season, an excellent start to what could be a fine career.

Grade: A-

Photo: Elsa/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: 2014-2015 By the Tens -- Forwards: Troy Brouwer

“Don't confuse facts with reality.”

-- Robert Ballard

The 2013-2014 season…the 2014-2015 season.  Eighty-two games…eighty-two games.  Forty-three points…forty-three points.  For Troy Brouwer, this season looked like an instant replay (to the extent a six-month season can be “instant”).  That is not an altogether bad thing.  It is not an altogether good thing, either.

On the good side, the 82 games that Brouwer played marked the third time in four seasons with the Caps that he appeared in every game.  In fact, he has missed just one game – regular season or playoff – in his four years with the club.  The 43 points in 2014-2015 tied his career high, set last season.  His shooting percentage reached double digits (10.0) for the fourth straight season.  Brouwer’s eight power play goals was second best on the club.  His plus-11 reversed a four-year streak of finishing on the minus side of the plus-minus ledger.  He had 206 hits, second best among Capital forwards and the third straight full season with the Caps (not counting the abbreviated 2012-2013 season) in which he topped 200 hits.  Brouwer’s 5-on-5 Corsi-for percentage (50.5) was the first time he finished on the good side of 50 percent as a Capital.  His faceoff winning percentage (56.9) led all Capitals who played for the club all season and would have been fifth-best in the league, if he qualified, somewhat unusual for a winger.

Oh, and there was this, too…

There was another side to Brouwer’s season, though.  In 19 games in which he recorded a goal, the Caps were just 8-7-4.  His 5-on-5 Corsi percentage/relative was minus-0.8.  While that was not a significant drop off from his previous season (plus-0.2), being on the minus side of the ledger is not the best place for a scoring line winger to be.  His Corsi-for percentage at 5-on-5, while respectable (50.8) lagged Michael Latta (51.0), Tom Wilson (52.6), and Andre Burakovsky (54.6) among forwards with at least 200 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time.  On what was the strongest power play in the league, Brouwer had 240 scoring chances (numbers from war-on-ice.com) and scored eight goals, a conversion rate of 3.3 percent.  Compare that to Alex Ovechkin, who scored 25 power play goals with 293 scoring chances, an 8.5 percent rate.  Even Joel Ward, who played much the same position as Brouwer when deployed on the power play, had six goals on 99 scoring chances, a 6.1 percent rate.

The odd part about Brouwer’s performance, at least in the regular season, was the apparent consistency.  Despite an underlying drop-off in his performance numbers late in the season (we will get to that in a bit), his ten-game segments varied little in points, ranging from four to seven points overall.   Only once in his eight segments did he experience an on-ice minus in goal differential (all situations, numbers from war-on-ice.com).  There was, disturbingly as it turned out, the drying up of his power play scoring late in the season.  In the underlying numbers, his season breaks down into two roughly equal pieces, a plus-146 in Corsi differential (all situations) in the first four segments, a plus-69 in the last four segments.  Scoring chances followed a similar pattern – plus-86 in the first four segments, plus-29 in the last four.  Oddly enough, again, his on-ice goal differential was flipped – plus-15 in the first four segments, plus-21 in the last four.

Fearless’ Take: In his four seasons as a Capital, only defensemen John Carlson and Karl Alzner have played in more games (294) with the club than Troy Brouwer (293).  Only Alex Ovechkin has more goals (174 to 83).  Only Ovechkin (281), Nicklas Backstrom (249), and Marcus Johansson (159) have more points than Brouwer (152).  Only Ovechkin (78) has more power play goals than Brouwer (30).  He is tied with Joel Ward for the most shorthanded goals (3).  And, he has 771 hits to his credit.

Cheerless’ Take: Okay, now try this line, cuz… 35 games, 3-6-9, minus-5, one power play goal.  That is his postseason scoring line with the Caps.  That works out to a 7-14-21, minus-12, with two power play goals per 82 games. You guys like to say I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but that doesn’t look like a good line for a second line winger.

Odd Brouwer Fact: Troy Brouwer recorded goals in 19 regular season games with the Caps in 2014-2015.  The team had a record of only 8-7-4 in those games.  Bonus fact… Brouwer skated fewer than 15 minutes in eight games for the Caps this season; the Caps won all of them.

Game to Remember: February 3rd versus Los Angeles. Oh sure, it would be easy to say the Winter Classic for the game-winning goal in the dying seconds of regulation, but there was that game in February.  The Los Angeles Kings came to town desperately trying to get out of a rut that left them with a 3-5-5 record in the 13 games played after December 27th.  Brouwer made sure that their February would not start on a higher note.  Late in the first period, as a battle was going on for the puck in the corner to the right of goalie Jonathan Quick, Brouwer found himself all alone between the hash marks.  Evgeny Kuznetsov found him, and all Brouwer had to do was pick a side to shoot the puck.  He chose well, beating Quick to the glove side to give the Caps a 1-0 lead.  Brouwer struck again, in a manner of speaking, late in the second period.

Game to Forget: November 20th against Colorado.  It was an odd sort of game for Troy Brouwer.  He was a shooting machine, recording a season-high six shots on goal (three of them in an eight second sequence in the second period).  None of them got through, though.  It was one of only three games (out of ten) in which he recorded four or more shots on goal and did not light the lamp. He was also credited with just one hit for the evening in what would be a 3-2 win over the Avalanche.

Postseason:  0-3-3, minus-3, 33 hits (one fewer than Marcus Johansson)

The postseason for Troy Brouwer was merely an extension of a slump that began well before the regular season ended.   He did not record a goal in 14 postseason contests (the first time he went without a goal when playing in more than seven games in post season since 2008-2009).  The streak was actually 17 games in all, and Brouwer managed only three goals in his last 34 games, including the playoffs.  Despite recording more ice time on the power play than every forward except Alex Ovechkin, he managed one power play assist, a secondary helper in the Caps’ 3-1 loss to the New York Islanders in Game 6 of the opening round.

In the end…

The Caps need more out of the second line right wing position than they are getting.  Even with the tying of a career high in points this season, Troy Brouwer’s post season made for a disappointing season.  This should not be considered a surprise.   In six post seasons covering 78 games he has seven goals, more than half of them (4) coming in 19 games in the 2010 Stanley Cup run by the Chicago Blackhawks.

There was a reasonably consistent baseline to Brouwer’s performance in 2014-2015, but it was not of a difference-making sort, and there was a sour finish, what appeared to be an inability to raise his game late in the season, especially in the playoffs.  That the Caps finished 5-6 in the 11 games in which he did not record a point in the postseason suggests that just a little bit of improvement here could have been an element that pushed the Caps to another round of play.  The same might be said of a number of Caps, but when it happens to a scoring line winger, it matters.

Grade: B-

Photo: Elsa/Getty Images North America