The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 6: Capitals at Flyers, October 14th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

The Washington Capitals wrap up their I-95 back-to-back road trip on Saturday night when they visit that peaceful meadow of brotherly love, Wells Fargo Center, in Philadelphia when they face the Flyers in a Metro Matchup that is the season home opener for the Flyers.

The Caps are coming off a 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Friday night to push their record to 3-1-1 and to the top of the Metropolitan Division.  Meanwhile, the Flyers are coming off a three-day hiatus, off since dropping a 6-5 decision to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. It extended the Flyers alternating wins and losses to arrive at a 2-2-0 record on their road trip to start the 2017-2018 season. The Flyers, who struggled with the 19th-ranked scoring defense in the league last season, at least started the season on a higher note, allowing only seven goals in their first three games. But then they almost had that total doubled when the Predators dropped a six-pack on their heads.

Scoring has been uneven on a game-to-game basis for the Flyers, who scored five goals in their season opener (a 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks) and in that last contest against Nashville. In the two game in-between, they have a total of three goals, all of them in a 3-2 overtime win over the Anaheim Ducks last Saturday.

Scoring has also been strange for the Flyers at the player level of production. Both of their leading point producers – Jakub Voracek and Shayne Gostisbehere – are at the top of the skater rankings without the benefit of having scored a goal. Voracek, who led the club in points last season (20-41-61), has six assists to top the Flyers points list. He has been kept off the score sheet only once when he, and the rest of the squad, was held without a point in a 2-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on October 5th. Voracek could crack the top-20 in all-time point production for the Flyers if he records another 34 points. His 360 points in what is now his seventh season with the club trails Dave Poulin in 20th place with 394. Voracek is 11-8-19, plus-1, in 29 career games against the Capitals.

Gostisbehere is trying to rehabilitate a reputation for being a scoring defenseman that he established in his rookie season two years ago (17-29-46), one in which he finished second in the Calder Trophy voting for top rookie, and that sustained a hit last season when he slumped to 7-32-39 in 76 games and was a team worst among defensemen minus-21. So far, the results are mixed. Yes, he is second on the team in points with five (all assists), but they came in bunches – three assists in the 5-3 win over the Sharks to open the season and two more in the loss to Nashville in the Flyers’ last contest. Four of those five assists came on power plays, all three he had against the Sharks and another against the Predators. The plus-minus is looking better though; he was “even’ in all four games to date. “Ghost” is 0-3-3, minus-3, in seven career games against the Caps.

The Flyers have a situation on the blue line that resembles that of the Caps, perhaps even more so. They are a young group. Only one of the seven defensemen to dress so far is past 30 years of age (Andrew MacDonald is 31), and four of them are younger than 25 – Gostisbehere (24), Ivan Provorov (20), and rookies Travis Sanheim (21) and Robert Hagg (22). Sanheim is a former first-round draft pick (17th overall in 2014) who had a fine season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL last season (10-27-37, plus-7, in his first full year in the AHL). Hagg is a former second-round pick (41st overall in 2013) who was up for one game with the Flyers last season and going 7-8-15, plus-10, for the Phantoms.   Both Sanheim and Hagg will be looking for their first points for the Orange and Black in what will be their first appearances against the Caps.

1.  The Flyers are one of just two teams to have scored and allowed the same number of goals. Philadelphia has scored and allowed 13 goals, while the Ottawa Senators have both scored and allowed seven goals (through Thursday’s games).

2.  The Caps might be able to take advantage of the Flyers’ penalty killing. It is not that they have faced a lot of shorthanded situations, although they have the tenth-highest number (17). It is that they rank 28th of 31 teams in efficiency (70.6 percent), although they have yet to test their penalty killers at home.

3.  Then there is the matter of the Flyers’ propensity for late swoons. Only the St. Louis Blues have allowed more third period goals (eight) than the Flyers (six).

4.  If Claude Giroux gets three assists (perish the thought), he will reach the 400-assist mark in his career. Less likely is Jakub Voracek getting to the 500-point mark in his career in this game. He needs a six-point night to get there.

5.  Only one team in the league has more penalties this season than the Flyers without having taken a major penalty. Philadelphia has been whistled for 17 penalties without a major so far. Washington has 20 penalties and no majors.

1.  Nicklas Backstrom recorded his 20^th game of four or more points as a Capital on Friday night (1-3-4).  Only one player in the league has more such games since Backstrom came into the league in 2007-2008 – Sidney Crosby (22)

2.  T.J. Oshie had two goals and an assist for his 12^th game with three or more points as a Capital.  Since he joined the Caps in 2015-2016, only Backstrom has more three or more point games (18).

3.  Evgeny Kuznetsov had a pair of assists to give him four multi-point games in five played so far.  His ten assists leads the league, and his ten points is tied for the league lead with teammates Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin.

4.  Alex Ovechkin became the fourth player in league history to record nine goals in his first five games with his goal on Friday night.  Mike Bossy, Patrick Marleau, and Mario Lemieux are the others.

5.  Andre Burakovsky had his first NHL fight in Friday’s win over the Devils; in fact, his first fight in pro hockey.  His scrap with Blake Coleman was his first fight since he mixed it up with Nick Moutrey back in March 2014 as a member of the Erie Otters.

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Philadelphia: Brian Elliott

Perhaps nowhere in the NHL are goaltenders treated as “plug-and-play” devices more than in Philadelphia. Steve Mason out, Brian Elliott in. If Mason put up okay, if not extraordinary numbers for the Flyers last season (26-21-8, 2.66, .908, with three shutouts in 58 games), Elliott is doing little to improve on that in the early going. After what was a disappointing, statistically, one-year stay with the Calgary Flames last season (26-18-3, 2.55, .910, with two shutouts in 49 games) and signing a two-year/$5.5 million contract with the Flyers last July, he opened the season with a 2-1-0 record but a goals against average of 3.67 (34th of 52 goaltenders to dress so far) and a save percentage of .876 (42nd). That’s what allowing six goals on 31 shots in one of three games he’s played so far will do to the GAA and save percentage, though. Not that his career numbers against the Caps are any better: 6-5-0, 3.31, .888 in 13 career appearances.

Washington: Dmitry Orlov

Through four games, only one Capitals defenseman has a goal, and he’s a rookie (Christian Djoos). Three do not yet have a point. It is not surprising that neither Brooks Orpik nor Taylor Chorney have any points thus far; they are generally regarded as defensive defensemen. Dmitry Orlov is another story. Not that he has had explosive starts in his still young NHL career – he had one point in the first four games of each of his last two seasons (both assists) – but a good deal is expected of the 26-year old this season. In other respects he is assuming more responsibility, particularly in penalty killing where he is averaging 4:03 in shorthanded ice time per game, 3:30 more than he averaged last season (and that was a career high). What he has been slow in doing so far is unleashing shots. He has three shots on goal in four games, and while it is a very small population of games so far this season, he had 125 shots in 82 games last season. You get the feeling it will come, but sooner would be better than later as the Caps seek to fill in the spaces left with the departures of three starters on defense from last season. Orlov is 5-1-6, plus-4, in 13 career games against the Flyers.

In the end…

The Patrick Division days are long gone, but it is still possible to spin up some anger at the prospect of facing the Philadelphia Flyers. And it especially satisfying to beat the Flyers on their home ice. The Caps have points in four consecutive games in Philadelphia (2-0-2), both losses coming in trick shot competitions. One thing the Caps will be looking to do is to reduce the volume of shots they have been facing (first four games featured more than 30 shots against), a task made harder by the fact that in each of their last three visits to Wells Fargo Center they allowed the Flyers to put up an average of 35.3 shots per game.  It will be a chance for the Caps to put some early distance between themselves and the rest of the Metropolitan Division.

Capitals 3 – Flyers 1

A Different Season, the Same Sad Ending

“They say we're young and we don't know

We won't find out until we grow…”

-- Phillip “Sonny” Bono

Sure, you recognize that lyric.  It’s in that song that gets played over and over in the film, “Groundhog Day.”  Over and over and over, relentlessly.  Like the disappointment Washington sports fans endure with the blossoms of the cherry trees or the falling leaves of autumn.  Every year.

The song played again late last night as the Washington Nationals lost Game 5 of their National League Divisional Series to the Chicago Cubs.  It was an outcome familiar to Washington Capitals fans over the years and now all too familiar to fans of the Nationals.  The game-ending scene had an eerie feeling of sameness to it.  For this Caps fan, watching Bryce Harper – the tying run at the plate – strike out to end the season looked all too much like Alex Ovechkin foiled on a breakaway early in Game 7 of the 2009 Eastern Conference semi-final that would have given the Caps an early lead, or T.J. Oshie having the puck bounce over his stick with a yawning net in front of him in Game 7 of last spring’s conference semi-final that would have given the Caps momentum, or Ovechkin in that same game firing a shot at what looked like an empty net, only to have the puck click of the shaft of the goalie’s stick and out of harm’s way.

Wins and losses in team sports are, by definition, a team effort, but there are moments of opportunity for an individual that occur with some regularity that can define a team as a winner or a disappointment.  It reminds me of a moment almost 35 years ago that enabled a team that had failed to win a championship since World War II to end a 39-year drought.  It was the sort of moment that lifted a single player from memorable to beloved.  Any Washington Redskins fan claiming to be one knows it.

Nursing a three-point lead in the fourth quarter of the 1982 Super Bowl, the Redskins were confronted with fourth down at the Miami Dolphins’ 43 yard line with one yard to earn a first down and a choice.  All three of the options they had were risky.  They could attempt a field goal, but 60 yards was outside the reliable range of kicker Mark Moseley.  They could punt, but a touchback would not only give the Dolphins the ball with ten minutes left on the clock, but would only net 23 yards of field position.  Or, they could go for it, although failing to gain the yard would give the Dolphins superb field position and lots of time left.

The Redskins went all in, choosing to go for the first down.  There was nothing fancy about the play they chose.  In team parlance, it was called “70-chip,” but it was basically a straight-forward, smash-mouth play set up to isolate the ball carrier on a single tackler to beat.  The ball carrier was John Riggins, and the poor soul the Redskins targeted with their blocking scheme was defensive back Don McNea.  The object was to gain one yard, Riggins size advantage and brutish running style creating enough momentum to gain that before engaging McNea.  But here was that moment, that instant of engagement that turned a well-designed and executed play into legend.  McNea met Riggins and desperately tried to wrap him up or grab onto something, anything on his uniform to bring him to the turf.  Riggins, having none of it, exploded through the tackle, casting off McNea as if he were a bit of lint picked off his sleeve and sprinted the 43 yards to the touchdown that clinched a Super Bowl win and ended decades of frustration for Washington Redskin fans.  The Redskins became winners, the reputation for which echoes to this day, despite their descent back into mediocrity over the last two decades.

Other players in this town since have had that moment presented to them.  Alex Ovechkin has had such a moment.  Bryce Harper had his.  And their not taking those moments by the throat conjures up a depressing and infuriating thought as Washington heads into its 20th straight year without any team among its four major pro sports so much as reaching a conference final.  Year after year, the Caps and Nats are like Sisyphus, pushing that boulder up the hill over the course of a regular season, only to find that at the top – where championships are won – that boulder comes crashing back down the hill.  We are told that all those efforts do not matter, that those teams were different, that this time will be different.  Caps fans, you know the drill… 

“Which history? I don’t know anything about the past. I’m looking forward here to the next game on Sunday.” – Nicklas Backstrom

“I don’t think this team has any playoff history. This is our first playoffs together, so, in my opinion, no. Sorry to be cheeky, but that’s the truth I think.” – Karl Alzner

“It doesn’t really matter. … Everybody talks about all the past, the past, the past. The only pressure that we’ll have is on ourselves. We’ve got to go into Philadelphia and we’ve got to play really well and get a win there. If we don’t accomplish that, then it will go to Game Seven. I thought tonight we played excellent.” – Head Coach Barry Trotz

Nats fans got a taste of that attitude in time for this series… 

“I've kind of said this all year: I don't believe [the team history of disappointment matters] in that because it's a different team every year.  You play different teams, different players, trades, free agents, whatever it may be. We didn't play the Cubs last year.  So who knows what would have happened if we did or didn't. Doesn't really matter. For me, I don't believe in it. Whoever plays better, whoever executes more, you're going to move on.” – Trea Turner

“Once you get out there, that stuff doesn't really matter, what we did last year; doesn't help or hurt us once we're in between the lines.” – Michael A. Taylor

This is nonsense.  With each passing year and disappointment, the Caps are that same team.  The Nats are that same team.  The new players merely add a chapter to the sad tale.  And perhaps not until someone finds his “Inner Riggo” will the last line of that book finally be written and a new one – ‘Winning” – be opened.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 5: Capitals at Devils, October 13th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

The Washington Capitals take baggage in hand and head off to Newark, NJ, on Friday night to face the New Jersey Devils as they continue their road-home-road-home-road alternating schedule to start the season.  The Caps have gone to extra time in both of their road contests to date, splitting the decisions with a win in Ottawa in the season opener and a loss in Tampa last Monday.  In trying to get above .500 in the road portion of their schedule, the Caps will be seeking to allow something fewer than four goals, the number tallied by both of their road opponents to date.

The Devils, on the other hand, qualify as a “surprise” team in the early going with a perfect 3-0-0 record.  Granted, two of those wins came at the expense of the Buffalo Sabres and the Colorado Avalanche, teams that will probably be on the outside looking in on the postseason next spring.  But their last win was a convincing 6-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are among the darlings of the “it” crowd as a contender to get out of the Eastern Conference in the playoffs.

So far, the Devils are doing it with a collection of no-names (at least little known at the moment).  Jesper Bratt, whose name sounds like a Star Wars character, leads the team with three goals and in total scoring with six points.  The 19-year old Bratt, a sixth-round pick of the 2016 draft is, at the moment, the lowest-drafted member of that 2016 class to appear in, let along score in, an NHL game (162 overall).  It is quite a start for a player who, before suiting up for the Devils, had not played a game in North America.  For the last three seasons he played for AIK IF in HockeyAllsvenskan, the second-highest league in Sweden.

Another part of the youth movement in New Jersey is their second-leading point producer, defenseman and fellow rookie Will Butcher.  A somewhat undersized defenseman (5’10”/190), Butcher was a fifth-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2013, but could not come to an agreement on a contract with the Avs and became a free agent last August.  He signed a two-year/$1.85 million deal with the Devils and jumped right into their lineup not having played a minor league game for either franchise (he spent the last four years at the University of Denver).  Butcher’s five assists (no goals) leads the team.

Until last season, goalie Cory Schneider never had a full season with a goals against average above 2.30 (2.26 in 2014-2015) and never had a save percentage below .920 (.921 in 2013-2014).  He never had fewer than three shutouts in any season in which he appeared in more than 25 games.  Last season, he failed to hit all three of those marks, going 20-27-11, 2.82, .908, with two shutouts.  It makes his 3-0-0, 2.00, .948 record to start the season a welcome sight for Devils fans, and what might make them feel better is that even with his troubles last season he had a 0.67 goals against average and a .976 save percentage against the Caps in two appearances (one loss, one no-decision).  Over his career he is 3-6-2, 2.14, .923 with one shutout against Washington.

1.  The 50 shots on goal the Devils allowed the Maple Leafs in their 6-3 win on Wednesday was just the second time in franchise history that the team allowed 50 or more shots in a game and the first time they suffered such a barrage in a regulation time decision.  They faced 51 shots in a 1-0 Gimmick win over the New York Rangers on January 12, 2010.

2.  The Devils have already spread around the scoring.  Through three games, ten different skaters have goals, and 17 of 20 skaters to dress have points.  Damon Severson is the only skater to appear in all three games for the Devils having failed to record a point.

3.  New Jersey is the only team in the league in the top-five in both scoring offense (5.33 goals-per-game/2^nd) and in scoring defense (2.00/T-4^th; through Wednesday’s games).

4.  The Devils are one of three teams to take a lead into the third period in each of the games they played so far (St. Louis and Chicago are the others).  They and the Blues are the only ones to win all of those games.

5.  It is the second period in which the Devils have done their damage thus far.  Their eight middle frame goals and plus-6 goal differential both lead the league.

1.  This contest opens the Capitals’ first set of back-to-back games this season.  This, and Saturday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers, are on the road.  The Caps played road-road in five back-to-backs last season.  Twice they won both games, twice they lost both games (in on set a loss came in a Gimmick), and once they split the two games.

2.  Big starts, iffy finishes.  The Caps are tied for third in the league in first period goals scored (7) and are tied for allowing the third-fewest goals in the opening frame (2).  But, they are a minus-1 in goal differential over the last 40 minutes of games – eight scored and nine allowed.

3.  Yup…still dead last, and getting worse.  The Caps are last in the league in shots on goal per game (24.8).  And allowing 36.8 shots per game isn’t helping, either (tied for seventh-most).  Washington is one of three teams (Vancouver and Detroit being the others) not to have out-shot an opponent in a game yet.  It’s not even an accuracy thing or getting shots to the net.  The Caps are a minus-37 in shot-attempt differential at 5-on-5, tied for worst in the league with Chicago and St. Louis (numbers from NHL.com).

4.  The Caps have the first (Evgeny Kuznetsov), tied for first (Alex Ovechkin), and tied for seventh (Nicklas Backstrom) point getters in the league through Wednesday games. 

5.  If you’re looking for even-strength scoring, the Caps have had it.  They are third in the league in even-strength goals scored (12), trailing only Toronto (13) and Chicago (18) through Wednesday’s games.

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

New Jersey:  Marcus Johansson

My dearest Abigail…

I find myself in a new assignment with my new regiment.  Where I found myself a young charge among battle-tested veterans when I served with the Army of the Potomac, I am now one of those battle-tested veterans in my new billet.  They are so young, and only six of the 20 men in our skating regiment are older than I am.  I find adjustments to my new surroundings to be pleasant and acceptable, even rejuvenating.  We have been blessed to score two goals and assist on two others, my points earned a full fourth of the 16 we have scored so far.  I find myself in a situation that reminds me of that which I had with Nicklas Backstrom when I skated in Washington.  The roles now, it seems, are reversed.  Jesper Bratt is the fresh troop joining our squad, a native of Sweden, as I was back in ’11 when I was in Washington.  Just as Nicklas helped me along, so too might I play that role for young Bratt as he makes his contributions to our cause.  I look forward to our first skirmish – and mine – against our old Washington teammates.  Yours always… Marcus.

Washington: John Carlson

It is only four games, two of which went to extra time, but defenseman John Carlson is averaging more than three minutes more per game (25:53) than he averaged last season (22:43).  That is five more shifts per game (31.75 to 26.61).  In his eight previous seasons, Carlson never averaged more than 24:31 in ice time per game (2013-2014 season) or 28.57 shifts per game (2014-2015).  But Carlson is now the dean of the defense corps, based on games played with the Caps (530), and with that comes added responsibility, especially given the state of the defense – younger and without as much depth – as the 2017-2018 season opens.  Carlson has a pair of assists in the four games to date, but despite being second on the club in shots on goal (12), he has yet to find the back of the net.  Only Victor Hedman of the Lightning has as many or more shots in three games (14) without a goal among defensemen.  If there is a team against which he might break through, it could be New Jersey.  Carlson is 3-13-16, plus-11 in 27 career games against the Devils.

In the end…

At least in the early going, the Devils look like one of those annoying teams of youngsters that skate like a herd of golden retriever puppies getting all over you and making you sick with their seemingly limitless reservoir of energy.  Eleven of their skaters to dress so far are 25 or younger.  Only one player to dress for all three games – Andy Greene – is older than 30.  The Devils look as if they are the latest entry in fulfilling the NHL’s version of the Olympic motto.  Instead of “faster, higher, stronger;” it is “younger, faster, cheaper (they have the fourth-lowest cap hit in the league, according to capfriendly.com).”  It presents the latest challenge to the Caps and their ability to use experience and guile to offset a team that might be quicker.  Guess you know how we think they will meet that challenge…

Capitals 4 – Devils 2

A NO-Point Night: Washington Capitals -- Game 4: Penguins 3 - Capitals 2

The Washington Capitals started the season with an air-tight penalty killing unit, but for the second straight game it let the club down as it gave up all three goals in a 3-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.

First Period

Kris Letang recorded his first point of the season on a power play early in the first period when, after the Pens worked the puck around the perimeter, Letang went to the net as Conor Sheary sent the puck to the net. Off a goal-mouth scramble, the puck squirted out to the uncovered Letang to the left of goalie Braden Holtby, and he backhanded it over Holtby’s left pad to make it 1-0, 5:22 into the game.

Second Period

On what would be their fourth power play less than half way into the game, the Pens struck again. As the power play was winding down, Patric Hornqvist chipped a loose puck from the top of the paint over a sprawled Holtby to make it 2-0 at the 8:20 mark of the period. To that point of the contest the Caps were shorthanded a total of 6:49 of 28:20 of total ice time.

The Caps halved the deficit with a little bit of history. For the second time this season a rookie making his NHL debut scored his first career goal. In the last minute of the second period, Lars Eller backhanded a pass to the right wing circle where Christian Djoos was waiting. Djoos blasted a one-timer that beat goalie Matt Murray cleanly over the left pad and inside the post at the 19:20 mark for his first NHL goal to put the Caps on the board.

Third Period

Whatever momentum the Caps might have generated from the Djoos goal late in the second period, it was ripped away in the first minute of the third period. On their sixth power play of the game, the Pens made it 3-1 when Conor Sheary got inside position of Brooks Orpik at the top of the crease and redirected a Justin Schultz drive past Holtby at the 38-second mark.

The Caps made it interesting mid-way through the period. Nicklas Backstrom feathered a pass over Kris Letang’s stick to Djoos in the left wing circle. Djoos calmly slid the puck around Schultz’ skate to Alex Ovechkin parked at the top of the paint. Ovechkin redirected the puck past Murray’s left pad, and it was 3-2 at the 12:51 mark. The Caps could not find the equalizer, though, and the Pens skated off with a 3-2 win to open the 2017-2018 series between the clubs.

Other stuff…

-- Alex Ovechkin’s eighth goal of the season means he has as many or more goals than 14 teams in the NHL.

-- Last season, the Caps did not allow an opponent more than 30 shots in a game until Game 9, when the Winnipeg Jets launched 45 shots on goal in a 6-2 Caps win.  With the 36 shots on goal recorded by the Penguins, the Caps have allowed more than 30 shots in each of their first four games.  In each of their last three games, the Caps have been on the short end of shots on goal by double digits (minus-16 to Montreal, minus-14 to Tampa Bay, and minus-14 to the Pens).

-- Last season the Caps did not record their third game with ten or more penalty minutes until Game 14 in a 5-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.  The Caps have been charged with ten or more penalty minutes in each of their last three games.

-- Last season, the Caps were not held under 30 shots per game over four consecutive games until Games 12-15.  Perhaps not coincidentally, the Caps did not win any of those games in regulation (1-2-1), their only win a 3-2 overtime win against the Chicago Blackhawks.  The Caps have been held under 30 shots in each of their first four games this season.

-- Last season, the Caps did not allow three goals in any of their first four games.  They have allowed three or more in three of their first four games this season.

-- The shot attempts last night were not dominated by Pittsburgh, although they did have a 57-54 edge in total.  The difference was getting shots to the net.  The Pens got 36 of 57 attempts to the net (63.2 percent), while the Caps got only 22 of 54 (40.7 percent) to the net.

-- Alex Ovechkin had almost a third of the Caps’ shots on goal (seven of 22).  No one else had more than two, and of the three players who had two, two were defensemen (Christian Djoos and John Carlson).

-- Christian Djoos is the first rookie defenseman to record two or more points in a season (that’s right, in a season, not a game) since the Caps had four blueliners do it in the 2013-2014 season: Alexander Urbom, Patrick Wey, Connor Carrick, and Nate Schmidt.  Djoos is now the eighth player from the 2012 draft to appear in a single NHL game.  He is the only one-gamer with two points.  We think he's likely to get more work.

-- Nicklas Backstrom had an assist.  He has perhaps the quietest six points in three games you’ll ever see.

-- Matt Niskanen has had an odd pattern to start the season.  He has alternated games with no penalty minutes (Games 1 and 3) with games of four penalty minutes (Games 2 and 4), and he has all eight of his penalty minutes in his two home games, none in his two away games.

In the end…

As we said in the prognosto, “it is never a bad thing to beat the Penguins, but let’s not make too much of it, either.”  In that same vein, let’s not make too much of a loss, at least not in the context of the team to which the Caps lost.  There are troubling signs, though.  The offense so far is “Ovechkin and (insert name of rookie here)” with support from Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie.  The bottom six forwards and defense have not been heard from much.  That lack of bottom half support is reflected in shot deficits.  Ovechkin has more shots on goal (25) than the next three forwards combined (Oshie, Jakub Vrana, and Brett Connolly).  TheCaps are spending too much time killing penalties.  And, of course, they lost both games to the two teams that just might be the class of the Eastern Conference.

But it’s early, right?  Yeah, but it can get late pretty quick, too, even for a team with a 2-1-1 record.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 4: Penguins at Capitals, October 11th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

The perpetrator returns to the scene of the crime.  On Wednesday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins return to Capital One Arena, where five months and a day ago, they demolished the Stanley Cup dreams of Capitals Nation with a 2-0 Game 7 win over the Caps in their Eastern Conference semi-final series.

A win for the Capitals in this mid-week intradivisional scrap would do little to assuage the bitterness of that postseason defeat, but a win over the Penguins is never a bad thing.  And the Caps, despite giving up a 3-1 lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning before losing a 4-3 overtime decision, catch the Penguins in something of a nether space between Cup hangover and righting their ship (or, given the Penguins, ice floe).

The Caps lead the Metropolitan Division at this early juncture with a 2-0-1 record, while the Penguins waddle into Capital One Arena fresh off a 4-0 gobsmacking of the Nashville Predators in a reprise of last spring’s Stanley Cup final.  The shutout was certainly welcome for the Pens, who allowed 15 goals in their first two contests, including a 10-1 shellacking by the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center last Thursday.

As it is, the Penguins still come into this game with the worst scoring defense in the league (5.00 goals allowed per game, tied with the Winnipeg Jets through Monday's games).  And as one might expect, goaltending is a bit of an issue.  With the departure of Marc-Andre Fleury to the Vegas Golden Knights, the keys to the car have been put in the hands of Matt Murray, who certainly has demonstrated his playoff mettle, going 22-9, 1.95, .928, with four shutouts in 32 postseason appearances over the last two seasons.  He has found the early going this season a bit rougher, posting a 1-0-1, 3.84, .879 record in three appearances.  It isn’t as rough as his regular season record against the Caps: 2-2-0, 4.43, .862 in four appearances. 

What it is, is considerably better than his backup.  Antti Niemi was signed to assume Murray’s spot as the backup after the latter’s elevation to the number one spot.  So far, he has logged a little over nine minutes of play and allowed four goals on 13 shots (.692 save percentage).  It is not the start one might have desired for a player who last season with the Dallas Stars went 12-12-4, 3.30, .892.  It signals a disturbing trend toward mediocrity...or worse.  His goals-against average and save percentage were the worst of any of his eight full seasons in the NHL, and for the first time in those eight seasons he failed to post a single shutout.  If there is one thing arguing for Niemi getting the call against the Caps, it is that he has never lost to the Caps in regulation in eight appearances, posting a 5-0-3, 2.52, .912 record with one shutout.

1.  It’s three games in, but who had “Olli Maatta” as the Penguins’ leading goal scorer?  He has two; seven other players have one apiece.

2.  None of those other players happens to be defenseman and perennial Norris candidate Kris Letang, who has yet to record a point in three games, despite averaging more than 25 minutes in ice time and being second on the team in shots on goal with 12 (Phil Kessel has 13).  He is also a team-worst minus-5.

3.  The Penguins have had a hard time playing well with others.  Their 15 shorthanded situations faced through Monday’s games is topped only by the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 17 such situations.  They have not yet allowed a road power play goal though, going 6-for-6.  Oddly enough, they did that in the 10-1 pasting the Blackhawks put on them last week.

4.  Not known as an especially physical team, the Penguins are nevertheless ranked second in credited hits through Monday’s games (90).  Only the St. Louis Blues have been credited with more (97).  Pair that with the fact that the Pens have the third-highest total of blocked shots (48), and it appears they are chasing the puck more than carrying the puck.

5.  Odd Power Play Fact… The Penguins are the only team in the league thus far with two goals scored at 5-on-3.  They do not have a 5-on-4 power play goal.

1.  Last season, the Caps lost just two of 43 games in which they led after two periods, one in regulation and one in overtime.  They are half-way there with their overtime loss to Tampa Bay on Monday night.

2.  Washington has the second-worst shots on goal differential in the league through Monday’s games.  Their minus-11.3 shot differential per game is ahead of only the Arizona Coyotes (minus-12.5).

3.  The Caps are winning 57.3 percent of their even strength draws.  Think that leads the league?  Nope, not close.  Boston is an insane 63-for-90 (70.0 percent).

4.  That the Caps have a talented top six is pretty much a given.  Need further proof?  Their top five point-getters are in the forward top six (Evgeny Kuznetsov – 8; Alex Ovechkin – 7; Nicklas Backstrom – 5; T.J. Oshie – 4; Jakub Vrana – 3).

5.   The Caps are one of three teams in the early going with at least 10 even strength goals.  They are third with ten, with Toronto (12) and Chicago (16) ahead of them.

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Pittsburgh: Evgeni Malkin

Evgeni Malkin, a gifted player with a hall of fame pedigree, has always occupied an odd place in the NHL and with the Pittsburgh Penguins.  The word association exercise is not hard.  Malkin is to Sidney Crosby as... Scottie Pippen is to Michael Jordan, or as Don Drysdale is to Sandy Koufax, or as Billy Kilmer is to Sonny Jurgensen.  He has been a necessary, even essential ingredient to the Penguins’ success since he came into the league in the 2006-2007 season, but he has played that role as the “other guy” to a degree.  And now, in his 12^th NHL season, all with the Pens, he finds himself almost an oddly anonymous resident among the franchise’s all-time rankings:

• Games played: 709 (6^th)
• Goals: 329 (4^th)
• Assists: 507 (4^th)
• Points: 836 (4^th)
• Plus-Minus: plus-73 (10^th)
• Game-winning goals: 57 (3^rd)
• Power play goals: 119 (2^nd)

Even as injuries have kept him under 70 games in a season five times in 11 full seasons (not counting the abbreviated 2012-2013 season), he is among the most prolific offensive players of his era.  Only once in 12 seasons has he averaged less than a point a game (37 points in 43 games of the 2010-2011 season).  But, he has had something of a shadow cast upon him by Alex Ovechkin, drafted ahead of him in 2004, and by the white-hot light of Sidney Crosby, who has been the face of the franchise since he was drafted in 2005.  It seems unlikely his lot in life in the NHL will change, just as it seems unlikely his march up the franchise’s all-time rankings will be halted.  Malkin is 16-35-51, even, in 36 career games against Washington.

Washington:  Andre Burakovsky

We noted above that the Caps’ top five point getters so far this season are among the team’s top-six forwards.  The odd man out so far is Andre Burakovsky, who is 0-2-2 so far (ok, he is tied with John Carlson for sixth in points so far).  Part of the problem could be that he is part of an entirely reworked second line.  Last year’s line of Marcus Johansson – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Justin Williams has been replaced with Burakovsky, Nicklas Backstrom, and T.J. Oshie. At least through three games, the chemistry on that line has not come as easily as it has for the top line, although all three members of that line recorded points against Tampa Bay in the 4-3 overtime loss on Monday night.  Burakovsky, though, is being counted on to fill some of the goal scoring production lost with the departures of Williams and Johansson, but as yet he has just three shots on goal in three games without lighting the red light.  Burakovsky is 5-4-9, plus-1, in 12 career games against Pittsburgh.

In the end…

The Penguins and Capitals is billed as a “rivalry” game, but this has become a rivalry in a somewhat perfunctory sense.  The Caps have enjoyed a measure of success against the Pens in the regular season, going 19-11-6 against the Penguins since the 2008-2009 season.  But then they go toes up in the playoffs, eliminated three times in three series against the Pens over that span, postseasons that ended in Penguin Stanley Cups.

In that sense, there might be a certain ambivalence attached to this contest.  Sure, it is never a bad thing to beat the Penguins, but let’s not make too much of it, either.  The way the NHL chose to organize itself means that for the Caps, the road to a Stanley Cup almost certainly goes through Pittsburgh, and crossing that bridge (it’s a Three Rivers thing) is not something they will get to for months.  Still…

Capitals 3 – Penguins 2

A ONE-Point Night: Washington Capitals -- Game 3: Lightning 4 - Capitals 3 (OT)

The Washington Capitals took to the road on Thursday night, visiting the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena.  The Caps got out to a 3-1 lead early in the second period, only to see the Lightning tie it mid-way through the third period to force extra time.  The Lightning were granted a power play chance in the extra session, and they converted it to send the Caps to their first loss of the season, 4-3.

First Period

For two teams with a lot of offensive firepower, they came out like a couple of heavyweights in a prize fight content just to feel one another out.  The Caps grabbed a shovel and started digging themselves a hole when Aaron Ness took a penalty in the fifth minute of the period, and then took another penalty nine minutes later.  The Caps held the Bolts to one shot on their two power plays.  After that, they handed the shovel to the Lightning to start digging a hole.  Nicklas Backstrom got the Caps on the board, taking a cross-ice feed from Andre Burakovsky, gliding through the right wing circle, and snapping a shot that seemed to handcuff goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy at the 16:42 mark. 

Barely 20 seconds later, the Caps found themselves on their first power play of the evening, Yanni Gourde sent off for slashing.  Just over a minute into the power play, John Carlson took a pass from Backstrom at the blue line, walked the puck back to the middle of the ice, then flipped a shot at the net that nicked T.J. Oshie on the way through to give the Caps a 2-0 lead at the first intermission.

Second Period

The Caps got burned in the sixth minute of the period when they were trying to move the puck into the Lightning end of the ice.  A pass to Alex Ovechkin at the red line went awry, and Braydon Coburn grabbed the sliding puck.  He fed it up to Brayden Point heading down the left wing, and after carrying it across the blue line, Point found Alex Killorn before he was plastered by Dmitri Orlov.  It was taking a hit to make a play, though, as Killorn one-timed the pass high over goalie Philipp Grubauer’s glove, and it was 2-1, Caps.

Oshie got it back on a power play just over two minutes later.  With the Lightning short for a faceoff violation, the Caps worked the puck around the perimeter, setting up Oshie for a one-timer  that was foiled, but Evgeny Kuznetsov swept the loose puck back to Backstrom along the boards.  Backstrom waited until Oshie found space and a passing lane in the middle, then threaded a pass that Oshie one-timed off the far post and behind Vasilevskiy to make it 3-1 at the 7:49 mark.

Tampa Bay got back to within a goal late when Anton Stralman sent a lollipop of a shot at the net that was redirected by Chris Kunitz (yes, that Chris Kunitz) down and to the left of Grubauer’s pad to make it 3-2 with 1:51 left in the period.

Third Period

The Caps survived an early Tampa Bay power play on which the Lightning recorded six shots on goal, but the Lightning pressure was persistent as the period wore on.  It finally bore fruit at the 10:46 mark when Nikita Kucherov barreled into the Caps’ zone and with Taylor Chorney trying to get a body and a stick on him, roofed a backhand over Grubauer’s left shoulder to tie the game, 3-3.  It was part of an onslaught on the Washington net as the Lightning outshot the Caps, 17-6.

Extra Time

The Caps stepped in it right away, taking a too-many-men penalty just 1:21 into the extra frame.  With less than 15 seconds left before killing it off, the Caps allowed their first power play goal of the season, Nikita Kucherov one-timed a feed that ricocheted off Brayden Point and past Grubauer’s glove for the game-winner.

Other stuff…

-- Nicklas Backstrom’s first period goal was his first of the season and 189^th as a Capital, passing Bobby Carpenter for eighth place on the team’s all-time list of goal scorers.  Next up is Dave Christian with 193 goals in 504 games played with the Caps from 1983 to 1990.

-- When T.J. Oshie recorded a goal and an assist in the first period, it made it 29 multi-point games as a Cap, passing Bengt Gustafsson and tying Andrei Nikolishin, Eric Fehr, and Troy Brouwer for 35^th place in team history.  When he scored his second goal, he had his tenth three-point game as a Cap, tying Dave Christian, Ulf Dahlen, and Dainius Zubrus for 21^st place on the team’s all-time list.

--  Backstrom’s assist on Oshie’s second goal gave him a three-point night, his 65^th as a Capital, second-most in team history (Alex Ovechkin has 92).

-- Washington allowed 40 shots, the third straight game in which they allowed more than 30 shots on goal.  The Caps allowed only one team 40 or more shots last season, that coming in a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets On November 1, 2016, when they allowed 45 shots on goal.

-- Tampa Bay out-shot the Caps, 22-7 over the third period and overtime.  Overall, they out-attempted Washington, 83-48.

-- John Carlson led the team with six shots on goal and eight shot attempts.

-- The Caps allowed 12 shots on goal on the last two Tampa Bay power plays.

-- Dmitry Orlov played a team-high 27:32 for the Caps.  John Carlson (26:15) and Matt Niskanen (25:54) also topped 25 minutes.

-- Jay Beagle had an uncharacteristically off night in the circle, going 4-for-13 overall and 2-for-8 in the defensive end.

-- The domination by the Lightning at fives was complete.  They out-attempted the Caps, 60-33, at 5-on-5 (64.52 percent; numbers from Corsica.hockey).

In the end…

The problems the Caps have were on display tonight.  They are replacing half of their defense from last season with players who, frankly, are not as talented as those they are replacing, and Brooks Orpik is being asked to play second pair minutes when he played mostly third pair minutes last season.  The best thing you can say is that perhaps things will sort themselves out, that the new guys will improve enough to at least not be a liability on the ice.  But the Lightning made up a 3-1 deficit by scoring two goals with the Taylor Chorney/Aaron Ness defensive pair on the ice.  Consider that Chorney played barely ten minutes (10:17), and Ness played just 8:56, and one has to be concerned that this is something teams will look to exploit on a night-to-night basis.  The Caps did get a point, but it was one point fewer than they should have taken from this game, defensive breakdowns (not limited to Chorney/Ness by any means) and an inability to put the team away when they had a 3-1 lead less than half-way through the contest dooming them in the end.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 3: Capitals at Lightning, October 9th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

The Washington Capitals go back on the road on Monday for their only visit to Tampa this season to face the Lightning.  Washington will be looking to extend their winning streak to three games, while the Lightning, who split their home-and-home set against the Florida Panthers to start the season, will be looking for their second straight win on home ice.

Alex Ovechkin will be looking to do the next to impossible, posting a third straight hat trick contest. He had only two all of last season, those coming almost four months apart.  He had a late November hattie against the St. Louis Blues and then a late March hat trick against the Minnesota Wild.

Tampa Bay will be looking to foil Ovechkin and the Caps despite having allowed eight goals in two games so far (sixth-worst goals against per game in the league).  The Lightning are part of a strange “Southeast Division” thing going on in the first week of the season.  They, the Panthers, and the Carolina Hurricanes – all former Southeast Division teams – are the only ones in the league averaging four or more goals allowed per game and four or more goals scored.  

It is only two games, but the Lightning have spread their goal scoring around.  Four players– Ondrej Palat, Vladislav Namestnikov, Nikita Kucherov, and Brayden Point – have two goals apiece in the early going.  Point, a third-round draft pick of the Lightning (2014), leads the team with five points.

At the other end, Andrei Vasilevskiy got the nod in goal for both Lightning games to open the season, and he started slowly.  He has allowed eight goals on 84 shots (.905 save percentage) with a 4.08 goals against average. It is quite a bit different from his start last season in which he went 2-0-0, 1.51, .952 in his first two contests.

As for the Caps, they will be trying to extend a lengthy points streak against the Bolts.  Washington has not lost a game in regulation against Tampa Bay since dropping a 4-3 decision in Tampa on November 1, 2014.  Since then, the Caps are 7-0-1, the only blemish being a 2-1 Gimmick loss in Tampa last December 3^rd.

1.  Last season was the first season in Lightning history in which they recorded more than 40 wins (42) and failed to reach the playoffs.

2.  Little things… Tampa Bay had the fourth-worst faceoff percentage in the league last season (47.7 percent).

3.  The Lightning finished second in the league in home power play opportunities last season (149; Winnipeg had 152).  They did a good job of converting those opportunities, finishing fourth in home power play efficiency (24.21 percent).

4.  Tampa Bay finished third last season in penalty minutes per game (10:40).  They managed that feat despite being one of just six teams not to be charged with a game misconduct.

5.  It’s early, but the Lightning have awful possession numbers.  Their 36.14 percent Corsi-for at 5-on-5 is 30^th of 31 teams through two games (Vancouver is 33.8 percent; numbers from Corsica.hockey).

1.  It’s early here, too.  The Caps are dead last in the league in shots on goal per game (25.5).

2.  Through Saturday’s games, only one team having played two games has been charged with feweer giveaways than the Caps (10).  St. Louis has six.

3.  The Caps are second in the league in faceoff winning percentage (57.6 percent).  Only Toronto (57.9 percent) outranks them.

4.  Odd fact…the Caps are the only team in the league with both a one-goal win and a win by three or more goals.  But hey, it’s early.

5.  The Caps have the worst special teams time differential in the league.  They have spent 9:11 more time on penalty killing than they have on power plays.

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Tampa Bay: Steven Stamkos

When Steven Stamkos is healthy, he scores goals.  Over the last eight seasons of his career, he played in 70 or more games five times and scored 35 or more goals five times.  He topped 40 four times.  Even in the abbreviated 2012-2013 season he recorded 29 goals in 48 games, a 50-goal pace.  The trouble is, he appeared in fewer than 40 games in two of the last four seasons.  He missed 45 games in the 2013-2014 season to a broken leg and 65 games last season to a knee injury.  Even so, in those two seasons combined he recorded 34 goals over 54 games, a 52-goal pace.  He is the most effective goal scorer (0.55 goals per game since he entered the league in 2008-2009) not named “Ovechkin” (0.59 goals per game over that span) in the NHL.  That Tampa Bay is on the short list of Stanley Cup contenders this season is due in large part to the expected contribution – and durability – of Stamkos this season.  In 35 career games against the Caps, he is 15-14-29, minus-14.

Washington: T.J. Oshie

If you were asked, which Capital has more career goals per game against the Tampa Bay Lightning than any other Capital, you would reflexively respond “Alex Ovechkin.”  Good answer.  He has 41 goals in in 63 games against the Lightning (0.65 per game).  You would also be wrong.  T.J. Oshie has 10 goals in 14 career games against the Lightning (0.71 goals per game), one of four teams against which he has posted at least ten goals and the only one who was exclusively a member of the Eastern Conference (Columbus, Dallas, and Nashville are the others).  Oshie had his only hat trick of the 2016-2017 against Tampa Bay at Amalie Arena in a 5-3 win.  He also had three goals in three games against the Bolts in the 2015-2016 season with the Caps.  Oshie has been something of a road warrior with the Caps, too.  In 76 road games with the Caps over the past two-plus seasons he has 28 goals, second on the club to Alex Ovechkin (40).

In the end…

If there is a to-do list early, these teams have them.  The Caps will be looking to get more balanced goal scoring.  Not that seven goals in two games from Alex Ovechkin is a bad thing, but three from the rest of the lineup could use improvement.  The other side of that coin for the Caps is getting other players getting shots to the net.  The 8.1 shooting percentage from players not named “Ovechkin” is not bad, but they have to improve on the 37 shots on goal they have in the two games so far.  Lars Eller, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Jay Beagle each have only one shot on goal; Nicklas Backstrom has only two.  For the Lightning, the task at hand is preventing goals. Eight goals allowed in two games is not a cause for panic, but neither is it sustainable for a contender.  All things considered, though, one would rather have the Caps’ “problems,” to the extent they have them.

Capitals 4 – Lightning 2

Washington Capitals: That Was The Week That Was - Week 1

The Washington Capitals opened their 2017-2018 season this week, and it was something of an historic opening.  From a pair of wins, to a goal explosion, to a debut from down under, it was a Week 1 to remember.

Record: 2-0-0

The Caps opened their season with a pair of wins, the first time they accomplished that feat since the 2011-2012 season.  That’s the good news.  The bad news…the Caps won their first seven games that season and yet had a new coach by the end of November, when Bruce Boudreau was relieved in favor of Dale Hunter.  Worse, the same thing happened in the 2007-2008 season, when the Caps won their first two games and, again, had a new coach by the end of November, when Boudreau relieved Glen Hanlon behind the Caps’ bench.  Moral of the story… don’t get too high with the highs or too low with the lows.

Offense:  5.00/game (season: 5.00/game, 3^rd)

Alex Ovechkin is not going to score 287 goals this season.  You can write that one down in pen.  But with seven goals in two games, he became the first player in 100 years to record hat tricks in consecutive games to open an NHL season, the first since Cy Denneny, Reg Noble, and Joe Malone all did so to open the 1917-1918 season.  However, as a technical matter, Ovechkin might be the first ever to record “hat tricks” in consecutive games to open a season, if you believe that the custom of tossing hats on the ice for a three-goal game originated in Guelph, Ontario. 

Almost forgotten in the Ovechkin avalanche of goals is the fact that Evgeny Kuznetsov recorded seven assists (Kuznetsov and Ovechkin ended the week tied for the league lead in total scoring with seven points apiece and tied for second in plus-minus with several other players plus-6 apiece), while rookie Jakub Vrana added three more, giving the top line quite a week.  To that add that Nathan Walker, appearing in his first game, recorded his first NHL goal, and he hit history’s Daily Double – the first player from Australia to appear in an NHL game and becoming the first Australian to record a goal in an NHL game.  Brett Connolly and T.J. Oshie added the other goals of the week, and 14 different skaters recorded a point for the team.

Defense: 2.50/game (season: 2.50/game, T-9^th)

The Caps held, if that is the right word, Ottawa and Montreal to 90 shot attempts for the week, which puts them in the middle of the pack, tied for 12-th most in the league with Winnipeg and the New York Islanders (numbers from NHL.com).  Worse, that volume of shot attempts left he Caps with the tenth-worst shot attempt plus minus in the league (minus-11).  If there was a bright spot, it was that the Caps were plus-9 when the score was tied, and the minus-21 when ahead is largely a score effect of having jumped out to such a big lead against the Montreal Canadiens early (4-0 after one period on Saturday night).

It was hard to be Brett Connolly this week in the defensive end.  Connolly was on ice for four of the five goals scored against the Caps.  Brooks Orpik and John Carlson were on ice together for three goals against of their own.

Goaltending: 2.40 / .930 (season: 2.40 / .930)

Braden Holtby got both starts for the Caps in Week 1, and his week was somewhat typical of a Holtby season start.  He has never been particularly effective in his first game of the season (see our prognosto on the Montreal game for more on that).  And against the Ottawa Senators, he was consistent with that profile, allowing four goals on 32 shots.  He did not have as much help in front of him as he might be accustomed to, but it was not a classic Holtby performance, either.  He did finish that game strong, and that effort spilled over into the performance against the Canadiens to end the week.  He stopped 38 of 39 shots and resisted the temptation to lose focus as the Caps went out to a big lead early.

Power Play: 1-for-5 / 20.0 percent (season: 20.0 percent / T-11th)

There is not much to glean from the power play in Week 1.  Yes, it did record a goal.  Yes, it was an Alex Ovechkin goal.  Some things are slow to change.  The power play was also victimized by a shorthanded goal when the Caps forgot how to defend on a power play against the Canadiens, giving up the puck and letting Brendan Gallagher score from the top of the paint while a man down. Ovechkin had half of the shots on the man advantage for the week (four of eight), and the Caps recorded eight power play shots in 8:16 of power play ice time.  All in all, it was for the most part a rather typical week, the shortie notwithstanding.

Penalty Killing: 9-for-9 / 100.0 percent (season: 100.0 percent / T-1^st)

There was good and bad on the penalty kill this week for the Caps.  Well, mostly good.  The bad part was the volume.  The nine shorthanded situations faced is in the middle of the pack in the league rankings (tied for 11^th-most), but it was almost twice as many special teams opportunities for Ottawa and Montreal as the Caps had for the week (five).  That led to those two opponents enjoying a better than 2-to-1 edge in power play ice time(17:27 to 8:16).  The Caps might have been on the short side of opportunities and minutes on special teams, but they did not allow an inordinate number of shots relative to minutes (16 in 17:27).  It is, and it was to be expected, to be a work in progress at the start of the season with new penalty killers in the rotation, but it was a good week, all things considered.

Faceoffs: 72-for-125 / 57.6 percent (season: 57.6 percent / 2^nd)

If you are going to keep teams from scoring, it is best to have the puck.  And what better way to do that than to take possession of it from the puck drop, especially in the defensive end?  The Caps had a fine week overall in the circle, but they shined in the defensive end, winning 33 of 47 defensive zone draws (70.2 percent).  Jay Beagle gave a master class in the subject, winning 15 of 17 defensive zone faceoffs (88.2 percent) as part of a 73.1 percent week overall.  Evgeny Kuznetsov, who won just 44.0 percent of his draws last season, was a surprise, winning 14 of 24 draws overall (58.3 percent).  Nicklas Backstrom was the only Capital to take ten or more draws and finish under 50 percent for the week (16-for-34/47.1 percent).

Goals by Period:

That four-spot in the first period against Montreal in the second game of the week tilted the goal scoring toward the beginning of games, but don’t forget that three-goal third period against Ottawa in the opener.  It reminded Caps fans that the team can still be explosive, scoring seven goals in a span of 33:55 across two games.  Of course, Alex Ovechkin had six of them in what was a remarkable week for him, even in the context of his career body of work (T.J. Oshie had the other one).  At the other end, the Caps spread the gloom of opponents’ goals across the periods and did not allow either Ottawa or Montreal to score consecutive goals in any single period for the week, a way to stall momentum.

In the end…

Two games, two wins in the bank.  If you are of the picky sort, you would say the Caps escaped with a win on Thursday and leaned too heavily on Alex Ovechkin on Saturday.  If you are of a forgiving sort, you might respond, “so what?”  Sometimes the captain takes over a game, and sometimes you rally from behind.  In the context of a long season, neither game of the sort the Caps played this week is particularly informative.  But you can’t take two wins off the ledger, and that is the takeaway from this week.

Three Stars:

• First Star: Alex Ovechkin (7-0-7, plus-6, 14 SOG, 21 shot attempts, two history-making hat tricks)
• Second Star: Evgeny Kuznetsov (0-7-7, plus-6, 58.3 percent FO (7-for-8 in the defensive zone))
• Third Star: Nathan Walker (1-0-1, plus-1, first Australian to play in an NHL game, first Australian to score an NHL goal, first to do it in his debut game)

A TWO-Point Night: Washington Capitals -- Game 2: Capitals 6 - Canadiens 1

Alex Ovechkin can now add his name to the list that includes Cy Denneny, Reg Noble, and Joe Malone.  Ovechkin became the fourth player in NHL history to record hat tricks in back-to-back games to start a season and the first in 100 years (from Elias Sports Bureau) as the Caps steamrolled the Montreal Canadiens, 6-1, at Capital One Arena on Saturday night in the team’s season opener.  And in a double first, Nathan Walker became the first Australian player to appear in an NHL game, and he became the first Australian player to record a goal in the NHL.

First Period

Wayne Gretzky once said, “you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”  It might explain Alex Ovechkin going after a loose puck above the left wing circle, spinning, and slapping the bouncing puck over the glove of what appeared to be an utterly shocked goalie Carey Price 20 seconds into the contest to set the stage.

Less than half a minute later, the Caps had a 2-0 lead when T.J. Oshie recorded his first goal of the season off a Montreal turnover.  Jordie Benn circled out of the corner in the defensive end and tried to move the puck up ice, but Andre Burakovsky intercepted the feed.  Burakovsky fed Oshie moving through the left wing circle, and Oshie left it for Nicklas Backstrom.  The shot from Backstrom was stopped by Price, but not covered, and Oshie swooped in to swat the puck behind Price from the goal line to Price’s right just 46 seconds into the period.

Before the game was three minutes old, the Caps had a 3-0 lead when, on a power play, Ovechkin declared his office open for business.  Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom played catch on the right side of the power play formation until Kuznetsov found a lane through the middle of the ice to Ovechkin in the left wing circle.  Ovechkin one-timed the puck past a twirling Price to make it 3-0 at the 2:51 mark.

Neither the Caps nor Ovechkin were done with the first period yet, though.  With under two minutes in the period, the Caps worked the puck around the perimeter, Evgeny Kuznetsov to Aaron Ness, and back to Kuznetsov circling to the top of the left wing circle.  Kuznetsov’s blast from the top of the circle was redirected by Ovechkin past Price at the  18:10 mark to take a 4-0 lead to the first intermission.

Second Period

Montreal came out with a new goalie – Al Montoya in relief of Price – and a new attitude, pressuring the Caps from the start.  It made for a period dominated by Braden Holtby in the Caps’ goal.  It paid off when Brendan Gallagher got loose at the top of the paint and converted a feed from below the goal line by Paul Byron to get the Canadiens on the board 4:50 into the period.

Ovechkin would restore the four-goal margin late in the period.  Circling through the right wing circle, Ovechkin fed Kuznetsov, who moved to the middle to create space.  It was enough to feed Ovechkin heading to the net from Price’s left.  As he reached the top of the paint, Ovechkin pulled the puck to his backhand and slid it toward Montoya.  It hit two Canadiens’ skates before it slithered across the line just before Oshie could tap it in.  Then, late in the period, Nathan Walker made history again.  He made it 79 seconds into the game when he stepped onto the ice as the first Australian to play in an NHL game.  And at the 18:05 mark of the second period, he made some more.  Jay Beagle won a draw in the offensive zone to the left of goalie Al Montoya.  Devante Smith-Pelly settled the puck at the top of the right wing circle and fired.  The puck hit Walker on the way through and eluded Montoya to give Walker his first NHL goal and the first “Australian” goal in NHL history.

Third Period

No scoring in this period, but by this time, who cared?

Other stuff…

- For some players, hat tricks are thought of in terms of games.  Alex Ovechkin recorded hat tricks in consecutive periods, following up his three-goal third period against Ottawa on Thursday with a three-goal first period on Saturday. 

-- Ovechkin might have made it a career-high five-goal night in the last minute, but on an odd-man rush, he passed up a shot to feed Evgeny Kuznetsov, who fed Jakub Vrana, who whiffed on the opportunity.  As it was, it was Ovechkin’s fourth career four-goal game.

-- Ovechkin has seven goals in two games.  In the last thirty years, it is the most goals in the first two games of an NHL season.  Three players opened the season with five goals: Mike Gartner in 1988, Wendel Clark in 1992, and Brendan Shanahan in 1994.

-- Evgeny Kuznetsov had four assists, the second four-assist game of his career.  He had four helpers in a 6-3 win over the Blue Jackets in Columbus on January 19, 2016.  It was the fourth four-point game of his career.

-- Eleven skaters had points for the Caps, 14 skaters finished as “plus” players.  Only Brett Connolly was on the minus side of the ledger (minus-1).

-- The Caps enjoyed a whopping 41-26 edge in faceoffs.  Jay Beagle (11-for-14) and Lars Eller (12-for-19) were especially dominant.

-- Nathan Walker, all 5’9”, 186 pound of him, led the Caps in hits with four.

-- Ovechkin had more than a third of the Caps’ total shots on goal (eight of 23).

-- With 38 saves on 39 shots, Braden Holtby improved his record against Montreal to 11-1-2, 1.57, .944, with two shutouts.

-- Score effects in one graph (from Corsica.hockey)...

In the end…

It would be hard to script a home opener better than that.  Maybe raising a Stanley Cup banner, but a four-goal game from the Captain, a sterling effort from the star goalie, and an unprecedented debut isn’t bad.  Two games in, and Alex Ovechkin has more than a third (six) of all the even strength goals he scored last season (16), and in doing it he has not forgotten the address of his office.  His hat trick goal was perhaps the most telling.  And he took advantage of an old teammate in doing it.  With the Caps working the puck around the perimeter, Ovechkin is working his way across the high slot, fighting for position with a Canadien defenseman – former Cap Karl Alzner.  He worked his way into position to free his stick to get enough of the Evgeny Kuznetsov shot to elude Carey Price.  If this is now in Ovechkin’s repertoire, it could be a big season for the captain and the Caps.