A TWO-Point Night: Washington Capitals -- Game 26: Capitals 5 - Flyers 3

The Washington Capitals headed to Philadelphia on Thursday evening with hopes of building on the success they had in their last visit to Wells Fargo Arena, a 3-1 win last Sunday.  The Flyers were coming off a disaster turned into a win, falling behind the Buffalo Sabres by two goals twice in the contest before tying the game in regulation and winning in a Gimmick, 5-4, on Tuesday.  The Caps once more took a three-goal lead late into the contest, and they almost gave it all back once more.  They hung on, killing a late Flyer power play along the way, before getting an empty net goal to seal a 5-3 win.

First Period

The game was not two minutes old when the Caps started their first power play of the evening, Travis Sandheim going to the penalty box for hooking.  Washington had three shots on goal on the ensuing power play, two from Alex Ovechkin and one from John Carlson, but none found paydirt.

The Caps drew first blood, courtesy of a ghastly Flyer turnover in their own end.  Goalie Brian Elliott fed the puck to Ivan Provorov in the faceoff circle to his left.  Provarov turned and fed the puck toward the middle, succeeding only in putting the puck on a tee for an Alex Ovechkin one-timer that beat Elliott to the far side, off the post, and in to make it 1-0, 8:37 into the game.

Philadelphia got their first power play, Brenden Dillon going off for interference at the 10:31 mark.  They converted their chance, Travis Konecny getting the equalizer at 11:14 of the period

Washington regained the lead shortly thereafter when Daniel Sprong sprung (sprang?) Conor Sheary with a gorgeous backhand pass for a breakaway, and Sheary snapped a shot that snuck through Elliott and dribbled over the goal line at 13:10 of the period to make it 2-1, Caps.

Things took a turn late in the period when Garnet Hathaway and Andy Andreoff dropped the gloves and went for their respective five-minute timeouts 17:15 into the period.  There was no further drama, and the Caps went to the first intermission with the 2-1 lead.

-- Flyers led in shots on goal for the first period, 11-10, and the shot attempts edge, 19-15.

-- The Caps out-hit the Flyers, 12-8, Garnet Hathaway leading the team with three.

-- Washington won just nine of 22 faceoffs, Evgeny Kuznetsov having an especially difficult time, going 1-for-7.

-- Kuznetsov led the Caps in ice time for the period with 7:35; Jonas Siegenthaler, who got a sweater when Lars Eller had to return to Washington on a family matter, did not skate a single shift.

Second Period

Washington went to the man advantage early in the middle frame, Travis Konecny going off for tripping at 1:50 of the period.  The Caps got one shot on goal but failed to light the lamp.

The Caps took a 3-1 lead when they stormed the Flyers’ zone on a 3-on-2 rush.  Jakub Vrana took a pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov and carried the puck down the right side.  From below the goal line he threaded a pass out to John Carlson trailing the play.  Carlson paused, then wristed a shot past Elliott on the long side at the 6:58 mark.

Nic Dowd gave the Caps a three-goal lead, more a product of luck (not to mention awful defense) than pure skill.  Skating down the left side, he turned defenseman Travis Sandheim inside out, threading the puck through Sandheim’s skates and recovering it on the other side of the defenseman.  Curling to the crease, he got a shot away but it failed to go in until the other defenseman, Shayne Gostisbehere, kicked the puck past Elliott’s left pad with his skate.  The Caps were up, 4-1, at the 17:33 mark.

When a pane of glass was shattered with 1:29 left in the period, the teams were sent to their locker rooms, the last 1:29 to be tacked on to the beginning of the third period.

--  Jonas Siegenthaler…still no shifts in this game.

-- The Flyers and Caps had five shots on goal apiece for the period, and both teams had 11 shot attempts for the period.

-- Justin Schultz led the Caps in ice time through 40 minutes (15:11).

-- Alex Ovechkin (five) and John Carlson (four) accounted for nine of the Caps’ 15 shots on goal for the game through two periods.

Third Period (and some of the second)

The teams skated off the 1:29 left over from the second period without any scoring and proceeded to the third period.  The third period started with coincidental minor penalties to Zdeno Chara and Travis Konecny for high-sticking and slashing, respectively.

The Flyers cut into the Caps’ lead when Ivan Provorov scored at the 1:43 mark of the period, taking a feed from Sean Couturier from the right-wing wall and wristing the puck past goalie Ilya Samsonov’s blocker.  Philly got within one 10:45 into the third period, Scott Laughton getting the tally, taking a feed from Kevin Hayes and snapping a shot off the far post and behind Samsonov.

The teams went down a man coincidentally once more at the 10:58 mark when Evgeny Kuznetsov and Claude Giroux were dispatched to their respective penalty boxes for cross-checking (Kuznetsov) and slashing (Giroux).  And then the Flyers went to a power play, the Caps guilty of too many men on the ice at 12:43 of the period.  The Caps escaped the Flyer man advantage without allowing the tying goal.

Nic Dowd got his second of the game, an empty net goal scored from about 195 feet at the 19:32 mark and with an assist from goalie Ilya Samsonov.  That would be the last of the scoring in the Caps’ 5-3 win.

Other stuff…

-- John Carlson’s goal was his 500^th career point in the NHL, the first defenseman in Caps history to reach that mark (Calle Johansson is second with 474 points as a Capital).  He is the ninth skater in Caps history to reach 500 points with the club.

-- Nic Dowd’s two-goal game was his second as a Capital, both on the road.  His other two-goal game came in a 5-2 in in Pittsburgh over the Penguins on March 7, 2020.

-- Philadelphia out-shot the Caps, 32-22, and out-attempted them, 49-37, in a very low-event game.

-- Alex Ovechkin led the Caps with seven shots on goal and 11 shot attempts.

-- The Caps won only 27 of 60 faceoffs (45.0 percent), but it was not as bad as all that once Evgeny Kuznetov’s difficult night (5-for-17/29.4 percent) is accounted for.

-- T.J. Oshie led the Caps in ice time (22:45); Jonas Siegenthaler finished with one shift and 15 seconds of ice time.

-- Brenden Dillon was credited with six hits to lead the Caps.

-- Washington went 0-for-2 on power plays, dropping their road power play for the season to 8.8 percent (3-for-34).  They have gone seven straight road games without a power play goal.

-- When the Flyers scored a power play goal in the third period, it broke a four-game streak on the road of not allowing a power play goal.

-- Ilya Samsonov stopped 30 of 33 shots to improve his career record against the Flyers to 2-0-1, 1.82, .944 in three games.

In the end…

Once more the Caps made things far more interesting than they should have been in the third period, almost blowing yet another three-goal lead.  It is a fault that just screams for attention before the Caps find themselves incapable of wriggling out from under those blown leads.  It will be something to watch for when the teams meet again on Saturday.

 

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Games 26/27: Capitals at Flyers, March 11/13

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

The seats that the Caps occupied on their trip to Philadelphia on Sunday are probably still warm, but they get to enjoy that warm embrace once more as they travel back to Philadelphia for a pair of games against the Flyers on Thursday and Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena.  These will be the third and fourth meetings of the season between the clubs, each team winning once on the other’s rink.

The Caps enter the two-game set with a 9-2-1 record over their last dozen games and occupy the second spot in the East Division.  The Flyers eked out a 5-4 Gimmick win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night after falling behind, 3-1, bringing their record to 6-5-2 over their last 13 games, leaving them in fifth place and one point out of a playoff spot in the East.

The Flyers have not lack much for offense over those last 13 games, their 3.08 goals per game ranking 11^th in the league over that span.  Sean Couturier leads the club in scoring over those 13 games, going 6-9-15, plus-5, despite missing a pair of those games as part of a ten-game absence due to a rib injury.  Only once in the 11 games in which he played over this stretch did he not record at least one point, a 4-3 loss to Pittsburgh on March 6^th.  Over those same 11 games, a stretch that started with his posting two goals and an assist in a 7-4 win over the Caps on February 7^th, Couturier recorded four multi-point games.

In his early career, he was looked at more as a defensive shut-down forward, not hitting the 40-point mark in any of his first six seasons with the Flyers.  But starting in 2017-2018, Couturier has not posted fewer than 22 goals or 59 points, going over 30 goals twice and recording consecutive 76-point seasons until he scored “only” 59 points in 69 games last season.  The discovery of his offensive game has not diminished his abilities in the defensive end of the ice; Couturier is the defending Selke Trophy winner as the league’s top defensive forward.  Couturier is 10-17-27, plus-13, in 35 career games against the Caps.

Shayne Gostisbehere is experiencing a resurgence of late.  In the Flyers’ 6-5-2 run, he has four of the six goals scored by the defense, and his five points is tied with Ivan Provorov for the team lead in points among defensemen over that span.  It would be a welcome development for Flyer fans if he could sustain this level of production, given how disappointing his recent performance has been.  Since posting 13 goals and 65 points with a plus-10 rating in 78 games 2017-2018, Gostisbehere was 14-35-49, minus-24, in 120 games over the last two seasons coming into 2020-2021.  There is an odd quality about his performance so far this season, though.  It seems 21 minutes of ice time is a marker.  In five games in which he logged more than that amount, the Flyers are 1-3-1, and he has only one point (a goal) in those five games.  In the 12 games in which he logged less than 21 minutes, the Flyers are 9-2-1, an he is 3-2-5, plus-3.  Gostisbehere is 1-7-8, plus-3, in 18 career games against Washington.

Rookies have not been featured among the Flyers this season.  Seven rookie skaters have appeared in a total of 24 man-games so far.  Forward Connor Bunnaman has 16 of those games on his record.  Bunnaman has been bouncing between the active and taxi squads this season, accounting for his intermittent presence in the lineup.  He is not a complete stranger to the Flyer lineup, though, his dressing for 21 games last season (he maintains his rookie eligibility by not having passed the threshold of games played prior to his “rookie” season).  His back-and-forth between the active and taxi squads is a reflection of his performance so far.  Bunnaman has one point (an assist) in his 16 games played to date this season, the only point recorded by a Flyer rookie.  If promoted back to the active roster (he was sent to the taxi squad on Monday) he would be looking for his first career point against the Caps in what would be his third game against Washington.

 

1.  That the Flyers are just 6-5-2 in their last 13 games is in part a product of a weak power play that is ranked 28^th over that period *13.7 percent).

2.  The penalty kill has hardly been better, also ranking 28^th over that period (70.3 percent), giving them the second-worst special teams index (power play plus penalty kill) over that span of time (84.0, ahead of only New Jersey at 74.1).

3.  One problem the Flyers have had in their 13-game run is carrying leads late into games.  Only three times in those 13 games have they led after two periods.  They won each of those contests.

4.  Scoring first seems not to have matter much in this stretch of games.  Nine times in 13 games the Flyers scored the first goal, but they have only a 4-4-1 record to show for it.  They have a better record when trailing first (2-1-1).

5.  Philadelphia has done a good job drawing penalties over those 13 games, averaging 4.17 penalties drawn per 60 minutes, third-best in the league.  Their net penalties per 60 minutes (plus-0.99) is second-best in the league over that span, just behind Toronto (1.00)

1.  The Caps’ 9-2-1 record over their last dozen games is tied for best in the league over that span.  The bad news is that the team with which they tied, the New York Islanders (also 9-2-1) has a two-point lead over the Caps in the East Division.

2.  The Caps have done it with defense and goaltending.  Their scoring defense over those 12 games (2.42 goals allowed per game) rank eighth over the period.

3.  Penalty killing has not hurt, either.  The Caps are 31-for-36 over those 12 games (86.1 percent), fifth-best in the league.

4.  The Caps taking leads to the locker room at intermission have been, well, locks over the last dozen games – 4-0-0 when leading after one period, 7-0-0 when leading after two periods.

5.  What the Caps could use more of is first period scoring.  Over their last dozen games they have seven first period goals while posting 14 in each of the second and third periods.

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Philadelphia: Nolan Patrick

One might have expected that after two very consistent seasons to open his NHL career, Nolan Patrick would take the next step in year three and become an even more prolific offensive force with the Flyers.  He was 13-17-30 in 73 games in his rookie season, 13-18-31 in 72 games last season.  This season has not gone according to plan.  In 23 games, Patrick is just 2-3-5, minus-6, and he is riding a 16-game streak without a point.  And it is not as if his presence in the lineup has had an otherwise beneficial effect.  In 15 games in which he logged at least 14:08 in ice time, the Flyers are 6-6-3, while they ae 7-1-0 when he logged less than that amount.  His shooting has all but dried up, too.  Only three times in 23 games has Patrick registered more than one shot on goal and in nine instances recorded none.  And his ice time is showing the strain.  Patrick averaged 15:30 over his first five games of the season, but in his last five that has been pared down by almost two minutes per game, to 13:44.  Patrick is 1-1-2, minus-1, in nine career games against the Capitals.

Washington: Evgeny Kuznetsov

When Evgeny Kuznetsov posted a pair of assists in the Caps’ 5-4 overtime win over New Jersey on Tuesday night, it was his second multi-point game of the season, his first since posting a pair of assists in a 4-3 Gimmick loss to the Penguins in Pittsburgh on January 17^th, and his first on home ice this season.  Not exactly what he, his coaches, or Caps fans have been expecting from Kuznetsov, even with the eight games he missed to COVID protocol earlier in the season.  The two-assist game against the Devils broke a four-game streak without a point.  What he needs to work on now is finding the back of the net on his own.  Kuznetsov does not have a goal since he recorded one on Valentines Day in a 6-3 loss in Pittsburgh to the Penguins, a streak of ten games without one and counting.

Kuznetsov has been shooting in a bit of bad luck.  His shooting percentage for the season (6.9) is not much better than half of his career mark (11.9).  It is not a product of his shooting being off; his 1.93 shots per game is down but not all that significantly from last year (2.05 shots per game) or his career mark (2.13 shots per game).  What is a bit more disturbing is his trend in performance.  Since he recorded a career high 27 goals in 2017-2018, his goal totals dropped to 21 in 2018-2019 and again to 19 last season.  He is on a pace to finish this season with six goals in 46 games, should he dress for all of the Caps’ remaining games.  Kuznetsov is 4-11-15, minus-6, I 24 career games against the Flyers.

In the end…

By the time the clocks are turned ahead for Daylight Savings Time this weekend, the Caps will have played the Flyers three times in four games over a span of six days, all of the meetings in Philadelphia.  Enough time to compare the virtues of cheesesteaks to roast pork sandwiches, or to develop a playoff-level of hate for an opponent.  That the teams are only five points apart in the standings (the Flyers with two games in hand) and Philadelphia trying to leap frog back into the playoff mix only adds to the intensity level with which these games are likely to be played.  That the Caps will not have to play the Saturday game as a matinee probably helps the cause, too.  However you cut it, it should be an entertaining pair of games.

Capitals 3 – Flyers 2

Capitals 4 – Flyers 3

 

A TWO-Point Night: Washington Capitals -- Game 25: Capitals 5 - Devils 4 (OT)

The Washington Capitals had the shortest of home stands on Tuesday night, taking the ice for one game at Capital One Arena against the New Jersey Devils before heading out on the road again later in the week.  The Caps came into this game having alternated wins and losses over their last six home games (3-2-1), while the Devils came to Washington with a 5-1-0 record in their last six road contests.  The Caps darted out to a 4-1 lead in the second period, but they gave it all back in the third period before Jakub Vrana sent Caps fans home…well, off of their recliners at home…happy with a 5-4 overtime win.

First Period

It was a game played at a glacial pace, by hockey standards, over the first eight minutes of the game, but the Caps got the game’s first power play at the 11:38 mark when Miles Wood went off for slashing.  The Caps managed one unsuccessful shot on goal on their power play, and then the promptly went shorthanded, Daniel Sprong to the box for tripping at 8:51 of the period.  Washington killed off the Devils’ power play, allowing no shots on goal over the two minutes.

Washington went to a power play late in the period, courtesy of Janne Kuokkanen for holding the stick at 15:35.  The Caps made this one count.  Keeping the puck alive in the offensive zone late in the power play, Justin Schultz let loose with a drive that T.J. Oshie redirected from the hash marks up and past goalie Scott Wedgewood’s glove to make it 1-0, 17:22 into the period.  It would be how the teams skated off at the end of the period.

-- Washington out-shot the Devils, 11-9, in the period and out-attempted them, 26-10.

-- The Caps won 16 of 25 faceoffs in the first period (64.0 percent).  Nic Dowd was a perfect 4-for-4; T.J. Oshie was the only Cap under 50 percent (1-for-3/33.3 percent).

-- John Carlson had three shots on goal to lead the club; Jakub Vrana had five shot attempts.

-- Alex Ovechkin logged 11:07 in ice time to lead the Caps.

Second Period

Washington and New Jersey took coincidental penalties 5:44 into the period -- P.K. Subban was called for highsticking, and Lars Eller was sent off for cross-checking, putting the teams at 4-on-4.  The Caps took advantage of more room to take a 2-0 lead when John Carlson curled through the left wing circle and whipped a cross-ice pass to Jakub Vrana for a one-timer that beat Wedgewood cleanly at 7:42 of the period.

Washington made it 3-0 when Daniel Sprong led the Caps on a 2-on-1, Alex Ovechkin on his right.  Tempting the goalie with a look toward Ovechkin, Sprong called his own number and snapped a shot past Wedgewood at the 10:36 mark.

New Jersey got one back in the 13^th minute when Kuokkanen took a feed from Travis Zajac from behind the net to bang home the puck from close range to make it 3-1, Caps 12:44 into the period.

Dmitry Orlov restored the three-goal lead when Richard Panik fed Orlov at the top of the left wing circle, and Orlov flipped the switch on a cruise missile past Dmitry Kulikov’s leg and past Wedgewood on the blocker side to make it 4-1 at the 15:03 mark.  The aps took that three-goal lead to the locker room after 40 minutes.

-- Washington outshot New Jersey, 13-6, in the period and out-attempted them, 27-11.

-- Dmitry Orlov led the Caps with four shots on goal through 40 minutes; Alex Ovechkin had seven shot attempts.

-- The Caps came back to earth on faceoffs in the period.  After 40 minutes, only Nic Dowd was over 50 percent for the contest among Caps taking more than one draw (4-for-6/66.7 percent).

Third Period

The Caps put themselves in a hole early in the final frame when Garnet Hathaway was sent off for tripping at 1:22.  The Caps killed off the penalty, goalie Vitek Vanecek turning away the two power play shots he faced.

The Devils did get closer, though, when Miles Wood made it 4-2, converting a feed from Jesper Bratt from the left wing circle at the 5:47 mark.

And as if to make things more interesting, the Caps went shorthanded shortly thereafter, Nick Jensen going off for tripping at 6:48.  New Jersey did not score on the power play, but they did get within a goal when Yegor Sharangovich netted a goal at 9:43 to make it 4-3, beating Vanecek from the slot.

The Devils tied the game 12:20 into the period when Damon Severson snaked a shot through traffic and past Vanecek, erasing the Caps’ three goal lead.  The teams would remain tied through the remainder of the period and into…

Overtime

Jakub Vrana got the game-winner for the Caps.  Skating with a full head of steam into the offensive zone, he leaned in and curled around defenseman Ty Smith and flipped a shot from the low slot over Wedgewood’s blocker 90 second into the extra frame to give the Caps the 5-4 win.

Other stuff..

-- Nicklas Backstrom posed a pair of assists, giving him 158 career multi-assist games, tops in Caps hitsory. It was also his 253^rd career multi-point game, second in Caps history (Alex Ovechkin: 366).

-- New Jersey had only 15 shots on goal in the first 40 minutes of the contest, but they had 15 shots in 15 minutes of the third period to erase the Caps’ three-goal lead.

-- Vrana’s overtime goal was the Caps’ second in the five minute extra session this season.  Alex Ovechkin had the other, that coming I a 4-3 win over Boston on January 30^th.

-- It was Vrana’s third game-winning goal this season and first at home.  He tied Ovechkin and Tom Wilson for the team lead in that category.

-- Evgeny Kuznetsov had a pair of assists, including on the game-winning goal, his second multi-point game this season and first at home.  It was Kuznetsov’s 96^th career multi-point game, putting him one behind Adam Oates for 17^th place all-time in Caps history.

-- New Jersey out-shot the Caps, 31-30, while the Caps out-attempted the Devils, 61-45.

-- John Carlson had five shots on goal to lead the team; Alex Ovechkin had nine shot attempts.

-- Ovechkin led the Caps in ice time with 23:47, including a team-high 3:47 on the power play.

-- Nicklas Backstrom wins the all-you-can-eat buffet coupon… two assists, minus-1, qone shot on goal, four shot attempts, two giveaways, a takeaway, a blocked shot, and 11-for-20 (55.0 percent) on faceoffs in 21:09 of ice time.

-- With the win, Vitek Vanecek is now 7-2-2 (one no-decision) on home ice.

In the end…

Well, that could have gone better.  Should have gone better.  But two points is two points, especially when Pittsburgh won in regulation over the Rangers, the Islanders beat Boston in a Gimmick, and Philadelphia did the same to Buffalo.  But blowing a three-goal lead to a team under .500 and winning is one thing.  The Caps move up in weight class later in the week with two games against the Flyers in Philadelphia.  Blowing leads will not be an option for the Caps to be successful on that trip.

 

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 25: Devils at Capitals, March 9

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

The Washington Capitals interrupt their road journey of eight games in nine contests with a brief lay-over in Washington to host the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.  The Caps completed a 4-1-0 road trip with a 3-1 win over the Flyers in Philadelphia on Sunday, while the Devils come to Washington in the middle game of a three-game road trip and fresh off one of their best performances of the season, a 1-0 shutout win over the Bruins in Boston on Sunday.

The Devils, despite their 8-11-2 record overall, have been a decent road team.  Better than decent, in fact. Their 6-2-1 road record is best, by points percentage, in the East (.722) and is sixth-best in the league overall through Sunday’s games.  Part of that success is the league’s sixth-best scoring offense on the road this season (3.22 goals per game), and that is due in large part to the uncommon balance in scoring for the Devils on the road.  In nine road games, the Devils have goals from 17 different players.

Miles Wood leads that group of goal scorers with four goals in nine road games so far.  His goal scoring is a bit lopsided, though, with three of his tallies coming against the Buffalo Sabres (the other, in keeping with a New York theme, came against the Rangers).  It is not unusual that Wood be successful on the road.  Over his career he has more goals scored on the road than at home (31 to 24), more points (56 to 51), more shots on goal (318 to 309), a better shooting percentage (9.7 to 7.8), and he has done it in fewer road games (143) than home games (146).  He has cooled off on the road, though.  Wood is 1-0-1, minus-1, over his last five road games after going 2-1-3, plus-4, in a 5-3 win in Buffalo over the Sabres on January 31^st.  He is 4-2-6, minus-7, in 16 career games against the Caps.

The Devils have not suffered on the defensive side of things on the road, either, their 2.67 goals allowed per road game ranking eighth in the league in scoring defense.  A name one might not associate Kyle Palmieri, a player with more than 20 goals in each of his last three season, with defense, but he has not been on ice for an even strength goal scored against the Devils on the road so far this season in eight games.  He is one of two players in the league to have played at least eight road games and not been on ice for an even strength goal scored against his team (Vegas’ Alex Tuch is the other).  And even though Palmieri’s goal scoring is off overall (four goals in 20 games to date), he has done most of his damage on the road with three goals, seven points, and a plau-8 rating in eight games (1-2-3, minus-9, in 12 home games).  Palmieri is 6-7-13, minus-3, in 24 career games against Washington.

As a team in transition, the Devils have dressed their share of rookies. Six of the 25 skaters to dress for the Devils this season are in that category.  Two have appeared in all 21 games to date.  Of the two, defenseman Ty Smith has received some attention as a potential Calder Trophy finalist.  The other Devil rookie to appear in every game, forward Nathan Bastian, has received somewhat less attention.  Taken with the 41^st overall pick (second round) by the Devils in the 2016 Entry Draft, Bastian rose through the developmental ranks, but not without a hiccup along the way.  He spent one more year in Canadian juniors after he was drafted, and then he graduated to the Binghamton Devils in the AHL in 2017-2018.  The following season he spent most of his time in Binghamton, but he did get seven games with the big club to start his NHL career.  Th3e 2019-2020 season was a bit of a setback, Bastian spending the entire season in the AHL.  This season, though, he has been a full-timer with New Jersey, going 2-4-6, plus-3, in 21 games while averaging almost 12 minutes per game in ice time. He started this season in productive fashion, going 1-3-4, plus-4, over his first nine games, but then he suffered a ten-game streak without a point.  He broke that streak with his second career multi-point game (a goal and an assist) in a 6-3 loss to the Rangers last Saturday.  This will be his fourth career appearance against the Caps, and he is looking for his first point.

1.  New Jersey has the worst special teams index (power play plus penalty kill efficiency) in the league (78.0).

2.  If the Devils allow the games first goal, it is a bad sign for them.  Their 1-7-2 record when trailing first (.100 win percentage) is second-worst in the league.  Only Vancouver (0-13-0/.000) is worse.

3.  New Jersey has spent only 103:34 in power play ice time this season, third-lowest in the league.  They also have spent the third-lowest amount of ice time killing penalties (98:12).

4.  If it is a blowout, chances are the Devils are on the wrong end of the score.  They are 1-5 in games decided by three or more goals.  Only Anaheim has fewer wins by three or more goals (none).

5.  The Devils have allowed only 834 shot attempts at 5-on-5, third-fewest in the league.

1.  Washington is tied with Tampa Bay for most second period goals scored on home ice (19).

2.  The Caps are only .500 in win percentage when leading games at home after one period (3-2-1). Only four teams have a worse win percentage.

3.  Washington has only trailed twice after two periods in 14 home games.  They are 1-1-0 in those games, their .500 win percentage tied for third-best in the league.

4.  Only Edmonton and Dallas have more power play goals scored on home ice (14 each) than the Caps (13).  Theirs is still the best home ice power play in the league (44.8 percent).

5.  The Caps’ winning record on home ice (7-3-2) has been built by one-goal decisions.  They are .500 in two-goal games (1-1), .500 in three-goal decisions (2-2).  However, they are 4-0-2 in one-goal games at Capital One Arena.

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

New Jersey: Scott Wedgewood

The Devils have gone through goalies this season – four in 21 games.  Mackenzie Blackwood would appear to be the goalie of the future, but at present he is having his troubles (1-6-0, 3.77, .865 over his last seven games).  Enter Scott Wedgewood.  Wedgewood has played in only six games for the Devils this season, and he has only two wins, but both of those wins are shutouts.  It’s not as if he blacked palookas, either. He stopped al 28 shots he faced in a 2-0 win over the current East Division leading New York Islanders on January 24^th, and he stopped all 40 shots he faced in a 1-0 blanking of the Bruins in Boston last Sunday in his most recent appearance.

For someone with as little NHL experience as Wedgewood has, he has traveled quite a bit.  He was a third-round pick of the Devils (84^th overall) in a 2010 Entry Draft that was not kind to goalies taken with higher draft picks (the four goalies taken ahead of Wedgewood have combined for 177 NHL games).  He played one season for the Devils, in 2015-2016, before he was traded to the Arizona Coyotes in October 2017 for a fifth-round pick in the 2018 draft.  Three months later he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings with Tobias Rieder for Darcy Kuemper.  Five months later he was a free agent signed by the Buffalo Sabres.  A year later he was a free agent signed by the Tampa Bay Lightning, and finally, in October 2020, he made his way back to the Devils as a free agent.  Five teams (one of them twice) in the space of three years.  But right now, he is the hottest goalie the Devils have.  Wedgewood is 1-0-2, 1.89, .928, in three career games against Washington.

Washington: Nic Dowd

Do you think secondary (or third-level, or even fourth-level) scoring doesn’t matter?  Consider Nic Dowd.  For the most part a fourth line forward, Dowd is not expected to shoulder a heavy scoring burden.  But what he can and does contribute matters; it fills in the blanks.  In three seasons with the Caps, the team is 29-5-2 when Dowd recorded a point (a .833 points percentage) and 59-35-14 when he is held off the score sheet (a .611 points percentage).  This season, those numbers are 3-1-1 when Dowd recorded a point, 11-5-3 when he did not.  He has been stuck in a scoring rut, even for a bottom six contributor, going 1-0-1, minus-3, over his last 14 games.

Where he has been a monster, though, is in faceoffs.  Over his first 14 games this season, he was 82-for-170, a 48.2 percent win mark.  Since then, he is 93-for-145, a 64.1 winning percentage, fifth in the league among 132 players taking at least 50 draws over that period.  His recent performance in this area has propelled him to his career high in faceoff winning percentage to date (55.6 percent overall).  The Caps are 9-3-1 in 13 games in which Dowd won more than 50 percent of his draws, 5-3-3 in games in which he finished under 50 percent on faceoffs.  Dowd also has a knack for being responsible with the puck, at least so far as credited takeaways and giveaways are concerned.  He is in the midst of his fourth consecutive season of takeaways exceeding giveaways (15 takeaways, five giveaways this season to date).  Dowd is 1-3-4, plus-3, in 12 career games against the Devils.

In the end…

With a two-game rematch with the Flyers in Philadelphia coming up after this game, the obvious danger is in looking past what looks like a weaker team to those future contests.  That would be dangerous.  The Devils compete well on the road, and they are coming off an inspirational win in that shutout of Boston on Sunday.  On the other hand, the Caps have been a successful home team, even if they have not had a game at Capital One Arena since beating Pittsburgh on February 25^th.  Still, all things considered, the Caps are deeper and have had success against this team this season (3-0-0), not to mention the Devils’ captain Nico Hischier is on the injured reserve list with a sinus fracture.  There is every reason to think that the Caps will continue their success against the Devils.

Capitals 5 – Devils 2

A TWO-Point Night: Washington Capitals -- Game 24: Capitals 3 - Flyers 1

The Washington Capitals concluded their five-game road trip with a visit to Philadelphia on Sunday evening to face the Flyers.  The Caps went into the last game of the trip with a 3-1-0 record in their first four games, while the Flyers were returning home after a five-game road trip of their own over which they went 3-2-0.  The Caps spotted the Flyers a goal, and then they came back with three unanswered strikes to take away a 3-1 win.

First Period

The teams looked lethargic in the first half of the period, but Philadelphia gave their limited-seating fans something to cheer when Joel Farabee got the game’s first goal.  The Flyers took advantage of a weak attempt at a poke check of the puck by Dmitry Orlov at the offensive blue line to get a two-on-one break.  Farabee carried the puck into the Caps’ end and dialed his own number, snapping a shot between goalie Ilya Samsonov’s pads, and it was 1-0, 11:04 into the period.

Washington went short a man 12:40 into the period when Conor Sheary was called for hooking.  Washington killed the penalty, allowing the Flyers two shots on goal.  The Caps got their first man advantage at the 16:00 minute mark when Travis Konecny was whistled for goaltender interference. The Caps were shut out on their power play, Alex Ovechkin recording both shots on goal.

That would be how the teams went to their respective locker rooms after 20 minutes, the Flayers leading, 1-0.

-- Philadelphia out-shot the Caps, 14-7, after opening up a 12-2 edge to start the game.  They out-attempt the Caps, 19-13.

-- The Caps had as many credited hits (seven) as shots on goal. Seven different Caps had hits on their score sheet.

-- John Carlson led the Caps with 8:07 in ice time.  No other Capital had as much as seven minutes.

Second Period

The teams came out for the second period going back and forth with nothing to show for it.  Philadelphia got the first man advantage of the period when Zdeno Chara was called for tripping at 7:56.  The Flyer power play lasted all of five seconds before James van Riemsdyk went to his penalty box for tripping at the 8:01 mark, putting the teams at 4-on-4.

The 4-on-4 lasted 1:22 when John Carlson was ticketed for delay-of-game/puck over glass at 9:23. putting the Flyers on a 4-on-3 power play.  All the penalties were killed, and the teams returned to full and even strength.

Washington tied the game 15:11 into the period.  Alex Ovechkin knotted things up on a fine play by T.J. Oshie.  Circling at the top of the offensive zone, Oshie faked a drop pass to Dmitry Orlov standing just inside the blue line.  He continued curling into the right wing circle, whipping a pass through the middle to Ovechkin who buried the shot as goalie Carter Hart was trying to slide across.

Washington took its first lead of the game in the last minute as Dmitry Orlov took a John Carlson feed and snapped a shot that Hart overplayed, allowing the puck to trickle over his stick and between his pads with 15.8 seconds left in the period to make it 2-1, Caps.  That would be how the period ended.

-- Washington out-shot the Flyers, 13-8, and out-attempted them, 29-15.

-- Three Caps had three shots on goal through 40 minutes – Alex Ovechkin, Zdeno Chara, and Carl Hagelin.

-- Every Capital had at least one shot attempt through 40 minutes; 14 had shots on goal.

-- Dmitry Orlov led the team with three credited hits.

Third Period

And then, it happened.  Time will record it as happening at the 4:15 mark of the third period, in his 109^th game as a Capital, but Nick Jensen finally scored his first goal as a Capital, taking a feed from Nicklas Backstrom as he was entering the offensive zone, walking in and snapping a shot from close range past Hart’s blocker to make it 3-1, Caps.  It would be the first and last goal of the period as the Caps left Philly with a 3-1 win.

Other stuff…

-- Alex Ovechkin’s second period goal was his 714^th career goal, tying Babe Ruth’s career total in home runs.  It left him three behind Phil Esposito for sixth-place all-time in NHL history.

-- Nick Jensen’s goal was his first as a Capital, breaking a streak of 108 games as a Cap without one and a personal streak of 165 games without one, his last goal coming as part of a two-goal effort in a 5-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 11, 2018.

-- Ovechkin’s second period goal was his 363^rd goal scored on the road in his career, breaking a tie with Steve Yzerman for most goals scored on the road in NHL history.  Only Wayne Gretzky has more (402).

-- Philadelphia outshot the Caps, 37-27, and they out-attempted Washington, 57-54.

-- Dmitry Orlov’s goal was the game-winner, his second goal of the season and his first game-winner.

-- The 37 shots faced by Ilya Samsonov in goal is the first time in five appearances this season that he faced more than 30 shots; it is the fourth-highest shot total he has faced in his career to date, third-highest in regulation.

-- Every Capital had at least one shot on goal except Garnet Hathaway and Nic Dowd.

-- The Caps had almost as many shorthanded shots on goal on Flyer powerplays (two) as they had shots on goal on their own power plays, although they had only one power play.

-- The win left the Caps 4-1-0 in their last five visits to Philadelphia.

-- Washington had one power play chance.  They are now 18-2-2 in their last 22 games when getting one or no power play chances.

In the end…

Come from behind, on the road, against a bitter rival, with fans in the stands for the first time this season (albeit with limited seating). That’s about as good as it gets.  It also allowed the Caps to close within two points of the East Division-leading Islanders with a game in hand on the New Yorkers.  And now, the Caps return home for a Tuesday date with the New Jersey Devils before heading out on the road once more on a three-game trip, the first two of which will be in Philadelphia for a rematch.  It does not get easier.

 

 

Washington Capitals: That Was The Week That Was - Week 8

The Washington Capitals spent Week 8 marching up the east coast in the middle of their five-game road trip.  On balance, it was a decent week, win-loss wise, but it ended with a bad taste in their mouths, courtesy of the Boston Bruins, a taste that might have been rancid New England clam chowder.

Record: 2-1-0

Washington wrapped up their two-game visit to New Jersey with a 3-2 win to open the week.  It would be harsh to say that things deteriorated from there, especially in closing the week with a pair against a strong Boston Bruins club.  Nevertheless, the Caps slipped a bit as the week wore on, earning a win in a hard-fought contest over the Bruins that was decided in the Gimmick, 2-1, and then dropping an ugly 5-1 decision to the B’s in the rematch on Friday. Their largest loss margin in any game this season.  At week’s end, though, the Caps had a 6-3-2 road record overall, the second-best road record in the East to Boston’s 7-4-2.

Offense: 1.67/game (season: 3.22 / 9th)

The adjective “anemic” when applied to a low-scoring offense can be overdone, but in Week 8 it fit the Caps.  The Caps posted only five goals in three games, three of those in their first game of the week.  Four Caps shared in the five goals, Jakub Vrana the only Cap with two. Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Lars Eller had the other goals. 

Nine Capitals posted points in Week 8, Vrana leading in this category as well (three).  Four other Caps had a pair of points.  The most noteworthy of that quarter was Nicklas Backstrom, who recorded an assist with his goal for the week, his assist on Vrana’s goal against Boston on Friday being the 700^th of his career.  Backstrom is the 54^th player in NHL history to record 700 or more assists, but he is one of only three active players to have reached that milestone (Joe Thornton: 1,097; Sidney Crosby: 813).

It is worth noting here that the Caps got little contribution from the defense in the offensive end.  No Caps defenseman recorded a goal, and the six defensemen who dressed for the week combined for three points (all assists, two by Nick Jensen and one by Brenden Dillon).  As a team, the Caps’ efficiency was off, their 6.0 shooting percentage ranking 25^th for the week. 

Defense: 2.67/game (season: 3.17 / 23rd)

It was not shots allowed that was a problem this week.  Washington allowed only 65 shots in 185 minutes of hockey, an average of 21.1 shots per 60 minutes of play.  What is more, the stinginess in allowing shots was consistent.  The defense allowed fewer than ten shots in seven of nine regulation periods of hockey for the week (twice fewer than five shots) and allowed exactly ten in the other two.  The first two games of the week, in which the Caps allowed 21 and 19 shots, respectively, are the two lowest shots allowed totals in 23 games so far this season.

Playing stingy with opponents kept the Caps competitive for the week.  They allowed only 107 shot attempts at 5-on-5, the third fewest in the league in Week 8.  However, the Caps still found themselves on the minus side of shot attempts in two of the three games because the offense mustered only 103 shot attempts at fives, the fewest in the league for the week.

A noteworthy item here is that the Caps allowed eight goals at 5-on-5.  Big names were out there for a lot of them.  Alex Ovechkin was on ice for six of the eight goals allowed at fives.  John Carlson was out there for four, Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie for three apiece.  And it was not as if they made it up at the other end.  Ovechkin was on ice for one 5-on-5 goal, Carlson for two, Oshie for two, and Kunzetsov for none.

Goaltending: 2.60 / .877 (season: 2.88 / .900)

The goalies are hanging onto their combined .900 save percentage by a thread, but it was still a less than expected (or needed) week.  This was one of the rare weeks for the Caps in which the goaltending duties were almost evenly split, Vitek Vanecek getting 100 minutes and Ilya Sansonov getting 84 minutes.  How that came to be was not in the plan, though.

Given his absences this season, Samsonov was sharp in his lone start for the week, stopping 19 of 21 shots in the 3-2 win over new Jersey to start the week.  Vitek Vanecek one-upped him in his first start of the week, stopping 18 of 19 shots in regulation and overtime, and then turning away all three shot he faced in the freestyle competition in the Caps’ 2-1 Gimmick win over Boston in the middle game of the week.

And then the wheels came off the victory wagon.  Boston lit up Vanecek for four goals on 18 shots in 35:43 of work before Vanecek was relieved in favor of Samsonov in the rematch with Boston.  Samsonov allowed one goal on seven shots in 24:15 of ice time in the 5-1 loss to the Bruins.  The result, even with the five goals allowed in Friday’s game, was a reasonable goals against average for the goalie pair (2.60), but a save percentage that left much to be desired (.877).

Power Play: 0-for-8 / 0.0 percent (season: percent 26.7 / 5th)

It was an ugly week for the man advantage.  It was the first week this season that the Caps went 0-for-the week.  It was the first time the Caps had that many chances over a week without converting any of them since Week 12 last season, when they also went 0-for-8.

Was it bad luck?  Perhaps.  The Caps got shots from the players they expect to be productive.  Alex Ovechkin led the club with five power play shots. John Carlson and Nicklas Backstrom each had a pair.  Four other Caps had one apiece for a total of 13 shots on goal.  Eight of those 13 shots came in the last game of the week, the 5-1 loss to the Bruins.  The 13 shots came in 12:57 of power play ice time, so getting shots was not much of an issue. 

But who did not get shots mattered, too.  Tom Wilson had none in 4:25 of total power play ice time.  Evgeny Kuznetsov had none in 2:30 of ice time with the man advantage.  Lars Eller had none in 2:37 of power play ice time.  When you add in Oshie with one shot in 10:03 of power play ice time, it would appear the Caps were not getting – or not generating – chances from in close on power plays.

Penalty Killing: 7-for-7 / 100.0 percent (season: 81.1 percent / 12th)

Penalty killing stood out in a good way for the Caps, who finished the week one of five teams with a perfect penalty kill.  They held their three opponents to a total of six power play shots (none for Boston in their first meeting in Week 8) over 12;37 of shorthanded ice time.  It was the third week in the last five that the Caps killed off all their shorthanded situations for the week.  The issue, though, has been consistency.  In the other two weeks, the Caps went 9-for-12 in each (75.0 percent). 

What the Caps did in Week 8 on the penalty kill was share the burden.  Of the 12:37 in penalty kill ice time, nine Caps skated at least two minutes, four defensemen (Zdeno Chara, Nick Jenseh, John Carlson, and Brenden Dillon) and five forwards (Carl Hagelin, Nic Dowd, Lars Eller, Garnet Hathaway, and Tom Wilson).  Fourteen Caps in all had shorthanded ice time on their logs, but some of that was likely a product of transitioning from shorthanded to even-strength.

Faceoffs: 91-for-168 / 54.2 percent (season: 48.5 percent / 22nd)

Is it the “Pecaffect?”  Is recently named assistant Michael Peca having an effect in this phase of the Caps’ game?   They have work to do, but since Peca was hired to the Caps’ coaching staff on February 10^th, the Caps have won 50.4 percent of their faceoffs, 12^th in the league over that span.  Compare that to the 27^th-ranked 46.7 percent they posted before Peca was brought on board.

In Week 8 the Caps won 54.2 percent of their draws, fourth-best in the league for the week.  Nic Dowd dominated in all three zones for the Caps, winning 69 percent or more in each zone (more than 70 percent in the ends).  Nicklas Backstrom’s offensive draws look bad (37.5 percent wins) but that was 3-for-8, just one faceoff win under 50 percent.  Backstrom had a fine week in the defensive end, winning 12 of 18 draws (66.7 percent).

Goals by Period:

It was a low scoring week overall, and the Caps found themselves on the wrong side of small margins in the first and second periods of games.  Second periods returned as a problem area, the Caps allowing half of their goals allowed for the week in the middle frame.  Three of those second period goals came in a span of eight minutes in the Friday loss to Boston, turning a competitive 1-0 Bruins lead into a 4-0 rout after 40 minutes.  It made even the meager third period production – two goals for the week – a bit less meaningful, Jakub Vrana getting what amounted to a window-dressing goal in the 5-1 loss.  There was the Lars Eller third period goal, though, that allowed the Caps to tie Boston in their first meeting in Week 8 and force extra time in their 2-1 trick shot win.

Year-over-Year:

The Caps continue to lag relative to last year’s club, and it is just enough to spell the difference between having the league’s best record at the 23-game mark last season and resting in second place in the East Division (tenth in the league) after 23 games this season.  The power play is one of the few areas in which this year’s club is outpacing last year’s at similar points of the season, but this year’s club also has almost 20 percent fewer power play chances than last year’s at the 23-game mark.  In the “grittership” area, it is worth noting that an increase in credited hits this season has not been matched with an increase in penalty minutes.  Quite the opposite; while this year’s Caps are up 6.3 percent in hits, they are down 11.7 percent in penalties taken and down 15.5 percent in penalty minutes.

In the end…

By this point of the season, what is evident is that when the Caps are good, they are quite good, and they have the ability to shut down opponents.  On the other hand, when they are bad, they can be quite bad (four of their six regulation losses have been by three or more goals).  As the Caps approach the half-way point of this abbreviated season, their first priority is going to be finding more consistency of performance that will enable them to peel off wins in succession.  In a division as tough as the East, that will be a tall oder.

Three Stars:

• First Star: Nicklas Backstrom (1-1-2, plus-2, posted 700^th career assist, five shots on goal, won 52.8 percent of faceoffs, on ice for only one even strength goal against in three games)
• Second Star: Jakub Vrana (2-1-3, plus-2, seven shots on goal, scored game-deciding goal in the Gimmick in 2-1 win over Boston)
• Third Star: Nick Jensen (0-2-2, even, 17:18 average ice time, on ice for two goals against at even strength and had an “even” even strength goal differential)

 

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 24: Capitals at Flyers, March 7

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

The Washington Capitals wrap up their five-game road trip with a visit to CoreStates/First Union/Wachovia/Wells Fargo/(insert name of large corporate financial institution here) Center in Philadelphia to face the Flyers in a 7:00 pm Sunday night start.  The Caps had a six-game points streak (5-0-1) broken on Friday night in Boston against the Bruins, while the Flyers went into their Saturday afternoon game against the Pittsburgh Penguins as winners of four in five games.

The Flyers head into this contest as one of the more formidable offensive teams in the league.  Their 3.35 goals per game rank fourth in the league and first in the East Division.  That offense is led by James van Riemsdyk, who is having a renaissance in his second career tour as a Flyer.  Van Riemsdyk was taken by the Flyers as the second overall pick of the 2007 Entry Draft, right after the Chicago Blackhawks took Patrick Kane with the top overall pick.  In three seasons with the Flyers, ending in 2011-2012, van Riemsdyk was a productive, if not elite offensive player, posting a scoring line of 47-52-99, plus-13, in 196 games.  But in the third of those three seasons he was just 11-13-24, minus-1, in 43 games, his losing chunks of the season to lower and upper body injuries, a concussion, and a foot injury.  He was traded to Toronto in June 2012 for defenseman Luke Schenn.

In six years as a Maple Leaf, van Riemsdyk found his goal scoring touch, posting 154 goals in 413 games and recording 30 or more goals twice, including 36 in his “walk year” in 2017-2018, a career high.  After that season he signed a five-year/$35 million contract on July 1, 2018 to return to the Flyers.  Van Riemsdyk was not quite the goal scorer in the first two years of his return to Philadelphia that he was in Toronto – 46 goals in 132 games – but this season he is tied for the team lead in goals (10) in 20 games to date.  Van Riemsdyk is 10-12-22, minus-7, in 35 career games against Washington.

There is one player in the league with a plus-minus of plus-9 or better and who has one or fewer points.  That would be the Flyers’ Justin Braun.  The defenseman is 0-1-1, plus-9, in 17 games this season.  The odd part of those statistics is the Braun was barely noticeable on the score sheet over his first dozen games, going 0-0-0, plus-1.  But starting with the Flyers’ 7-4 win in Washington over the Caps on February, 7^th, he is 0-1-1, plus-8, in five games.

Braun is no youngster.  The 34-year old was taken in the seventh round of the 2007 Entry Draft by San Jose, but despite his being taken with the 201^st overall pick, he is tied for 16^th in his draft class in NHL games played (686, pending Saturday’s results, with ex-Capital Karl Alzner).  He has never been much of a producer in the offensive end, never posting more than five goals in a season (2017-2018 with the Sharks) and only once topping 30 points (33 in the same season).  Since 2011-2012, when he played full time for the Sharks, through last season Braun is one of three defensemen in the league to have posted nine consecutive seasons of playing at least 40 games, scoring five or fewer goals, and posting 35 or fewer points (Ron Hainsey and Roman Polak are the others).  But despite his lack of offensive production, Braun averaged almost 20 minutes per game over those nine seasons (19:47).  In 17 career games against Washington, he is 0-4-4, plus-4.

Well, is he or isn’t he?  Franchise goalie, that is.  Carter Hart is, for better or worse, who the Flyers have pinned their hopes on to keep their net clean of puck this season and, they hope, deep into the playoffs.  The only problem with that is that Hart has been wildly inconsistent.  In 13 appearances this season, he has four games with a save percentage over .935, and in four games he has a save percentage under .820.  Only twice in those 13 games has he posted a save percentage over .900, and not at all over his last six games, over which he is 2-2-2, 3.66, .885.  But in a bow to his inconsistency, he recorded his only shutout this season in that six-game stretch, stopping all 28 shots he faced in a 3-0 win in Buffalo over the Sabres on February 28^th.  Has his problem been Hart trouble or something larger?  It is not an easy question to answer?  What seems evident, at least from this analysis, is that Hart has not come up with the big save when the team needs it. Or put another way, as The Atlantic puts it, “Top-tier goalies are expected to make top-tier saves.” Hart is 2-1-1, 2.71, .911 in four career games against the Capitals.

1.  The Flyers have not lost consecutive games in regulation this season.  In three instances in which they lost consecutive games, one of them went to extra time, enabling the Flyers to squeeze out a standings point.

2.  Only Arizona has recorded fewer shots per game (26.3) than Philadelphia (27.3), while at the other end, only four teams have allowed more shots on goal per game than the Flyers (31.7).  Their shots on goal differential (minus-4.0 per game) is second-worst in the league (Arizona: minus-4.3).

3.  Philadelphia has played five extra time games this season.  They have yet to allow a goal at 3-on-3 (one of seven teams not yet doing so).  Two of the five games were scoreless in overtime (the Flyers lost both in Gimmicks), they won twice in overtime, and they lost once in the five-minute extra session on a power play goal in a 4-3 loss to Boston on February 3^rd.

4.  Leading at an intermission matters to the Flyers.  They are 7-0-1 when leading after one period, 7-0-1 when leading after two periods.

5.  Only two teams in the league have a worse net penalty kill, accounting for shorthanded goals scored while killing penalties, than Philadelphia (73.2 percent) – Detroit (66.7 percent) and Florida (62.5 percent).

1.  Washington has the second-worst power play on the road this season (9.7 percent); only Minnesota is worse (8.9 percent).

2.  Only two teams have allowed fewer shots per game on the road than the Caps (27.2) – the New York Islanders (26.2) and the Colorado Avalanche (25.6).

3.  The Caps have done a decent job getting started early in road games (12 goals for/9 goals against in first periods), less so finishing (9 goals for/10 goals against in third periods).

4.  Washington is third in the league in credited hits per 60 minutes in road games (27.53), trailing only Tampa Bay (27.74) and Montreal (28.23).

5.  Forty minutes tell the tale for the Caps on the road so far.  They are 5-0-0 when leading after two periods in road games, 0-3-0 when trailing.

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Philadelphia: Joel Farabee

It could not have happened at worse time.  Okay, it could have, like on the first day of the playoffs, but when Joel Farabee was placed on the COVID protocol list on Thursday, he was tied for the team lead in goals (ten), was second in points (19), was third in plus-minus (plus-8), was one of two Flyers playing in ten or more games and averaging a point per game or more (james van Riemsdyk was the other), ranked fifth among forwards in credited hits (17), was tied among all Flyer forwards in takeaways (ten, with Nicolas Aube-Kubel), and was tied for the team lead in shots (50, with Kevin Hayes).  That Farabee would be this productive was not entirely unexpected; he was the 14^th overall pick of the 2018 draft, fourth in his draft class in career goals (18),sixth in points (40), and sixth in games played (71).

What is surprising is the level of improvement from last year’s rookie season to this.  Last year, Farabee was 8-13-21, plus-6, in 52 games.  This season, he already passed last year’s goal total (he has ten), his 19 points are within two of last year’s total (21), he already has three power play goals (one last season), had more than doubled his shooting efficiency (from 9.9 to 20.0 percent). What is more, he was on quite a run.  He started the season with  four-point Opening Night (1-3-4 in a 6-3 win over Pittsburgh), but then he went 1-0-1, minus-3 over his next eight games.  Ove his last ten games, though, he was 8-6-14, plus-9, including four multi-point games.  Two of those games were his last two outings before being place on the COVID protocol list.  Farabee was 0-3-3, plus-3, in three career games against the Caps.

Washington: Brenden Dillon

We are quite sure Caps defenseman Brenden Dillion is a swell fellow.  What he has not been so far this season is a good house guest, at least insofar as visiting opponents’ arenas are is concerned.  Dillion has 25 penalty minutes in ten road games this season, almost twice as many as the next Capital on the list (Tom Wilson with 14).  It is an odd profile, though.  While Dillon has taken eight penalties (four minors and four majors), a team high in road games, he has drawn three penalties, also a team high in road games.  Dillon is one of four players in the league to have played in at least ten road games, taken more than two penalties per 60 minutes (2.40), and drawn more than one penalty per 60 minutes (1.20); Trent Frederic, Jordan Greenway, and Blake Coleman are the others. Odder still, all 25 penalty minutes recorded by Dillon overall have been on the road.  He has no penalty minutes at home.

His physical play is not necessarily a plus, although big numbers in those areas are signals that the Caps are chasing – not possessing – the puck.  For example, in eight games overall in which Dillon recorded three or more hits, the Caps are 3-3-2.  At the other end, Dillon recorded his first and only goal as a Capital on Opening Night in Buffalo.  He is without one in nine road games since on nine shots (he has one shot on goal in eight of ten road games).  However, he does have points in two of his last four road games (0-2-2) and has seven assists in 23 games overall, a respectable 25-assist pace over a full 82-game season.  Dillon is 0-4-4, plus-5, in 16 career games against the Flyers.

In the end…

The Caps were mauled in their 5-1 loss to Boston on Friday, costing them the top spot in the East Division, now held by the New York Islanders by tie-breaker.  They were outscored, 4-1, after Brendan Carlo went down after a Tom Wilson hit late in the first period (as of this writing, Wilson has been offered and in-person meeting via Zoom with the Department of Player Safety).  Wilson had a monster game in the Caps’ only meeting with the Flyers to date this season (he was 1-3-4 in the Caps’ 7-4 loss to Philadelphia on February 7^th), but he is otherwise 5-5-10 in 29 career games against the Flyers.  It is, however, an opportunity for others to step up in the event he is excused from participation on Sunday.  And stepping up is something the Caps need to do as a group against this team, one that is only three points behind the Caps with three points in hand, pending their game against the Penguins on Saturday afternoon.  Things can change quickly in the East Division these days, and the Caps have to guard against things changing for the worse.

Capitals 5 – Flyers 3