Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Friday night’s thrilling comeback win over Tampa Bay propelled the Caps into first place in the NHL standings. Despite the 5v5 process still not being as sound as it was in the first month of the season, the Caps continue to rack up wins at a breakneck pace. There are reasons for that, some of which we’ve touched on in recent snapshot and some of which we’ll get into below.
But first, let’s get this out of the way: This team is fun.
One of the aims of the snapshot is to offer a sober analysis of what the underlying numbers say and where the team is headed. The concerns noted in recent snapshots still stand. But, to go off the snapshot script a bit, this team is simply fun to watch. The skill level in the top-six is dazzling, and rarely does a game go by without some sort of highlight-reel pass or goal.
To think, five years ago this team was mired in a slump, they adopted a boring and crippling trap system, and Bruce Boudreau was cussing about asses being inside of heads. While there are reasons to keep the current optimism guarded, it’s also fun to note how relatively awesome things are right now.
Let’s do the numbers, current as of Sunday before the game against the Rangers.
Player | GP | TOI | SA% | rel SA% | GF% | PDO |
Backstrom | 28 | 417.99 | 56.78 | 7.48 | 67.86 | 103.18 |
Ovechkin | 30 | 465.50 | 54.96 | 5.10 | 66.67 | 103.93 |
Williams | 31 | 397.69 | 53.95 | 3.46 | 60.61 | 102.04 |
Laich | 31 | 263.61 | 53.57 | 2.57 | 33.33 | 95.07 |
Oshie | 31 | 439.78 | 53.15 | 2.51 | 65.82 | 103.07 |
Johansson | 30 | 412.89 | 51.13 | -0.04 | 69.23 | 104.54 |
Latta | 20 | 164.61 | 50.96 | 0.94 | 50 | 99.85 |
Burakovsky | 28 | 307.99 | 50.35 | -1.88 | 47.37 | 99.63 |
Kuznetsov | 31 | 431.58 | 49.48 | -2.73 | 66.52 | 103.79 |
Beagle | 31 | 373.11 | 46.93 | -5.99 | 50 | 100.82 |
Chimera | 31 | 340.92 | 46.85 | -5.95 | 41.67 | 98.49 |
Wilson | 31 | 332.71 | 45.42 | -7.63 | 45 | 99.70 |
Player | GP | TOI | SA% | rel SA% | GF% | PDO |
Orlov | 31 | 404.57 | 55.56 | 5.51 | 63.33 | 103.96 |
Schmidt | 26 | 433.43 | 52.14 | 3.12 | 59.26 | 101.92 |
Chorney | 22 | 263.17 | 51.81 | 0.95 | 60 | 104.89 |
Niskanen | 31 | 569.67 | 50.96 | -0.74 | 58.33 | 101.97 |
Alzner | 31 | 535.48 | 50.24 | -1.84 | 60.61 | 102.40 |
Orpik | 14 | 231.89 | 50.18 | -6.65 | 43.48 | 95.85 |
Calrson | 31 | 558.76 | 49.49 | -3.16 | 52.78 | 99.98 |
All numbers, unless otherwise cited or linked to, are from War on Ice.
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