Photo: Amanda Bowen
The Caps have lost in regulation just 14 times through 68 games. They’ve had the Metro division wrapped up since the Carter administration (Jimmy, not Aaron or Nick) and are running away with the President’s Trophy. And yet, things aren’t going very well right now.
Four of those 14 regulation losses have come in the last 10 games, with an overtime loss giving the Caps five losses in their last 10 games. Since the John Scott Game break, the Caps score-adjusted shot attempt percentage is 49.9 percent, 17th best in the league. Braden Holtby’s 5v5 save percentage during that time sits at 91.3 percent, ranking 34th among the 44 NHL goalies who have played at least 300 minutes since the break.
Feel nauseous yet?
The good news is that this team is still a Stanley Cup contender. No matter what “yeah, but” or “well, actually” rebuttal someone may have to that statement, the fact remains that this team is winning more through 68 games than the majority of teams in NHL history. No, the team has not looked great for a while now. And yes, their results have outpaced their performance for quite some time. But, it’s important to keep perspective that all teams go through ebbs and flows during the grind of an 82-game season.
The Caps might lose in the first round of the playoffs. But they’re also among a small handful of teams that have a legitimate shot at winning it all. Troubling trends have arisen at a time in the season when you’d least like to see it, but this isn’t the end of the world.
We can’t have anyone freaking out. We gotta keep our composure. We’ve come too far. We’ve got too much to lose. Keep our composure.
Player | GP | TOI | SA% | rel SA% | GF% | PDO |
Williams | 68 | 884.9 | 54.3 | 4.1 | 58.2 | 101.3 |
Kuznetsov | 68 | 960.1 | 52.8 | 2.1 | 62.4 | 103.2 |
Ovechkin | 66 | 1005.7 | 52.8 | 2.3 | 63.0 | 103.0 |
Latta | 41 | 334.7 | 52.5 | 1.7 | 52.6 | 100.4 |
Backstrom | 65 | 933.8 | 52.0 | 0.8 | 64.5 | 103.3 |
Burakovsky | 65 | 763.5 | 51.5 | 0.0 | 55.2 | 101.8 |
Richards | 25 | 238.3 | 51.3 | 1.35 | 40.0 | 98.1 |
Oshie | 68 | 946.0 | 50.9 | -0.7 | 62.1 | 102.7 |
Galiev | 19 | 149.5 | 50.7 | 0.6 | 55.6 | 101.9 |
Beagle | 44 | 504.9 | 49.7 | -1.8 | 57.1 | 101.7 |
Johansson | 60 | 776.0 | 49.7 | -1.9 | 59.3 | 102.2 |
Chimera | 68 | 752.3 | 48.4 | -3.9 | 49.2 | 99.9 |
Wilson | 68 | 763.7 | 47.2 | -5.3 | 51.7 | 101.1 |
Player | GP | TOI | SA% | rel SA% | GF% | PDO |
Orlov | 68 | 1004.3 | 54.0 | 3.9 | 59.8 | 102.6 |
Schmidt | 60 | 986.6 | 51.7 | 1.6 | 58.5 | 101.7 |
Niskanen | 68 | 1233.1 | 51.2 | -0.2 | 56.6 | 101.4 |
Orpik | 28 | 474.4 | 51.0 | -0.8 | 53.1 | 99.9 |
Chorney | 51 | 610.8 | 50.7 | -1.5 | 58.2 | 103.4 |
Carlson | 47 | 813.5 | 49.9 | -1.7 | 56.1 | 101.1 |
Alzner | 68 | 1174.9 | 49.5 | -2.9 | 55.7 | 101.5 |
I've harped on it before, but I need to see 8-92-77/19-14 (likely w 65) in the T-6 again. Give it another look, BT! pic.twitter.com/u45QkfZuRg
— Japers' Rink (@JapersRink) March 7, 2016
All numbers, unless otherwise cited or linked to, are from War on Ice.
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