Photo: Amanda Bowen
The Caps will likely clinch the President’s Trophy within the next week, perhaps before March even ends, and they’ll soon be wrapping up one of the best regular seasons in franchise history. Yet, all is not well in Caps land. Recently, the Caps have struggled both with process and results more so than earlier in the season.
Perhaps they are just waiting to flip the switch when games become meaningful again, or maybe they haven’t been getting enough from certain key players. There’s been some prolonged trends in the team’s game that has raised legitimate concerns about how they’ll fare come playoffs.
But history can show us that there’s also reason to temper those concerns. And, as we’ve tried to note on RMNB throughout the season, and Dan Steinberg put so eloquently, it’s also okay to simply enjoy this regular season success. It’s also perfectly fine to do so while feeling antsy about how this team will perform come mid-April.
And that’s the thing: with it being a given that there is no right or wrong way to be a fan, it’s possible to appreciate this season and acknowledge the reasons that the Caps have a legitimate shot at a deep playoff while also expressing concerns about the team’s recent performance and why that casts doubts upon the team’s chances at playoff success. These two perspectives need not stand in opposition to one another.
Before we jump into the numbers, let’s give the final word to F. Scott Fitzgerald, who can help offer a reminder that it’s possible, to use the parlance of our times, to both find some chill but still keep it 100 about this Caps team:
The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.
Player | GP | TOI | SA% | rel SA% | GF% | PDO |
Winnik | 12 | 117.7 | 56.4 | 7.0 | 83.3 | 107.2 |
Williams | 74 | 965.0 | 53.9 | 3.6 | 56.7 | 100.8 |
Ovechkin | 72 | 1099.0 | 53.2 | 2.8 | 61.5 | 102.2 |
Kuznetsov | 74 | 1040.0 | 53.0 | 2.4 | 59.8 | 102.2 |
Backstrom | 71 | 1020.3 | 52.5 | 1.5 | 64.1 | 102.9 |
Latta | 41 | 334.7 | 52.5 | 1.7 | 52.5 | 100.4 |
Burakovsky | 71 | 837.7 | 51.7 | 0.4 | 53.3 | 101.0 |
Oshie | 72 | 995.3 | 51.0 | -0.4 | 62.3 | 102.8 |
Galiev | 21 | 167.9 | 50.5 | 0.1 | 55.6 | 101.6 |
Richards | 31 | 296.2 | 49.9 | -0.7 | 46.2 | 99.2 |
Beagle | 50 | 581.9 | 49.8 | -1.7 | 56.3 | 101.5 |
Johansson | 66 | 850.1 | 49.7 | -1.9 | 58.6 | 102.0 |
Chimera | 74 | 822.3 | 48.1 | -4.2 | 50.0 | 100.3 |
Wilson | 74 | 821.8 | 47.1 | -5.4 | 51.6 | 101.2 |
Player | GP | TOI | SA% | rel SA% | GF% | PDO |
Orlov | 74 | 1115.6 | 53.9 | 3.7 | 58.3 | 102.3 |
Schmidt | 65 | 1057.8 | 51.4 | 1.1 | 56.5 | 101.3 |
Niskanen | 74 | 1335.1 | 51.3 | -0.1 | 57.0 | 101.3 |
Orpik | 34 | 581.8 | 51.1 | -0.7 | 53.3 | 100.3 |
Chorney | 54 | 647.6 | 50.3 | -2.0 | 57.1 | 103.0 |
Carlson | 49 | 842.4 | 50.1 | -1.5 | 55.2 | 100.8 |
Alzner | 74 | 1277.4 | 49.9 | -2.4 | 56.1 | 101.4 |
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