The Caps are 24 games into the season and are barely hanging onto a playoff spot. Guys like Evgeny Kuznetsov, Andre Burakovsky, and Justin Williams haven’t been producing as expected. There’s been a lack of offense from the blue line, as the offensively talented trio of John Carlson, Matt Niskanen, and Dmitry Orlov have combined for one goal. The special teams, generally a strong suit among recent Caps teams, rank in the middle of the pack.
Meanwhile, Barry Trotz has stayed cool, calm, and collected through it all. He’s been given plenty of reasons to take away ice time from guys like Kuznetsov or Burakovsky, or scratch Orlov after his mistakes in the third period against the Islanders. But, instead of running out of patience with certain players, Trotz has gone to bat for his guys. He kept a level-headed approach in reacting to Orlov’s miscues against the Isles and expressed confidence that Williams will soon break out of his slump.
In other words, much like Buck Showalter, Trotz likes his guys. And, while some may mistaken his calm for complacency, I think Trotz deserves credit for the approach he’s taken through the bumps of the first 24 games.
There are reasons to be concerned about this Caps team. But there’s also reason to think things will get better. While the former approach may be easier right now, that’s not where the snapshot is headed today. Let’s take a look at the numbers, with an attempt to focus more on what’s gone right and why things might get better.
Player | GP | TOI | SA% | Rel SA% | GF% | PDO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eller | 22 | 254 | 60.8 | +8.6 | 49.1 | 98,1 |
Connolly | 15 | 141 | 58.1 | +3.9 | 50.5 | 99.3 |
Williams | 23 | 276 | 56.2 | +2.8 | 49.2 | 97.0 |
Johansson | 23 | 314 | 56.2 | +2.9 | 65.8 | 103.7 |
Winnik | 15 | 135 | 55.1 | +1.9 | 100.0 | 106.6 |
Burakovsky | 23 | 283 | 55.1 | +1.4 | 47.9 | 99.2 |
Oshie | 17 | 205 | 55.0 | +0.6 | 80.1 | 108.2 |
Backstrom | 23 | 307 | 54.4 | +0.4 | 62.1 | 102.7 |
Wilson | 23 | 235 | 52.0 | -2.6 | 61.0 | 103.5 |
Kuznetsov | 23 | 303 | 50.9 | -4.7 | 62.4 | 105.1 |
Beagle | 23 | 211 | 50.2 | -4.7 | Â 50.9 | 101.1 |
Ovechkin | 23 | 307 | 49.7 | -6.8 | Â 56.6 | 103.1 |
Sanford | 19 | 180 | 49.1 | -5.1 | 44.5 | 99.8 |
Player | GP | TOI | SA% | Rel SA% | GF% | PDO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Schmidt | 20 | 275 | 56.1 | +2.7 | 52.4 | 99.9 |
Orpik | 23 | 321 | 55.6 | +2.2 | 65.2 | 102.8 |
Niskanen | 23 | 372 | 55.2 | +1.7 | 57.8 | 101.0 |
Orlov | 23 | 377 | 53.6 | -0.7 | 56.9 | 102.0 |
Carlson | 23 | 373 | 53.1 | -1.5 | 56.3 | 102.2 |
Alzner | 23 | 368 | 52.3 | -2.7 | 66.4 | 103.9 |
Player | xGF/60 | GF60 | Difference |
---|---|---|---|
Williams | 3.34 | 1.51 | 1.83 |
Eller | 3.01 | 1.49 | 1.52 |
Connolly | 3.13 | 1.85 | 1.28 |
Sanford | 2.23 | 1.34 | 0.89 |
Beagle | 2.37 | 1.78 | 0.59 |
Burakovsky | 2.64 | 2.26 | 0.38 |
Winnik | 1.96 | 1.72 | 0.24 |
Wilson | 2.18 | 2.14 | 0.04 |
Backstrom | 2.72 | 3.02 | -0.30 |
Oshie | 2.76 | 3.52 | -0.76 |
Johansson | 2.65 | 3.51 | -0.86 |
Ovechkin | 2.55 | 3.45 | -0.9 |
Kuznetsov | 2.37 | 3.41 | -1.04 |
Headline photo: Ethan Miller
Stats from Corsica
Russian Machine Never Breaks is not associated with the Washington Capitals; Monumental Sports, the NHL, or its properties. Not even a little bit.
All original content on russianmachineneverbreaks.com is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)– unless otherwise stated or superseded by another license. You are free to share, copy, and remix this content so long as it is attributed, done for noncommercial purposes, and done so under a license similar to this one.
Share On