Last night the Washington Capitals kept steaming along, beating the Carolina Hurricanes by a score of six to one. This is the fourth time in six games that the Capitals have scored at least a touchdown. They have scored six goals six times this season, already matching their total from last season.

While nobody is going to argue that the Capitals are playing anything less than amazing, this was another highly efficient game for Washington. They scored on 24 percent of their shots and are at 18.6 percent over their last ten games. Since 2007 the highest any team has maintained for a whole season is 11.6 percent, so enjoy this binge while it lasts.

Key Statistics

• Despite the strong showing on the scoreboard, the Caps lost the five-on-five possession battle 49 to 35. They are actually at a season-to-date minimum of 10-game score adjusted possession (51.6 percent). Some of this can be blamed on score effects.
• The line of Andre Burakovsky, Lars Eller and Brett Connolly was the only trio to all come out above 50 percent possession. They are also the top possession line in the entire league, at 63.7 percent (out of lines with at least 90 minutes played).
• Taylor Chorney got obliterated, seeing 23 shot attempts go against the Caps and only five for. His minus-18 is the single worst on-ice five-on-five shot attempt differential for any Cap all season.

Unsung Hero of the Game

Brooks Orpik skated more than 17 minutes of even-strength time and came out plus-five in shot attempts, best on the team. He also saw 59 percent of scoring chances go in the Caps’ favor, despite starting only two times (of 17) in the offensive zone.

Trend to Watch

Yeah, the shooting percentage probably isn’t going to last, but a positive trend that will last is their goal differential. The Caps now sport a plus-54 goal differential, highest in the league and only five short of the plus-59 they finished with last year.

Since the start of the Trotz era in 2014, the Capitals lead the league in cumulative goal differential (all situations) by a massive margin. Their plus-152 marker is a whopping 34 more than the next best team during that span.

All stats via NaturalStatTrick, Corsica, DataRink and Hockey-Reference.

Headline Photo: Patrick McDermott

Full Coverage of Caps vs Hurricanes