RIP points streak. Last night, the Capitals’ 14-game point streak came to an end in the dreariest of ways: a three-nothing loss to the Ottawa Senators. The Caps couldn’t have let this one get away much faster, ceding both a shorthanded goal and a power play goal against before you could say “back-to-back.”
This was only the third time the Caps have been shut out this season, with all three shutout losses ending with a score of three to nil. Besides a nice tribute to Bryan Murray (and a gift from the Caps), this was a game to forget.
Key Statistics
- The Caps trailed the Sens for 58:14. Unsurprisingly, this is the longest the Caps have trailed in any game this season–an anomaly for the team that has spent the least amount of time in the league playing catch-up:
The Capitals have spent the equivalent of 15 full games worth of ice time leading more than the Avalanche have this year. That’s bananas. pic.twitter.com/1GZwJCGMFq
— Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) January 24, 2017
- The second line of Justin Williams, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Marcus Johansson won their matchup against Erik Karlsson. In eight minutes they held the superstar to no points and 33-percent possession at five-on-five, the worst percentage on the Sens.
- Matt Niskanen made a mistake on the shorthanded goal against, but otherwise played an excellent game. He was on the ice for nine scoring chances for and just one against.
Unsung Hero of the Game
Justin Williams had a strong night. He spent much of his time against Ottawa’s best players and generally saw play tilt in favor of the Caps. When on the ice with Matt Niskanen and Karl Alzner he was especially effective, seeing a plus-seven shot attempt differential when playing with Niskanen.
Trend to Watch
A newer statistic is “expected goals.” Read about it in depth here. In short, it takes shot quality into account to give a sense of how many goals a team should expect to score based on the chances they create.
The Capitals’ rolling ten-game expected goal differential has more-or-less mirrored their overall play. A decent start, followed by mediocrity, leading to a big peak. Now they are on a downswing, and although the differential is still positive they will need to level off and keep playing “dangerous.”
Full Coverage of Caps at Senators
All stats courtesy of NaturalStatTrick, Corsica and Hockey-Reference.
Headline photo by Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images.
