Now begins a fun stretch of the season in which the Capitals play four home games in a row. Plus Thanksgiving is next week, so that’s gotta be terrifying if you’re …oh I dunno.. a head coach for the Washington Capitals. Speaking of: the home stand starts with Bruce Boudreau (fired November 28, 2011) and his Minnesota Wild, hoping to extend a four-game win streak. For their part, the Caps have suffered back-to-back blowouts and would like that to stop now, please and thank you, though they’re not making any substantial changes to accomplish that.
Puck drops at Capital One Arena at 7:30 PM. If you’re watching from home, might I suggest tuning your cable box to NBCSWAKEUPITSLATERTHANYOUTHINK. Chris from the Comments has your recap.
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|---|---|---|
| Record | 9-7-2 | 10-9-1 |
| Shot Attempt % | 47.3% | 47.4% |
| PDO | 100.8 | 100.8 |
| Power Play | 17.5% | 19.4% |
| Penalty Kill | 85.7% | 77.8% |
Projected Lines
No big changes except Vrana is back and Walker is scratched. Trotz isn’t changing anything except the tone of his voice. By way of Izzy:
Stephenson – Backstrom – Oshie
Ovechkin – Kuznetsov – DSP
Vrana – Eller – Wilson
Connolly – Beagle – Chiasson
Orlov – Niskanen
Orpik – Bowey
Carlson – Chorney
Holtby
Beyond Shot Attempts
The Caps and the Wild have remarkable similar numbers for shot attempts and PDO (shooting plus saving) during 5-on-5, but let’s go a little deeper.
| MIN | WSH | |
|---|---|---|
| Shot attempts | 47.3% | 47.4% |
| Goals | 50.3% | 48.9% |
| Expected goals | 52.9% | 45.2% |
| Unblocked shots | 48.0% | 45.9% |
| Shots on goal | 47.5% | 46.5% |
| Scoring chances | 51.4% | 47.8% |
| High danger chances | 54.8% | 41.0% |
| Shooting% | 8.1% | 9.3% |
| Saving% | 92.7% | 91.5% |
| PDO | 100.8% | 100.8% |
I meant this hot take only half-jokingly:
Also the Minnesota Wild have solved shot quality
— RMNB (@rmnb) October 27, 2017
Storylines
- Christian Djoos is day-to-day. Barry Trotz doesn’t want to tell us if he’s on the concussion protocol. Okay.
- Jakub Vrana returns after a healthy scratch. He’s just trying to “stay confident,” which is definitely something confident people say all the time. Nathan Walker is again a healthy scratch.
- We have begun our “twenty games in” series. So far, we’ve shown that the Caps are struggling, but there are obvious problems with apparent solutions. Here’s how I ended that second story, which is where the title of this pregame came from:
For the moment, Barry Trotz and Brian MacLellan are in detente. Barry Trotz is not making any substantial changes to his lineup despite overwhelming evidence that it’s not working, and Brian MacLellan has appealed to the Washington Post’s most credulous columnist to help him manage expectations. Until one of them blinks, there will be no improvement. - Here’s that column from WaPo, btw.
- Alex Ovechkin was wearing our “not gonna be suck” shirt last night. (I should mention that the design is available on various merchandise that would make a lovely holiday gift.)
- Oh and also Ovi took time out of his busy day to hang with a special young person.
- GMGM and GMBM sat next to each other at the GM meeting. Alphabetical order is a curious beast.
- Barry thought the Avs game was doubleplusungood and he wants doubleplusgood effort and grittiness and compete level tonight, y’all.
- Manny Elk’s model is optimistic for the Caps tonight.
https://twitter.com/MannyElk/status/931918230528188417
New Shirt: Participation Mode!
I love it. The “you tried” kills me. It’s in our store now.
Thanksgiving Prep Starts Now
I made this video four years ago, and it’s more important than ever. Butterflying (or “spatchcocking”, which is funnier) your turkey will allow it to cook faster and more evenly, so it doesn’t dry out and retains more flavor – plus you get some great bones for your turkey soup stock. Tell a friend.
Headline photo: Chris Gordon
