The Caps played fine on Thursday but lost. Still, there was lot to like in this loss, especially from the Caps’ top six. Speaking with Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press, Kings defenseman Drew Doughty sang Washington’s praises.
Here’s what Doughty, the 2016 Norris Trophy winner, said after the game:
Doughty: "They're so hard to play against. I've never been so tired in my whole entire life. I felt like I spent the entire game in my own zone playing against that Ovechkin line."
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) December 1, 2017
That’s a lovely quote, but it’s just not correct. Here’s the 5-on-5 ice time and shot attempts when Doughty was out against the Caps’ top two lines.
| Doughty vs. | TOI | LAK attempts | WSH attempts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kuznetsov | 8:48 | 3 | 15 |
| Ovechkin | 7:45 | 7 | 7 |
The ice was dead even when Doughty took on Alex Ovechkin – seven attempts and four shots on goal per team, but Doughty saw Evgeny Kuznetsov even more and he got totally trounced there – the Kings had just 16.7 percent of the attempts. For his part, Kuznetsov scored two goals in one of the best games of his career, though neither came against Doughty.
Snide stat nerds like me and Pat could not abide Doughty’s error.
Doughty is right expect it was the Kuznetsov line that owned him tonight. Minus-12 in shot attempts in 8:48. Even vs Ovechkin in 7:45 https://t.co/2UCzQ46n3F
— pfholden.bsky.social (@pfholden) December 1, 2017
Actually, shot attempts were dead even during Doughty vs Ovi (7:45). When it was Doughty vs Kuzy (8:48), Doughty got DOMINATED 15 to 3. https://t.co/5iZQVUrgoN
— Peter Hassett (@peterhassett) December 1, 2017
— Pat Holden (@pfholden) December 1, 2017
Despite whatever trifling inaccuracies are in a tired player’s post-game interview to be cravenly picked apart by veal-like couch analysts, Doughty followed up with an excellent experiential quote.
Doughty loved going up against Ovechkin. “That was so much fun. I live for that stuff. They didn’t come out with any points. I don’t even know if I had a friggin’ shot on net, but we shut down that line.”
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) December 1, 2017
(He did have one shot on net though. Okay, now I’m done.)
Full Coverage of Caps vs Kings
Headline photo: Patrick McDermott
