The Washington Capitals saw an opportunity to take the Metropolitan Division lead in a matchup with the New Jersey Devils and boy did they show up ready. The 5-2 victory involved standout performances from some defensemen on both sides of the puck.
The Caps out-shot the Devils 35 to 27 and out-attempted them 56 to 50.
- Three goals and six total points from Christian Djoos, John Carlson, and Matt Niskanen. All three of those players also were well above the 50 percent five-on-five shot attempt threshold, Djoos and Carlson even nearing 60 percent. Getting offense from your defense can turn a good hockey team into a great one.
- Carlson alone now has 31 points on the season, which places him second among all NHL defensemen to John Klingberg of the Dallas Stars. It’s a contract year for him and he sure is racking up points. Over an 82 game pace, he’s now on track to score close to 64 points. An offensive output like that from a defenseman in DC hasn’t been seen since Mike Green’s prime.
- According to NaturalStatTrick the Devils only recorded four scoring chances in a crucial third period for them as they trailed for all twenty minutes. Credit that to great one on one play by the defensemen and great pressure on the puck at the point from the forwards. Sustained forechecks in the offensive zone as well.
- Devante Smith-Pelly had an assist, 10 individual shot attempts and seven individual scoring chances while getting his first look at time on the first line in quite some time. I don’t think this should last much longer, but outputs like that are very nice to see.
- Alex Ovechkin had a three assist game and Nicklas Backstrom added another two. Some of that damage was done on a power play that went one for two, but created prime chances in both tries. That’s a good sign, because the man advantage unit has had documented struggles recently.
- The Devils big line of Taylor Hall, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt were completely nullified by a matchup with Dmitry Orlov and Niskanen all game. All three finished sub-40 percent five-on-five shot attempt wise and were swamped by Capitals scoring chances.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com, Hockeystats.ca, NaturalStatTrick.com, and Corsica.hockey.
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Devils
Headline photo: Geoff Burke
