The Caps bested the Blue Jackets on Saturday to take a 3-2 series lead. The teams meet again in Columbus on Monday night for Game Six.
The Caps have owned 51.3 percent of the shot attempts five-on-five (288-273) but have been outscored at five-on-five 10-9.
Here’s a look at five takeaways from the first five games of the series.
- As mentioned above, the Caps hold a 3-2 series lead despite being outscored by a goal at five-on-five. The reason for this is the Caps have been dominant on the power play, scoring eight goals with the extra man through the first five games of the series. As we talked about before the series, the Caps have a serious advantage on special teams, and so far, it’s made a big difference in the series.
- Dmitry Orlov has been fantastic in the first round. The Caps number-one defender has skated 68:16 at five-on-five matched against Artemi Panarin and the Caps have been even in shot attempts (66-66) and goals (3-3) during those minutes. Keeping even in shots and goals when the other team’s best player is on the ice is something the Caps have to be really happy with through five games.
- Braden Holtby has returned to form at just the right time of year. The Caps goalie has allowed seven goals on 109 shots, good for an outstanding 93.6 save percentage.
- We said before the series that the Caps had an advantage in star power in this series and boy, it has been on display through five games. The Caps are led in points by Nicklas Backstrom and John Carlson, tied with eight, and not far behind are Evgeny Kuznetsov with seven and Alex Ovechkin with six. The Caps will be a tough out in these playoffs if those four players continue to produce over a point per game.
- Part of what drove Lars Eller’s career-best offensive season was his decision to shoot the puck more. This has continued in the playoffs. Eller is attempting an Ovechkin-like 21.6 shot attempts per 60 at five-on-five, second on the team only to…Ovechkin.
A lot has gone right for the Caps through five games. The fact that they are only up one game in the series shows just how razor thin the margin for error is in the playoffs. But the Caps have to like their chances if the things mentioned above continue to go their way.
Stats via Natural Stat Trick
