The Capitals and their familiar foe and rival, the Pittsburgh Penguins matched up in a contest that I think most will want to forget ever happened. The Caps however, won’t forget the two points that their goaltender and TJ Oshie earned, as they somehow won this game 2-1.
The Pens out-shot the Caps 42 to 22 and out-attempted them at five-on-five 70 to 29.
- The big story of this game is going to be TJ Oshie‘s heroics and invincibility, but that is incredibly flattering to Todd Reirden and the team as a whole because they got absolutely pummeled in every way that doesn’t show up on the scoreboard. I know we’ll get the people saying “oh but they got it done where it counts”, but honestly take a look at that gigantic blue whale of a hot spot that has encased Braden Holtby like Ivan Ooze and tell me that’s how you want the Caps to play hockey.
- Just to put this atrocity into more perspective here, the Capitals got only 29.3-percent of the total five-on-five shot attempts in this game. That is the third worst percentage the team has recorded since they started tracking this stuff post lockout. The only two worst games came at the tail end of the Adam Oates era where they recorded 28.9-percent and 27.4-percent of the shot attempts in games against the Hurricanes and Blues. Even then, you can adjust those two games for score and venue because the Caps had big leads in both, and they look better than this one. You can adjust whatever you want from this game and it will still come out as a pure Braden Holtby masterpiece. Lordy.
- More perspective and we’re going all the way back to 2007 again. The Caps minus-15 differential in five-on-five high danger chances is the team’s joint worst total, since these numbers were recorded, with a game against the Kings in 2015. If you thought we were annoying with criticizing the Caps defensively last regular season, they’re currently on a trend to look worse this season. Numbers wise, the Caps are currently playing some of the worst defensive hockey we’ve seen since Adam Oates. That may sound completely and utterly hyperbolic to some, but the proof is in the mathematical pudding brothers and sisters.
- Holtby made 41 saves in a game that the Pens deserved to win about 11 to 1. If you needed a “too long, didn’t read” summary of this post, it’s right there.
- The Capitals current 39.4-percent high danger chance for percentage is only “topped” by the Anaheim Ducks (37.6-percent). The Caps are giving up grade A chances at a higher frequency than the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Vancouver Canucks, New York Islanders, etc. The common theme with all of those teams is that they’re bad and they knew they were going to be this bad.
- Alex Ovechkin scored his 235th career power play goal, giving him sole possession of 8th place all time on the PPG list.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com, NaturalStatTrick.com, and Corsica.hockey.
