Sunday’s matinee game against the Boston Bruins is an important one. It’s the first game since the Caps snapped their losing streak, the first with Ovechkin back from his one-game suspension (and his first game in like 11 days), and yet another game against a team the Caps have beat in 14 straight games dating back to October 11, 2014. Take nothing for granted.
Action starts at 12:30 PM on NBC proper. Don’t forget, you can stream the game live on the My Teams app if you’ve got a cable account. I’m Peter and I’ll do the recap thang for your pleasure.
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|---|---|---|
| Record | 27-17-7 | 28-17-6 |
| Shot Attempt % | 52.5% | 48.1% |
| PDO | 99.7 | 101.9 |
| Power Play | 27.8% (2nd) | 21.9% (9th) |
| Penalty Kill | 79.2% (20th) | 77.5% (24th) |
Projected Lines
Eller may or may not miss the game. There is no morning skate obviously, so in lieu of lines here’s a pic of my pal Fiona the hippo.
(I expect Holtby in net, but I’ve been wrong before.)
Photo: Lisa Hubbard/Cincinnati Zoo
We ❤ These Shirts
We’ve got a new crop of kick-ass shirts just in time for the crass exploitative consumer orgy that is Valentine’s Day. There are three new designs, all below for the “I [Heart] Hockey Hugs“, “Conversation Hearts“, and “RMNB Pride” tees:
Storylines
- Christian Djoos has been assigned to the Bears for conditioning.
- Fitting that Evgeny Kuznetsov was the one to snuff the slump.
- The end of the Flames game sure was wild though.
- Lars Eller did not practice yesterday and is a game-time decision today.
- Oshie stuntin’, Ovi cocky
- Tom Wilson fans are hardcore.
- The Hurricanes are my second fave team right now. Tons of offense, tons of fun. Who cares what Brian Burke thinks.
- So Brennin has been running this series for a while now, and it’s my fave thing on the site lately
The Ovi Spot
Tom Gulitti wrote a great piece about Ovechkin’s shot selection for NHL.com. Micah Blake McCurdy also did some work on the topic, so here are a ton of his tweets, followed by one of my own.
In honour of that “Ovechkin shoots from that place he shoots from” article that went around without a single chart, somehow, here’s a whole thread of “Ovechkin shoots through the years”. All situations, regular season and playoffs. First up, 2007-2008; mostly symmetric. pic.twitter.com/H5OvFTZN1O
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) February 2, 2019
In 2008-2009, more from the right-hand-side. The colour intensity is gonna be high on all of these because Ovechkin shoots a ton and if he doesn’t blow the levels a little you wouldn’t see any definition for any of the other skaters. pic.twitter.com/CZWEPBxSEv
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) February 2, 2019
2009-2010, now the pattern has a definite emphasis on the /right/ circle. pic.twitter.com/Pq8A8jyZb1
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) February 2, 2019
By 2010-2011, however, “the spot” is visible, at the very top of the circle. Still a little bit from the right circle, and the usual amount from all good forwards in the low slot. pic.twitter.com/vULdSmPYwY
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) February 2, 2019
In 2011-2012, though, the spot is gone again – it’s almost all netfront and a little in the high slot. pic.twitter.com/jF9e2pDaEq
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) February 2, 2019
In 2012-2013, though, the left circle is again home, this season much closer, inside the dot. pic.twitter.com/Uzt4072KUK
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) February 2, 2019
But then in 2013-2014, it’s back to the other side, and hardly anything from in front of the net anymore. Still put up plenty of points. pic.twitter.com/f94855LBtw
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) February 2, 2019
In 2014-2015, he’s working both top-of-the-circles, as well as the slot again. pic.twitter.com/7Tv6aXE7yn
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) February 2, 2019
Suddenly, all in a heap, in 2015-2016, now the top of the left faceoff circle is the only place Ovechkin has ever loved. He’s there for hours after most games. He’s seriously considering hardwood floors. pic.twitter.com/xuRoRiFrtR
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) February 2, 2019
Next year, it’s almost identical. This is /all situations/ mind you, not just power-play. He shoots from this spot all the time, with all linemates, in all weathers, &c. pic.twitter.com/2ZQCCpgU50
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) February 2, 2019
Last season, even the little trace at the top of the right circle is almost gone. Just playing the hits, to great effect. pic.twitter.com/wdyrvni0Qs
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) February 2, 2019
And finally, this season so far, where even the slot is diminishing. Almost every shot comes from the same hundred-ish square feet. pic.twitter.com/fUdZsloThB
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) February 2, 2019
And mine is just power-play shots, animated per season. You can see the reverse Ovi spot, when Ovi was QB-ing, the feeding frenzy up front, then some dead PP time under Hunter, and then it happens.
I made this a couple weeks ago. Finding and refining the Ovi spot on the PP. pic.twitter.com/V3osEXH4ob
— Good Tweet Pete 🌮 (@peterhassett) February 2, 2019
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Bruins
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong
