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Metropolitan momentum: numbers for the morning after

By Chris Cerullo

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March 4, 2019 6:57 am

The Washington Capitals blitzed through another Metropolitan Division foe in New York as they took down the Rangers 3-2 in a shootout. The win catapulted the Capitals back into first place within the division…for now.

The Caps out-shot the Rangers 39 to 24.

  • This was one of the Capitals better recent sixty minute efforts and I’m very glad they were rewarded with the full two points in the end. We love to see heat maps that show the Caps creating more high danger chances than the opposition and without Curious George in net for the Rangers having a fabulous night, I think the Caps win this in a blowout.
  • Congratulations are in order for Carl Hagelin who scored his first goal as a Capital against one of his former teams. I thought his line with Lars Eller and Brett Connolly was pretty fantastic and he really does seem like a natural fit with those two guys. That unit saw around 15 minutes of ice time at five-on-five and saw Eller come up with a team leading plus-ten scoring chance for differential and plus-five high danger chance for differential.
  • The player that Hagelin has replaced on that third line is Andre Burakovsky and he dented the twine as well in this game. Burky now has four points in his last five games and nine points in his last thirteen. What is a little concerning is that Todd Reirden and the bunch gave him a team low of 6:58 in total ice time. Yikes.

  • The Caps really need to buck the current trend of falling behind in games early in the first period. In five straight games now, they have allowed a goal within the first four minutes of the first.
  • A player that I think has really hit his stride over really the last twenty games or so is TJ Oshie. He seems fully healthy at the moment and he’s probably the most consistent presence at all strengths that the Capitals have, not named Nicklas Backstrom.
  • Alex Ovechkin needs to score more goals because we all want to see him at least challenge for 60. Michal Kempny also needs to find a way to stop getting pelted in the face with pucks, sticks, etc.

Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Rangers

Headline photo: Bruce Bennett

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