The Washington Capitals have extended their winning streak to six games after shutting out the Metropolitan Division basement dwelling New Jersey Devils. Despite taking three million penalties, the Caps came away with the 3-0 victory and are back atop the division race for now.
The Caps out-shot the Devils 36 to 25.
- The Caps did get the shutout victory in this game, but I felt like they were hardly clicking on all cylinders all night. The team felt a little disinterested and put in a below average effort against a team that they knew they should be beating. This was a tough game to watch for me without dozing off, but hey six wins in a row is six wins in a row.
- The Capitals are very lucky that the team they decided to give six power plays in one game was the Devils. New Jersey has been shutout on their man advantage for 20-plus attempts now. This is still a reoccurring issue and it’s still concerning.
- One player that I thought was particularly awful this entire game was Evgeny Kuznetsov. His night was summed up by him completely blowing his defensive assignment less than two minutes into the first period and giving the Devils two wide open looks directly in the low slot. The Caps gave up a total of five high danger chances at five-on-five and Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin were on the ice for the entirety of them. That’s with favorable zone starts, against a team that has about 400 injuries to its best players, and hasn’t won a game in forever. To put it simply, the first line in its current incarnation is an utter defensive liability and it starts with the center.
- Braden Holtby pitched the shutout, his third of the season. It was also Braden’s 35th career shutout, tying Olie Kolzig for the most in franchise history.
- Andre Burakovsky now has a goal in three straight games and Travis Boyd now has an assist in three straight games. That’s some intense production from your fourth line wingers.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps at Flyers
Headline photo: Patrick McDermott
