Hello again and welcome back to the absolute insanity that you choose to subject yourself to each year. That insanity being this series of posts and Capitals hockey.
It’s the start of something new and it feels so right to be here with you. And now looking in your eyes, I feel in my heart…that this season will be a good one. Join me as we row down the many rambling rivers of a full 82-game season on the statistical gondola of truth.
The Caps kicked their 2022-23 campaign off with a not-so-hot start, dropping their Home Opener to the Boston Bruins 5-2. Let’s talk about that.
- For those that are definitely wondering if they read that intro correctly…you did. It’s a High School Musical thing. I’m sorry. Welcome back to your morning numbers. If you’re new here, these posts tend to be my outlet to complain openly about the Capitals and at the same time tell jokes only 15 percent of you will get and only 2 percent of you will find funny.
- I thought the Caps were actually the better team for the majority of the first forty minutes of this regular season opener. They just could not find a positive bounce and Linus Ullmark was sharp in net for the Bruins. The third period was not good though and you can’t have that when you’re trailing. The Bruins out-scoring chanced the Caps 9 to 3 and out-high danger chanced them 5 to 1 at five-on-five in the final frame.
- I’m going to get this out of the way early. John Carlson‘s effort on that David Krejci goal that really sealed the game for Boston was just not even close to enough. He was on the ice for four of Boston’s goals and overall didn’t look like he wanted to be competing in that building the whole night. With him on the ice at five-on-five, the Caps held a minus-eight shot attempt differential, a minus-eight scoring chance differential, and a minus-four high danger chance differential. His partner Martin Fehervary wasn’t good either.
- Darcy Kuemper made his Caps debut and played in his 300th career NHL game. Can’t really fault him for three of the goals against on him but the David Pastrnak one was a tad questionable. He made 25 stops on 29 shots.
(Because I do this every year when Alex Ovechkin scores on Opening Night…)
Alex Ovechkin is projected to score 0 goals and have a plus-minus of -164 this season. 🕺
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) October 13, 2022
- One major positive for me was the play of the second line and in particular Aliaksei Protas. He kept the good vibes from his great preseason rolling into the regular season. He was excellent down low in the offensive zone and his long reach helped him make a lot of good defensive plays in neutral as well. That line secured the team’s first goal of the season when Anthony Mantha potted an excellent Dylan Strome feed.
- The power play was terrible. It was bad last season and, unfortunately, it looks like it’s going to be bad again if a one-game sample size is any indication. An 0-for-4 night there. Everything from the first unit looked so forced and slow it was giving me deja vu.
- This was the Capitals’ first loss in regulation in a season opener since 2013 when they fell to the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks on their banner-raising night.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.
