The Washington Capitals were held off the scoreboard in Dallas on Thursday, taking a 2-0 shutout loss to the Stars.
Turns out, it’s hard to win hockey games when you don’t put the puck in the net.
- I talked about this a lot in the recap but the Caps are just not doing enough offensively this season. It’s boring, boring, extra boring to watch them and it’s likely hurting them on the other side of the puck as well. Here are their ranks in these categories at five-on-five (per 60 minutes): shot attempts (22nd), shots on goal (28th), expected goals (29th), scoring chances (26th), high-danger chances (23rd). You don’t need me to tell you how bad that is. They are creating nothing.
- Alex Ovechkin hit the crossbar twice and that’s just pain incarnate. It was a game that seemed destined for an Ovi goal despite the offensive inefficiency. He recorded eleven individual shot attempts, seven individual scoring chances, and three individual high-danger chances.
- Darcy Kumeper made 25 stops in the loss. His save percentage is above .900 again on the season.
Stars beat the Ovechkin and the Capitals 2-0. Jake Oettinger's first shutout of the season.
The last time the Capitals were shutout? 54 games game ago, Jan. 24 last season when Pete DeBoer's Vegas Golden Knights shut them out 1-0
— Saad Yousuf (@SaadYousuf126) October 28, 2022
- Martin Fehervary is struggling with his second partner this season. Folks, I’m worried about him. In this game at five-on-five with him on the ice, the Caps had a minus-nine shot attempt differential, a minus-five scoring chance differential, and a minus-three high-danger chance differential. Something to keep a very close eye on.
- Trevor van Riemsdyk played the least of any Capitals defenders at 15:30 total ice time. I think he can handle a much larger role and that should be tested this season given the expected turnover coming this summer on defense.
- Next up for the Caps is an away date with the Nashville Predators. They’ve won just one of their last five games in Music City.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.
