The Washington Capitals secured a 1-0 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night. It wasn’t pretty at all but it’s still two more points to add to a very tight playoff race.
Praise be, Darcy.
- The Caps really didn’t show up for this one and did not deserve to win it. They had an almost brand-new forward lineup and it definitely showed. Columbus controlled five-on-five advantages in shot attempts (54 to 42), scoring chances (24 to 13), and high-danger chances (11 to 6). It’s okay to have a game like this every once in a while especially given the circumstances but I’m not loving this little dip in form of late.
- The sole reason the Caps came away with the two points was their man in net, Darcy Kuemper. Kuemper stopped all 37 shots he faced to earn his league-leading fourth shutout. He was utterly spectacular. Completely stole the game.
- Erik Gustafsson scored the lone goal in the game and it’s possible he didn’t even mean to but when you’re hot you get those sorts of bounces. It was his 7th goal of the season and he now has 15 points in his last 11 games.
The Capitals have a record of 13-2-2 over their last 17 games. During that span, which began on Dec. 5 at Edmonton, the Capitals have collected the most points (28) in the NHL.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) January 9, 2023
- Nicklas Backstrom played 14:03 of total ice time in his return. Tom Wilson played a similar 14:10. I have to say I don’t think I can remember one standout thing Backstrom did in the game but it’s obviously going to take him some time to get up to NHL speed. I thought Wilson showed more glimpses of his normal self.
- Outside of Garnet Hathaway (10:31) who got into a fight and missed a handful of shifts due to sitting in the box for it, Sonny Milano played the least amount of minutes on the team (12:10). Milano is no longer on either power play unit or on the penalty kill. That’s something worth keeping track of because I don’t think Anthony Mantha is going to be a healthy scratch for the rest of the season.
- Per Capitals PR, the Caps have allowed two or fewer goals in 12 of their last 17 games which includes two shutouts. That’s a very good sign for team defense and probably an even better sign that the two dudes they have in net this season are very good at what they do.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.
