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Not a whole lot goes right for the Caps in Philly: numbers for the morning after

By Chris Cerullo

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January 12, 2023 6:02 am

The Washington Capitals had a whole lot of trouble getting much going against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night. By the time they did, there was not enough time left in regulation to make up the full difference as they dropped the away match 5-3.

This one was not fun to watch.

  • Through 40 minutes of this game, the Flyers at five-on-five had 23 scoring chances and 12 high-danger chances. By comparison, the Caps had just 15 scoring chances and 4 high-danger chances. A lot of Philly’s damage on the scoreboard came in the third period but it was allowed to make the difference by the Caps basically just not showing up for the first two periods.
  • None of the Caps lines were very good at all but at least statistically the second line had the most horror show-type numbers. In their five-on-five ice time, the Caps recorded zero shots on goal, one scoring chance, and zero high-danger chances. Yeesh.
  • Bit of a strange one where perhaps the best line of the night, the fourth line, scored two goals yet played by far the least amount at even strength. Nic Dowd finished under seven minutes at five-on-five. I get the idea that Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson need consistent ice time to find their games but the Caps also still need standings points.

  • Backstrom recorded his first point of the season with a deft dish to TJ Oshie. He played 16:37 in his second game back. I thought he looked better but was still very much behind the pace defensively.
  • Marcus Johansson scored his 11th goal of the season which is tied with Conor Sheary for the second most on the team. You would have had to pay me money for me to believe that before the season started.
  • Alex Ovechkin is a bit stuck on goal number 29. He’s gone three games without a goal. He had his chances against the Flyers but just couldn’t beat Carter Hart.

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

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