The Washington Capitals matched up with one of the few teams below them in the overall NHL standings on Thursday night in the Montreal Canadiens. They ended up getting completely mauled 6-2.
Yep, that’s where we’re at this season.
- I mean do we even really need to check in on the five-on-five numbers? If you watched the game you know how listless and dull that performance was. The game was really put to bed in the second period when the Habs scored four times within a less than nine-minute span.
- Two of those four goals were shorthanded tallies. The Caps managed a grand total of six shot attempts on their five power plays. The Habs matched them with six shot attempts of their own while down a man. The Caps were also out-scoring chanced during those five power plays 4 to 3. That is hilariously awful.
- Dylan Strome scored his 20th goal of the season which he has done twice before in his career. It took 78 games but Strome finally became the team’s second 20-goal scorer after Alex Ovechkin (42). Strome also grabbed an assist on Nicklas Backstrom’s power play marker and now has 60 total points from 77 games.
Dylan Strome recorded the primary assist on Backstrom's power-play goal, his 40th assist of the season. Strome's 16 multi-point games this season rank second on Washington, trailing only Alex Ovechkin (20).
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) April 7, 2023
- Really poor night from Darcy Kuemper in goal. He made 26 stops on 31 shots against. Natural Stat Trick had him stopping 2.2 fewer goals than expected in his 32nd loss of the season.
- The Caps have given up 16 goals in their last three games. During that same span, they’ve scored a grand total of five of their own.
- Really strange night in terms of the lineup with Anthony Mantha a late scratch due to injury. Eight different combinations of three players played at least one minute at five-on-five together in the game. That could not have helped get things going.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.
