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Back to more regularly scheduled programming: numbers for the morning after

By Chris Cerullo

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April 12, 2023 5:57 am

The Washington Capitals got back in the loss column on Tuesday night against a historically good Boston Bruins team. The Caps went behind halfway through the second period and then trailed for the rest of the game, eventually losing 5-2.

The Bruins set the NHL single-season points record (133) with the win.

  • At five-on-five this game went exactly how you’d expect it to go with one team preparing for a deep playoff run after running through the entire NHL like a hot knife through butter vs the other that gave up weeks and weeks ago. The Bruins out-attempted the Caps 69 (nice) to 43, out-scoring chanced them 33 to 21, and out-high danger chanced them 14 to 5. No contest.
  • The loss was a great thing for the Caps in terms of draft lottery odds though as one of the teams they were at risk of jumping over in the standings won their game. That is the Vancouver Canucks who now sit with the 10th pick at 81 points. The Caps (79 points) will clinch the eighth pick with a loss to the Devils on Thursday. The Detroit Red Wings sit between both teams at 80 points. All three have just one game remaining on their schedules.
  • If the Caps were to somehow win that lottery and select first overall they would certainly draft phenom center, Connor Bedard. Bedard recently wrapped up his WHL career with the Regina Pats. In 137 career WHL games, he recorded 271 points (134g, 137a).

  • Back to the game at hand, Garnet Hathaway scored against his former buddies. It was Hathaway’s 13th goal of the season and his fourth as a member of the Bruins. That’s not fun.
  • The Caps played their best hockey with Dylan Strome‘s line on the ice at five-on-five. In that 12:54 of ice time, the Caps held positive differentials in shot attempts (+1), scoring chances (+8), and high-danger chances (+2). Really encouraging end to the year for Strome and his linemate Tom Wilson.
  • Henrik Borgstrom became the first Finnish player to play a game for the Caps since Oskar Osala in March of 2009.

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

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