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Clutch loss turns attention to draft lottery: numbers for the morning after

By Chris Cerullo

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April 14, 2023 6:14 am

The Washington Capitals jumped out to an early lead against the playoff-bound New Jersey Devils on Thursday but thankfully found a way to blow that lead and eventually lose 5-4 in overtime.

The loss did wonders for their draft lottery positioning.

  • This is another late-season game that the Capitals were never actually in from a process standpoint at five-on-five. New Jersey absolutely blew them out of the water, out-attempting them 70 to 40, out-scoring chancing them 44 to 19, and out-high danger chancing them 20 to 8. A rather fitting end to what was a very disappointing season.
  • The 70 shot attempts against at five-on-five were the second-most they’ve given up in a game this season. The 44 scoring chances and 20 high-danger chances against were the most they have given up at five-on-five in a game this season. The Devils didn’t just kick the Caps out the door while they were already down, they punted them like Randy Orton in 2007 WWE.
  • Great news for the upcoming draft lottery though. That Luke Hughes overtime goal saved the Caps from unnecessarily jumping over the Detroit Red Wings in the overall league standings and secured them the eighth-best odds at winning the first overall draft pick. The Caps now have a combined 12.4 percent chance to select in the top two picks with a full 6 percent chance at Connor Bedard. The latter would likely be a franchise-changing event.

  • Caps captain Alex Ovechkin finished the season with zero goals in his last five games. He tallied 42 overall on the year and trails Wayne Gretzky by just 72 goals heading into the 2023-24 campaign.
  • Dylan Strome extended his point streak to six games with an assist. That streak ties his previous career best. He set new single-season, career highs in goals (23), assists (42), and points (65) in his first season with the Capitals.
  • Tom Wilson scored for the fourth-straight game and put up 11 points (5g, 6a) in his last 12 games. Wilson finished the season with 13 goals in 33 games which is a 32-goal pace over a full 82-game slate.

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

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