The Washington Capitals earned their first regulation win on Wednesday with a victory over the New Jersey Devils, but the team’s comeback came after giving up four goals in a disastrous second period. All but one of those goals came within a 2:11 stretch, allowing the Devils to erase what had been a three-goal lead.
Wednesday’s night performance may have been particularly egregious, but the Capitals have been blitzed in the middle frame so far this season — they gave up three goals in the second the previous night to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Head coach Spencer Carbery addressed the trend Friday and suggested which factors could be to blame.
“We’re having a way different conversation today if that game doesn’t get back on track for us in the third period,” he said. “A lot of lessons to be learned in that second period. Second periods now are starting to become an issue for our group.”
Carbery’s concerns are well-founded. In six games so far, the Capitals have allowed more than sixty percent of their goals against in the middle frame, letting in 14 while scoring only three. Disregarding the second period, the Caps are actually tied in goal differential 9-9.
At five-on-five in the second, the Capitals have been outshot (62 to 42) and out-chanced (66 to 46), as well as giving up far more high-danger chances (32 to 19). A small sample size could be partially to blame for the dour statistics — half of the Caps’ goals against in the second period came during a back-to-back against the Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils (both talented offensive teams), but the numbers fail to paint a rosy picture.
Carbery offered a breakdown of one potential cause for the poor performance, suggesting that existing problems with controlling the puck could create more vulnerabilities with the second period’s longer line changes.
“So peel back the onion, what’s going on in the second period?” he said. “Well, if you look at a lot of the situations in that New Jersey game, our puck management at times was horrendous. And okay, so why is that different from the second period? Well, you have now a long change. Now we can’t get off the ice. Now we’re stuck. Now you mismanage the puck in the second period and you can’t exit your zone or you turn one over in the neutral zone, you can’t change. Because it’s long.
“Now it’s coming quick up at you. Then you compound that by playing a fast transition team like the New Jersey Devils. Well now, you’re doubling down on being in real big trouble.”
The Capitals managed to dig themselves out in the third against New Jersey, scoring three goals to win the game 6-4. To keep winning, however, the Caps will have to learn from their failed second periods thus far.
“[Wednesday was] a valuable lesson again of what we need to do in second periods: our puck management, managing situations in different scenarios through the game,” Carbery said. “We need to do a better job in those.”
After a day off, the Caps will have the chance to show that they learned that lesson when they face the Minnesota Wild Friday night at 7pm.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
