The Washington Capitals’ power play reached a grim milestone against the San Jose Sharks on Monday night.
After the team’s first futile power play against the Sharks, the Capitals passed an hour of man advantage time since they last scored. The team finished 0 for 3 on the power play against the league-worst Sharks, pushing their PP scoreless streak to 1 hour, five minutes, and 15 seconds.
The last time the Capitals scored on the power play was over a month ago on October 27 against the Minnesota Wild. Dylan Strome lit the lamp on Marc-Andre Fleury 17 minutes and 14 seconds into the first period of the game, giving the Caps a 2-1 lead.
The PP scoreless streak then began on the team’s next power play after that coming via a Pat Maroon interference call on Rasmus Sandin.
Since that Strome goal, the Capitals haven’t scored a power-play goal in:
11 straight games
33 straight power play opportunities
65:15 of power-play time
53 shots
107 shot attempts
61 scoring chances
28 high-danger chances
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Capitals have generated 7.55 expected goals during their 11-game PP goalless streak, but no pucks have found the back of the net.
On the season, the Capitals have a league worst 5.7 percentage connection rate on the power play and have scored a league-worst three power-play goals.
Against the Sharks, the Capitals had their chances, hitting the post several times. Alex Ovechkin beat Mackenzie Blackwood clean with a shot, but it clanged off iron. Tom Wilson nearly redirected the puck past Blackwood close to the net, but the goaltender made a miraculous save.
Mackenzie Blackwood takes one away from the Capitals! 🛑 pic.twitter.com/H7EF5yYPH3
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 28, 2023
Partially because the Capitals couldn’t score up a man, they lost to the Sharks 2-1 — their first matchup of a five-game West Coast road trip.
“There were some good sequences,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said. “The second unit got a little bit scramble-y with couldn’t enter and game possession. So that was an issue for the second group. But some good looks again, but nothing to show for it.”
“That’s the game of hockey, sometimes it’s just not going to go your way,” Connor McMichael said. “I think for the most part we played a pretty good game tonight. We were pretty well structured. I thought the power play generated a lot of chances as well and we just couldn’t put it in. I think we had really good movement. I don’t think we were trying to be too cute. We were getting pucks on net and recovering them. We just kept it simple and it seemed to work out.”
Per Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards, the NHL record for consecutive power plays without a goal is believed to be held by the Toronto Maple Leafs with 51.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
