The Washington Capitals hosted Metropolitan Division rivals in the New York Rangers on Saturday night and promptly stomped them out. From the first minute of the game, the Capitals came to play and did not look back from there.
That was the best they’ve shown this season. Let’s hope it’s a sign of things to come and not just a one-off.
- Yes, the Capitals scored all four of their goals in the first and second periods but I want to talk about their third period. With the Rangers ready to chase the game, the Capitals absolutely shut the door at five-on-five. They controlled everything in the final twenty minutes from shot attempts (15-14), scoring chances (7-3), and high-danger chances (1-0). I feel like that’s what the ideal Spencer Carbery game looks like. The question now is if they can repeat that effort. I sure hope so.
- In what feels like the first time in forever, the Capitals’ top line was their best at five-on-five. The Capitals saw positive differentials in shot attempts (+8), scoring chances (+6), and high-danger chances (+2) with Alex Ovechkin, Dylan Strome, and Tom Wilson out on the ice together. Ovi’s goal-scoring drought will end very soon if they match that in Chicago tonight.
- Charlie Lindgren pitched his second shutout of the season. In ten appearances this season, Lindgren has amassed a 6-2-1 record with a 2.34 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. Per MoneyPuck, Lindgren stopped another two goals more than expected which should see him jump back into at least the top five in that category league wide.
Per @PR_NHL, Charlie Lindgren became the fourth goaltender in NHL history to record a shutout while his brother appeared for the opposing team. The others: Tiny Thompson (12x vs. Paul Thompson; last: Jan. 7, 1937), Tony Esposito (4x vs. Phil Esposito; last: Oct. 16, 1974) and…
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) December 10, 2023
- Sonny Milano‘s goal just 43 seconds into the first period is the team’s fastest goal to start a game this season. That marks two games in a row that players who were healthy scratched immediately got on the board with a goal the next time they were in the lineup.
- The Capitals didn’t technically score a power play goal as Anthony Mantha tipped home his marker just as a man advantage was expiring but I was happy with what I saw overall. I felt like it was obvious that new things were being actively tried for the first time this season. Why it took this long is beyond me. Maybe they were waiting for TJ Oshie to come back? I don’t know.
- We’ll get our first look at Connor Bedard on Sunday night. Bedard leads all rookies in scoring with 21 points (11g, 10a) from 26 games. Not exactly the scoring explosion that some may have thought he’d come out of the gates with but still solid all the same.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.
