The Washington Capitals are losers of four games in a row. The team, that looked like it was putting it together before the holiday break, looks the exact opposite after returning from their days off.
They were lucky to grab a point against the Nashville Predators. Some of that can be chalked up to the back-to-back nature of games but they are trending in a poor direction right now.
- The Capitals came out of the gates better in Saturday’s loss than they did in Friday’s but that’s about all they did better. From the second period through overtime they were out-high danger chanced 11 to 4. Really the same old story went down of the only line that looks like it functions correctly is Connor McMichael’s connection with Aliaksei Protas and Anthony Mantha. That’s not sustainable and I feel like it’s past time that some sort of mix up with recalls and or more permanent moves are attempted.
- Ethan Bear made his Capitals debut in the loss. Bear skated 20:04 in the loss and it’s safe to say that his first game did not go too well. With Bear on the ice at five-on-five, the Capitals were out-attempted 26 to 12, out-scoring chanced 14 to 3, and out-high danger chanced 6 to 2. However, they did somehow survive those minutes without giving up a goal and actually scored one of their own.
- Not all was lost in another loss though as Alex Ovechkin scored his 829th career goal. Per Capitals PR, Ovi is now tied with Ray Bourque (1,506 points) for the seventh-most points by a player with one franchise in NHL history. I’m not going to touch on the no-goal call. You can see my broad take on it on my Twitter.
Dylan Strome recorded the primary assist on Ovechkin's goal, his eighth assist of the season. Since the start of the 2022-23 season, no player has assisted on more Ovechkin goals than Strome (15).
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) December 31, 2023
- Another game, another point for Aliaksei Protas. Protas now has 18 total points (3g, 15a) in 33 games this season. After a poor October saw him languish in the team’s bottom-six forward group and only record one point in seven games, he has stepped up his production big time. In November and December, since his move higher up in the lineup, Protas has recorded 16 points (3g, 13a) in 26 games. Over a full 82-game slate, that would be a 50-point pace.
- Hunter Shepard was fantastic in his spot start. Shepard came up with 34 stops on 36 shots and per MoneyPuck saved 2.61 more goals than expected. Starts like that make it feel somewhat okay if Charlie Lindgren needs a little time to get back to 100 percent health.
- The Hershey Bears won again on Saturday, lol. The Bears are an absolutely ridiculous 27-6 to start their season. Their lead over the entire league is now at 11 standings points.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.
