The Washington Capitals came up with the first point of their four-game road trip on the last night before returning home. They’ll now be off until February 6 and while the overtime loser’s point is better than nothing, the team’s play wasn’t inspiring.
A two-goal burst in the final two minutes can’t paper over the cracks.
- The Capitals got smoked at five-on-five in this game which is why I’m still so down on it despite the somewhat happy ending. The Stars out-attempted them 60-44, out-scoring chanced them 27-14, and out-high danger chanced them 11-5. The total road trip numbers are bad, y’all. The Capitals got only 43.4 percent of the shot attempts, 40 percent of the expected goals, 46.2 percent of the scoring chances, and 44.4 percent of the high-danger chances in almost 194 five-on-five minutes over the four games.
- Alex Ovechkin at least scored a goal after being without one for eight games. The power-play tally was the 831st of his career. He now trails Wayne Gretzky by 63 on the NHL’s all-time goals list.
- The evolution of Anthony Mantha continues. Mantha had a two-point night and now has 15 goals in 43 games this season. Over a full 82-game slate, he’d be on pace for 28 goals. If the Capitals don’t find a way out of the hole they’ve dug themselves, Mantha could fetch something decent at the deadline. Especially, if the Capitals retain some salary.
Rasmus Sandin scores his first goal of the season to tie the game 2-2. Capitals defensemen have combined for 24 points (5g, 19a) over Washington’s last 13 games.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) January 27, 2024
- The team got smoked with Nick Jensen and Joel Edmundson on the ice at five-on-five. With Jensen on the ice, they held negative differentials in shot attempts (-10), scoring chances (-9), and high-danger chances (-8). They were also outscored 1-0.
- Trevor van Riemsdyk picked up an assist and skated 23:03 of ice time in the game after being healthy scratched against the Avalanche. Those 23 minutes were second-most on the team behind just John Carlson (24:46). Kind of a big assignment against a really good team for someone who was chosen to sit in the press box just a few days ago.
- The Capitals have officially moved down to seventh in the Metropolitan Division. Their 51 standings points see them tied with Pittsburgh and New Jersey who both own tiebreakers over them. When taking a way-too-early look at a potential draft lottery, the Capitals are just four points ahead of the Minnesota Wild for the sixth-worst mark in the league.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.
