The Washington Capitals did not start their important five-game road trip out west in a good way. The Winnipeg Jets played them out of Canada Life Centre from the drop of the puck and didn’t give them a sniff of goal.
That felt like a bit of a wake-up call.
- The Capitals were completely outclassed in this game from the moment the first puck dropped. Winnipeg ended up with 17 total high-danger chances at five-on-five compared to the Capitals’ five. Head coach Spencer Carbery clearly sensed it as he threw his lines into a blender but that didn’t stop the bleeding and probably just made things worse from a defensive standpoint. The Capitals haven’t had to defend that much in a game in a long while. They’re going to be tired heading into Edmonton even with the day of practice in between.
- The only reason that game didn’t get more out of hand was the play of Charlie Lindgren in net. Lindgren ended up with 26 total saves and actually posted a positive goals saved above expected of 0.67 despite allowing three goals. He has started six games in a row but that streak is going to end shortly as the Capitals have a set of back-to-back games this week.
- For my money, the most active and “on it” of the Capitals’ forwards was rookie Ivan Miroshnichenko. He was throwing his weight around and made several really nice forechecking plays that kept the team’s rare attacking spells alive. Miro did not end up with a ton to show for his effort on the scoresheet, posting just four shot attempts and three individual scoring chances but he was a clear factor on several shifts. I think staying up with the big club, whether he’s playing every game or not, will be good for him going into the AHL playoffs with Hershey. That is only if being away from the Bears doesn’t cause Todd Nelson to question his lineup status down there.
#NHLJets Line / xGoals / Corsi
L1: 70%, 58%
L2: 65%, 53%
L3: 66%, 56%
L4: 59%, 67%D1: 89%, 69%
D2: 34%, 38%
D3: 50%, 75%(Hellebuyck: shutout)
— Garret Hohl (@GarretHohl) March 12, 2024
- Not a great return showing from TJ Oshie although it’s always nice to see him on the ice. In his five-on-five minutes, the Capitals posted majorly negative differentials in shot attempts (-15), scoring chances (-6), and high-danger chances (-4). They were also scored on twice with his line over the boards.
- No goals for Sonny Milano so his streak ends at five games. Outside of Miro, I think Milano was probably the next most effective Capitals player and then I’d pick out Trevor van Riemsdyk. I think TVR has been very good deputizing next to John Carlson on the top pair for the past few weeks. I still think he’s such an underrated player when he’s in a groove like this.
- That’s one loss on this road trip and the next four games don’t get much easier. Connor McDavid waits for them in Edmonton, they’ve never beat the Kraken in Seattle, Vancouver is second in the entire NHL, and the Flames are pretty much on par with the Capitals this season in the standings.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.
