The Washington Capitals are the hottest team in the NHL’s Eastern Conference after downing the Philadelphia Flyers for the second time in as many nights. The 6-3 victory was the least pretty of the streak but perhaps the most satisfying by the end of regulation.
Anytime we get an Alex Ovechkin goal, the game is a win. Even if the Capitals are actually good now.
#NHL GameScore Impact Card for Washington Capitals on 2024-10-23:#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/d5P6HE15ez
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) October 24, 2024
- The Capitals were great again for about half of this game, but you could tell that the wheels started to fall off during the second period. Philadelphia finished with 17 shots on goal, 17 scoring chances, and 9 high-danger chances in the second frame alone. Washington held on, though, and tightened things up better in the third period. They are now 5-1 to start the season and have outscored their opposition 23-13 in their five wins.
- Pierre-Luc Dubois led the charge with three points (1g, 2a), including his first goal with the team into an empty net. PLD was Washington’s most dangerous and active skater of the night, recording four shots on goal, three individual scoring chances, and three individual high-danger chances. He also skated the second-most minutes among the team’s forwards (18:12), lagging behind only linemate Tom Wilson (20:07).
- I thought Logan Thompson was superb in net and carried the Caps through some very rough stretches in the game. He made 26 stops on 29 shots and, per MoneyPuck, stopped over a full goal above expected (1.07). Both goalies have bailed their team out on some breakaways and odd-man rushes during this streak. Good to see, but also something I imagine Spencer Carbery wants cleaned up so they don’t need to make so many big stops.
Tom Wilson and Rasmus each posted a game-high +4 plus-minus rating, tying their respective single-game career highs.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) October 24, 2024
- Alex Ovechkin scored career goal number 855 into an empty net. Ovi had a few big chances that couldn’t find a way past Ivan Fedotov in the Philly net, so the empty netter felt really good to see. He is now under the 40-goal mark to tie Wayne Gretzky for a share of the all-time goals lead.
- We’re seeing Connor McMichael take the next step with his game this season. He sits second on the team in scoring with eight points (3g, 5a) and has seven of those points in his last four games. His current four-game point streak is tied for the longest of his career.
- The Capitals are undefeated since we got pandas back at the National Zoo. You’ve probably already heard this by now, especially if you read Peter’s recap last night, but it’s important enough to include here as well.
The Capitals scored three goals in the second period, marking their fourth three-goal period through 17 periods played this season.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) October 24, 2024
- Many of you seem to dislike the inclusion of the impact card, so I will try to explain it a little so it doesn’t just look like a bunch of lines. In the simplest of terms, you want the bar to the right to go as far right as possible and the one to the left to stay as close to the 0 on the X-axis as possible. More right is better. More left is bad. More right can outweigh more left, but you still don’t want much left.
- The color-coded portions correlate to the categories listed below the chart. Each category includes game factors that are weighted differently. For example, a goal or an assist in the “individual offense” category will be weighed heavier than a blocked shot in the “individual defense” category. The “team” categories are how well the team performed as a whole in that category with that player on the ice. So, basically, when I mention scoring chance differential and other differentials in these posts, think of that being shown in a different way via those colors.
- The goal is to measure single-game productivity in hockey, similar to how certain metrics are used in baseball and basketball. The cards are Cole Palmer’s baby, which you can support on Patreon if you’re as much of a fan as I am.
- NaturalStatTrick still has heat maps for every game, which you can access in the link below. If the Capitals game isn’t showing up at the top of the site by the time you read this, it should just take a few seconds of clicking around for you to find it.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.
