The Washington Capitals made the trip up to Boston on no rest and it showed Monday night. In the final period of regulation, the Bruins took advantage of a tired Caps squad, scoring three goals en route to a 4-1 win.
Bummer of a way to go into the break, but not too much they could do with how that was scheduled.
NHL GameScore Impact Card for Washington Capitals on 2024-12-23: pic.twitter.com/rLyqnLjDIy
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) December 24, 2024
- Despite recording only 11 total shots in the game, the five-on-five numbers really favor the Capitals. They created four more scoring chances and three more high-danger chances than the Bruins. Jeremy Swayman has been horrible this season so it was really tough to watch them not just get more rubber to the net.
- I already said this in the recap but I will forever hate when coaches decide to go with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen unless they are completely forced to by injuries or illnesses. Dylan McIlrath played just 1:45 of ice time in the game. Might as well have just dressed Henrik Rybinski for his debut.
- Spencer Carbery kept Ivan Miroshnichenko somewhat in the doghouse after benching him against the Kings for long stretches of that game. Miro played just 5:34 of total ice time in the loss to Boston. I’ve been tip-toeing around how it’s quite clear Carbery doesn’t love the mix he has among those six or seven last forwards on the roster for some time now. I think something has got to give there and I don’t think it’s just waiting until April for Ryan Leonard.
Rasmus Sandin recorded the primary assist on Vrana's power-play goal. It marks Sandin's 100th career point (20g, 80a).
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) December 24, 2024
- Pierre-Luc Dubois was the best Capitals player on the ice again for my money, as he has been for really the entire month. With him on the ice at five-on-five, Washington held positive differentials in shot attempts (+12), scoring chances (+5), and high-danger chances (+1). He also extended his point streak to four games and now has 12 points (3g, 9a) in his last 11 games.
- Jakub Vrana also extended his point streak to four games with another goal. Per the team, this three-game goal streak is his first since the 2019-20 season.
- So, what do we do without the NHL for a few days? Celebrate the holidays with our families? Of course not. There is World Juniors hockey to be watched and the Capitals will have SIX prospects involved on five different teams this year. You already know about Captain America Ryan Leonard and Cole Hutson on Team USA but I wrote a primer on the other four names that you should know about. Go read it, please. With this many Caps-affiliated guys playing, it’ll be tough to watch a game without hearing a familiar name.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-Reference, NaturalStatTrick, and HockeyStatCards.
