The Washington Capitals found a way to win on Sunday night, downing the Nashville Predators 4-1. These “find a way to win” games never really involve the winner playing really well and fully deserving the two points and that was the case again here.
Washington is still struggling mightily to find their earlier-season form. Wins all count the same, though.
#NHL GameScore Impact Card for Washington Capitals on 2025-01-11
#ALLCAPS
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards.com) January 12, 2025 at 1:02 AM
- I mean – sort of broken record territory here. The Capitals recorded just 16 total shots on goal. We’re all in the same boat of knowing that just will not cut it on most nights, right? Good. Washington has had five games this season with 14 or fewer shots on goal at five-on-five. What if I told you that three of those five games have occurred in the last four days? Yeesh. However, they still managed to dig out five of the six available standings points, so, I don’t know, magic or something.
- Logan Thompson is the primary reason for any of the team’s success right now. He is now 18-2-3 on the season with a 2.38 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. Per MoneyPuck, he saved 1.91 more goals than expected in this win. His season total there now sits at 17.8, which is the second-best mark in the entire NHL. Connor Hellebuyck, who is otherworldly, is the only netminder ahead of him, stopping 25.7 more goals than expected for the Winnipeg Jets. It is past time to start talking about a Vezina nomination for Thompson. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
- Alex Ovechkin scored his 20th goal of the season, moving him 21 markers away from a share of the all-time goals record with Wayne Gretzky. I can’t say I’m loving much about how Ovi’s looked over the past several games, though. The Caps got pulverized with him on the ice at five-on-five again, seeing negative differentials in shot attempts (-15), scoring chances (-4), and high-danger chances (-3).
Washington has outscored their opponents 24-16 and have converted on seven of 19 power-play opportunities (36.8 percent) over their current seven-game point streak. https://t.co/QTVPOp4RfK
— Capitals PR (@CapitalsPR) January 12, 2025
- The “line with guys that get to play with Pierre-Luc Dubois” remains the Capitals’ only functional offensive trio right now. The only time Washington was above water at five-on-five came with PLD on the ice, out-attempting Nashville 16-13 and recording two high-danger chances and allowing just one.
- Ethen Frank scored his first NHL goal, which was the game-winner. Given how the team is playing, Frank’s game-breaking speed is huge because he just needs a step on a defender to create a chance and get in alone on goaltenders.
- Let’s end with some positivity. Andrew Cristall (4g, 3a) and Ilya Protas (3g, 2a) combined for 12 points in their respective WHL and OHL games last night. Ryan Leonard also scored for Boston College and lesser-known Capitals prospect Patrick Thomas became the Brantford Bulldogs’ all-time assist leader (144).
Numbers thanks to Hockey-Reference, NaturalStatTrick, and HockeyStatCards.
