The Washington Capitals played well again at five-on-five and lost again. The story of the season remains the same, with a 3-2 shootout loss to the New Jersey Devils.
I feel like a broken record, but the Capitals are also operating like a broken record player, so it all tracks.
- Instead of looking at this individual game, let’s go over the last 10 games, in which the Capitals hold a 2-6-2 record. During that particularly rough stretch in the standings, the Capitals have owned 54.6 percent of shot attempts, 55.7 percent of expected goals, 55.9 percent of scoring chances, and 53.7 percent of high-danger chances at five-on-five. They rank no lower than sixth in the league in any of those marks over that span. For comparison’s sake, the Boston Bruins, who are 8-2 in their last 10 games, have garnered just 47.9 percent of five-on-five expected goals in their games.
- The issue is obviously still special teams and a lack of consistent goal scoring. The Devils went 1-for-3 on their power play, leaving the Capitals with a 72.9 percent effective penalty kill this season, which ranks 28th in the league. The Caps did not score a power-play goal on their one opportunity, leaving with the 30th-ranked power play at 14.6 percent effectiveness.
- Connor McMichael was a bright spot in the loss as he seemed to finally wake up once moved back onto the wing. He snapped a nine-game goalless streak and had points (1g, 1a) on both of the Capitals’ goals in the game. He fired four shots on goal, which is his second-highest single-season total this season. The Capitals need much more out of him.
- Alex Ovechkin scored his 902nd career goal to tie the game. Ovechkin, 40, basically fueled the comeback by himself, recording two points (1g, 1a), three shots on goal, 11 shot attempts, five individual scoring chances, three individual high-danger chances, and four hits.
- Hendrix Lapierre played just 8:04 in the loss and has played fewer than 10 minutes in five of his last seven games. I’m not sure how much longer the team, already struggling with depth scoring issues, can last with a line that the head coach clearly doesn’t trust. It may be time soon to try something different, whether that means recalling someone like Ilya Protas from the AHL’s Hershey Bears or exploring a solution elsewhere in the league.
- With John Carlson out and the Capitals chasing the game from very early on in the first period, Jakob Chychrun ended up playing 28:22 of ice time.
This story would not be possible without
Please consider joining us in supporting them.
