Capitals spoil Bedard’s return with best performance in weeks: numbers for the morning after

The Washington Capitals put together one of their best performances in weeks on Friday night. The Caps paid back the Chicago Blackhawks for a loss on home ice last week, securing a 5-1 victory in front of their fathers and other family members.

Now, that is more what we like to see. That’s a close to 60-minute effort.

• The Capitals looked a lot more like the team they were earlier in the season in this win, using a particularly strong second period to put the Blackhawks away early. And, they didn’t let them get back into the game in the third. Phew. At five-on-five in the second, the Caps were up 13-7 in shot attempts, 8-3 in shots on goal, 5-2 in scoring chances, and 3-2 in high-danger chances. Chicago is not a good team, and they have a roster ravaged by illness right now, so this had to be a good performance, and it was.
• Alex Ovechkin has goals in three straight games, and he’s beating goalies 1-on-1 with his shot again. He now has 19 goals this season and 916 in his career, making Drew Commesso the 187th different goaltender he has scored on. The Great 8 is now on pace to score 35 goals this season, and he seems like he’s only at the beginning of one of his signature hot streaks.
• Logan Thompson finally picked up another win to give him two in his last eight starts. Thompson made 23 stops on 24 shots faced, and per MoneyPuck, saved 2.2 more goals than expected. Elite game from the league’s top goalie this year.

• In his return from injury, Connor Bedard did not have a fun night during five-on-five play. With him on the ice, the Capitals saw positive differentials in shot attempts (+7), shots on goal (+2), goals (+1), scoring chances (+2), and high-danger chances (+1). Nic Dowd’s line was responsible for winning most of those minutes, with the veteran center seeing 6:43 of direct five-on-five ice time against Bedard.
• Another great game from the team’s second line of Connor McMichael (1g, 1a), Justin Sourdif (1g), and Ryan Leonard (2a). Leonard is now fourth in NHL rookie scoring with 27 points (9g, 18a) in 38 games, and Sourdif is tied for seventh with 19 points (9g, 10a) in 44 games.
• Super active game from Anthony Beauvillier, as he potted his ninth goal of the season and recorded three shots, six shot attempts, three individual scoring chances, two individual high-danger chances, and one hit. I feel like he’s been one of the team’s most effective skaters of late, so it’s good to see him get rewarded.