The Washington Capitals are rolling on home ice. The Caps won their second in a row at Capital One Arena after dispatching the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Friday night.
Competent hockey from my hockey team? Can it be? It is.
- We’re going to ignore the third period. The Devils made a push, but the Capitals pushed back enough to secure the win. The first two periods of this game featured some of the best hockey the Capitals have played in months, so let’s highlight that. At the end of the 40 minutes, the Caps, at five-on-five, were up 33-27 in shot attempts, 18-7 in scoring chances, and 7-1 in high-danger chances. More of that over the season, and they would not be where they are in the standings.
- Ryan Leonard scored the team’s lone five-on-five goal, his 15th of the season. He is the first Capitals rookie to score 15 goals in a campaign since Alex Ovechkin scored 52 times in 2005-06. If you’re wondering who has the second most behind Ovechkin, it’s Bobby Carpenter, who tallied 32 times during the 1981-82 season.
- Really great night from Hendrix Lapierre, who continues to earn more opportunities. In his 11:01 of five-on-five ice time, the Capitals posted positive differentials in shot attempts (+8), shots on goal (+6), goals (+1), scoring chances (+6), and high-danger chances (+7). The Caps didn’t give up a single high-danger chance with him on the ice. He should have played a lot more in the third period than he did.
- Cole Hutson looked good again, but he was caught out on the ice for a few of New Jersey’s best shifts in the third period. I don’t think any of those were really his fault, but his numbers did suffer as a result. With him on the five-on-five, the Capitals ended the night with negative differentials in attempts (-8), shots (-6), scoring chances (-2), and high-danger chances (-2). He did lead the team with four hits.
- Logan Thompson was brilliant yet again, stopping 30 of the 31 shots he faced. According to MoneyPuck, he saved 1.72 more goals than expected. While I unfortunately doubt that he is, he should be the clear frontrunner for the Vezina Trophy.
- Aliaksei Protas has scored in back-to-back games and has recorded 13 points (5g, 8a) in his last 14 games. He has 23 goals and 47 total points in 66 games this year.
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