The Washington Capitals took two separate leads against the Carolina Hurricanes but couldn’t stave off a comeback, ultimately falling 4-2 after a rough second half of the game.
PLD, feel better. Matt Roy, sending you healing vibes, too.
- After putting together an excellent first period, reminiscent of their entire game in Carolina to kick the season off, the Capitals just didn’t have the same juice in the second and third periods. In the final two frames at five-on-five, the Hurricanes dominated in shot attempts (43-15), shots on goal (21-10), scoring chances (16-8), high-danger chances (8-3), and expected goals (1.84-0.55). There wasn’t a forward line or defensive pairing that really worked for the Caps, and they looked tired. Not great when this was just the first half of a back-to-back.
- The one player that did seem to have some extra jump was Ryan Leonard, who assisted on both of Washington’s goals. He is now the team’s leading scorer this season with six points (2g, 4a) in six games, despite playing just the 14th most time on ice per game (13:41) on the roster. However, he took a bad penalty in the third period when the game was 2-2, and head coach Spencer Carbery benched him until the final 22 seconds of regulation. The Capitals allowed two goals between his benching and that final shift. I really think the message would have been better sent after the game. Leonard was the team’s only offensive force in this loss.
- Leonard’s current four-game point streak is tied for the second longest of his career. His longest is five games, set last March.
- Justin Holl scored in his first game as a member of the Capitals. The 34-year-old defender now has 15 career NHL goals in the 406 games he has played for the Caps, St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings, and Toronto Maple Leafs. Holl ended up with 12:04 of ice time, which is more than Dylan McIlrath has played in his last two games combined.
- Boone Jenner scored for a third straight game and is now tied with Alex Tuch for the team lead in goals. Jenner has scored 30 goals in an NHL season before, so he can get hot and put up some really nice numbers. He also won 13 of his 20 faceoffs (65 percent) and drew a penalty.
- Another really tough analytics night for Timothy Liljegren, who is drowning number-wise after his lineup promotion with Matt Roy out injured. With Liljegren on the ice five-on-five, the Capitals held heavily negative differentials in shot attempts (-19), shots on goal (-11), scoring chances (-5), and high-danger chances (-4). Is it weird to say I don’t think I really noticed him that badly just by eye? This is another brutal game for him on the stat sheet, though, so I felt I had to mention it this time.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-Reference, NaturalStatTrick, and HockeyStatCards.
