The Washington Capitals were nowhere near their best in Ottawa against the Senators on Tuesday night. Luckily for them, they have a phenomenal goaltender and a game-changing rookie defenseman.
After battling late to force overtime, the Capitals prevailed in the extra frame, securing a 3-2 win. Please be better against the Devils.
- The second period in this game might be the worst I have ever seen the Capitals play under Spencer Carbery. During those 20 minutes, the Caps were down 31-12 in shot attempts, 17-2 in shots on goal, 16-8 in scoring chances, 7-2 in high-danger chances, 2.17-0.57 in expected goals, and 2-0 in actual goals. However, I don’t think the stats even paint the full picture of how bad they looked. Hopefully, we don’t see that ever again this season.
- Logan Thompson was fantastic in net and the only reason this game wasn’t 5-1 heading into the third period. He made 24 stops on the 26 shots he faced and was truly battling by himself for long stretches of the game. The usual numbers don’t give him the full credit he deserves, as MoneyPuck shows him saving only 0.85 more goals than expected. I will say the guys in front of him, as bad as they were at times, stayed in shooting lanes very well and blocked shots.
- On the game-winning goal, Alex Ovechkin tied Nicklas Backstrom for the Capitals franchise lead in assists. The helper was the 762nd of Ovechkin’s career, coming three years and 16 days after Backstrom registered his final assist for the Caps. This feels like it wasn’t supposed to happen.
- I waited to talk about Cole Hutson until down here because there is a lot to go over. Hutson recorded the unbelievable primary assist to Pierre-Luc Dubois to get the game to overtime, then scored the game-ending goal in the extra frame. Among all NHL rookies, only Boston Bruins forward James Hagens (0.71) is averaging more points per game than Hutson (0.69). Hutson is on pace for a 58-point rookie season from the backend.
- More Hutson fun incoming. Per Capitals PR, he is only the second rookie defenseman in franchise history to score an overtime goal, following Josef Boumedienne in 2003. Per NHL PR, Hutson (20 years, 135 days) is also the third-youngest player in franchise history to score an overtime goal, behind Nicklas Backstrom (20 years, 0 days) and Alex Ovechkin (20 years, 118 days on Jan. 13, 2006).
- The Capitals also tweeted that since the 2016-17 season, only six rookie defenders have recorded 21-plus points in their first 30 career games. Hutson is tied with his older brother Lane Hutson, Matthew Schaefer, and Zach Werenski at 21 points on that list, trailing only Cale Makar (29) and Quinn Hughes (24). Talk about some fantastic company. All five of those other defensemen have won a major individual award in the NHL, whether it be the Norris Trophy as the league’s best rearguard or the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-Reference, NaturalStatTrick, and HockeyStatCards.
