The Washington Capitals lost to the Edmonton Oilers 5-0 on Friday, but the performance by the Caps’ special teams appears to have crossed a line for head coach Spencer Carbery.
The Caps went 0 for 5 with the extra man, pushing them further into last place in the NHL in power play percentage. The Caps’ 6 percent effectiveness is 2.5 percent worse than the next closest team, the St. Louis Blues (8.5 percent). Only eight teams in the NHL have scored under double digits in power-play goals; the Capitals have a league-worst three.
Even worse, after falling behind 2-0 in the first period, the Capitals watched helplessly as the Oilers score three different times on the power play, getting goals from Evan Bouchard and Leon Draisaitl.
“We’re going to have to change a bunch,” Carbery said postgame. “Tons of different things personnel wise, puck management wise, puck recovery, decisions, routes. You name it, I saw it tonight from both units. We’ll continue to try to look for a combination of five guys that are able to execute the power play and be able to do the necessary things required to have an effective power play unit.”
Prior to becoming a head coach in Washington, Carbery served as an assistant with the Toronto Maple Leafs, leading the team’s power play unit. Once Carbery arrived, Toronto’s unit shot up to first in the league at 27.3 percent effectiveness in the 2021-22 season and second during the 2022-23 season, behind only the Edmonton Oilers.
In DC, Carbery is not primarily responsible for the power play as assistant coach and former NHL player Kirk Muller leads it. Muller has a history of running power plays throughout the league, taking up those duties with the Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, and St. Louis Blues over the past nine seasons.
Carbery said in the preseason that the Capitals needed to change its power play formation so teams “don’t know what’s coming” and can’t neutralize or overly-focus on Alex Ovechkin. So far this season, Ovechkin — the greatest power-play goal scorer of all time — has only one power-play goal and two power-play points 17 games into the season.
While the Capitals have the worst power-play percentage and have scored the fewest goals, they have been unlucky as well. According to Natural Stat Trick, the team has generated 14.51 expected goals with their chances, which ranks 15th best in the league — the middle of the pack.
“I think we’ve been a little bit unfortunate,” Rasmus Sandin said after the Oilers game. “I think we’ve been creating some decent looks here and there. Still not good enough. I still think we have been creating a couple opportunities where the puck maybe should have gone in, but it hasn’t bounced our way really. Not good enough. It’s very important to have good special teams — PK and power play as well. It’s something we have to work on.”
“It seems like the chances we do get aren’t going in,” added John Carlson. “So I think that makes every mistake more glaring. It makes everyone more frustrated. Nobody has a perfect power play. It’s difficult. The pucks we were for, we get to, good spots, good chances, they aren’t going in. Certainly it’s not good enough. From this group, not acceptable.”
If the Capitals present any new wrinkles, their first opportunity to show them off will be Monday against the San Jose Sharks. That’s when the Capitals will begin a five-game road trip that will see them return to town on December 7.
“We’re trying,” Ovechkin said. “We try to work in practice. It’s frustrating for us. But we have to keep fighting.”
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
