The Washington Capitals weren’t even necessarily that “bad” against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night, but they had some moments of sheer ineptitude that cost them big time. After regulation, the once-winless Kings were no longer winless, downing the Caps by a 5-2 score.
I knew almost 90 seconds in how this one would go. Go check out my personal Twitter (I recently changed usernames) and see me start a thread complaining just minutes after puck drop.
- I didn’t have much of an issue with the Capitals’ overall game, but as I said in the intro, they had a few catastrophic errors and lapses that killed them. They also didn’t take advantage of some prime scoring chances of their own and let the Kings take over the third period. At five-on-five in the final frame, the Caps finished ahead 23-9 in shot attempts, 16-5 in scoring chances, and 6-3 in high-danger chances. However, they were outscored 1-0 because of poor communication between the forwards and defensemen in their own zone. That seemed to be a theme on all four of LA’s non-empty-net goals.
- Darcy Kuemper was really good for the Kings, making 30 stops on the 32 shots he faced. Logan Thompson was not great for the Capitals, making just 21 stops on the 25 shots he faced. According to MoneyPuck, Kuemper saved 2.71 more goals than expected, and Thompson allowed 1.37 more goals than expected. Even if you factor in the empty-net goal, there is your difference in the game right there.
- I don’t think I can name more than two Capitals players that I thought had a “good” game. One of those two was Ryan Leonard, who desperately needs to be moved up in the lineup again and given more ice time. With his goal in the first period, Leonard is again leading the Caps in scoring with eight points (4g, 4a) in nine games. In the loss, he recorded two shots on goal, seven shot attempts, five individual scoring chances, two individual high-danger chances, a drawn penalty, and two hits.
- I gave Timothy Liljegren props earlier in the season and he has done nothing but proven me wrong since. He has been virtually unplayable in a bad way in recent games and that continued on Tuesday. With him on the ice at five-on-five, the Capitals posted negative differentials in shot attempts (-5), shots on goal (-4), and high-danger chances (-3). He also got absolutely walked by Erik Gustafsson on LA’s power-play goal. Get healthy, Rasmus Sandin.
- Cole Hutson had some brilliant moments, namely his goal, but some rough decision-making with timing his rushes and in-zone defensive coverage. I think he’ll figure it out more and more as the season goes on, but the Capitals are going to need to live with some bad to go along with his good. Through nine games this season, Hutson leads all rookie NHL defensemen in goals (2) and points (5). Also, the Caps need to be taking better advantage of his clean zone entries and stop wasting them with rim-arounds or dump-ins to no one in particular.
- Starting to worry a little about Aliaksei Protas this season. He’s been largely ineffective and has just two assists and zero goals in nine games. I’m also not seeing the same skating burst that we’re used to from him. I think Spencer Carbery should consider putting him on the fourth line (in a swap with Leonard) so he starts playing a more simpler game to find his groove again.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-Reference, NaturalStatTrick, and HockeyStatCards.
