The Caps took a flyer on Brett Connolly and it worked out about as well as anyone could have hoped. With his career at a crossroads, Connolly signed a one-year deal with the Caps, hoping to carve out a role on a Cup contender. Connolly didn’t just carve out a role, he became an important part of the Caps’ regular-season success and showed he’s a capable third line winger.
By Patrick Holden 6 years ago
Over Memorial Day weekend, Ian was the first to uncover a report by John Shannon of Sportsnet that the Caps and TJ Oshie were close to reaching an agreement on a new contract. While this news was welcomed by many, it also came as a bit of a surprise, as it was widely expected that Oshie would sign elsewhere in free agency due to salary cap restrictions in DC.
We’ve written here previously about the fact that Oshie’s value on the open market will be somewhere around 6 years and $6 million per year. Even if Oshie takes a bit of a discount to stay in DC, it’s still really hard to see how the Caps will fit him under the salary cap. If the Caps are intent on re-signing Oshie, there’s only one way it seems like it will be possible to fit him under the salary cap: The Caps will have to get rid of Brooks Orpik’s contract.
By Patrick Holden 6 years ago
Down but not out, the Caps marched into Pittsburgh on Monday night and came out with a 3-2 win in OT. The victory wasn’t boring and your nerves are probably frayed, but the Caps are right back in this series.
Kevin Shattenkirk, who has looked shaky since early in Round One, found the back of the net on the PP it OT to give the Caps the win to cap off a wild night. Sidney Crosby left the game and didn’t return after taking a blow to the head from Matt Niskanen, Nick Backstrom scored a weird goal, and Evgeny Kuznetsov finished off a play that showed passing and patience work sometimes, and the guy who yells “SHOOOOOOOT” isn’t always right.
After dominating shot attempts in the first two games, Game Three was more even, as the Caps out-attempted the Pens 45-35. What a difference a bounce here or there and strong goaltending can make.
By Patrick Holden 6 years ago
The Caps find themselves in an 0-2 series hole after falling to the Penguins 6-2 on Saturday night. This game sucked and it’s understandable if you’ve got “here we go again” running through your head.
The Caps absolutely dominated the first period. This was one of the more dominant twenty minutes of hockey the Caps have played this season. But the frame ended with nothing to show for it and, oooh boy, does that sting now. Missed assignments, odd-man rushes, and Braden Holtby looking human came to define a game that could have looked very different if a puck or two had been deposited behind Marc-Andre Fleury in the first period.
But it didn’t happen. And here we are.
By Patrick Holden 6 years ago
Here at RMNB, there have been many times after a Caps loss where we’ve argued that the team deserved to win or that they did a lot of things well despite an undesirable result. This is not one of those times.
The Caps deserved to lose Game Three. This series is not over, not by a long shot. But the path to victory just got harder after Monday’s deserved loss.
By Patrick Holden 6 years ago
In their victory in Game One, the Caps came out flat but got better as the game went on. Game Two was a different story as the Caps looked like the much better team in the opening minutes. But the good start wasn’t enough as the Caps fell in double OT and now head to Toronto tied one game apiece.
Regardless of what you think about the Caps’ effort and results in the first two games, it’s impossible to not be impressed by the Leafs. Not given much of a chance by anyone before the playoffs began, the Leafs have proven they are going to make this a series.
Here’s a look at some numbers from Saturday’s loss.
By Patrick Holden 6 years ago
Earlier in the week we looked at how the Caps stacked up against the Leafs in terms of 5-on-5 play. Today, we’re looking at goaltending.
The Caps are going to have the advantage in goal in just about any series they play. Braden Hotlby won the Vezina last season and he should be a finalist again this season. He also has the best playoff save percentage in the history of the NHL. Translation: He’s one of the best.
Holtby’s counterpart in net will be Frederik Andersen. Andersen was drafted in the third round of the 2012 draft by the Ducks and had played his entire career for Anaheim until being traded to the Leafs last offseason. The Leafs immediately made him “the guy” in goal, as he was signed to a five-year deal and appeared in 66 games this season.
Andersen’s career high in save percentage is 91.9 percent, which he posted last season in Anaheim. Holtby has had just one season with a save percentage below 92.0, a 91.5 save percentage during the 2013-14 season.
Let’s take a deeper look at each goalie, shall we?
By Patrick Holden 6 years ago
It’s once again the most wonderful time of year, the NHL playoffs. The Caps open the second season on Thursday against the Leafs and are heavy favorites to advance to the second round.
The Caps went 2-1-0 vs the Leafs this season. The one loss came in Toronto back in November, when the Leafs won 4-2. But the Caps won the final two matchups of the season, a 6-5 OT win at home in January and a 4-1 victory in Toronto during the first week of April.
The Leafs are a young, fast, dynamic team that, while not the juggernaut the Caps have been this season, certainly shouldn’t be taken lightly. For today, we’re gonna take a look at how the two teams stack up at 5-on-5.
By Patrick Holden 6 years ago
Wednesday night is rivalry night on NBCSN and this one featured an actual rivalry. On top of that, the Caps had a chance to clinch a bunch of things that are not the Stanley Cup.
The first period happened, even if the Caps seemed unaware of this fact at times. The team went over six minutes without a shot attempt in the middle of the frame. But the guys in red picked up the action towards the end of the frame.
The action at the end of the first period did not carry over into the second period and both teams struggled to create much flow or pace. But then, a little over halfway through the period, some guys broke the rules and the Caps found themselves with their second 4-on-3 of the night. The pace picked up and, once play had gone to 5-on-4, Alex Ovechkin did his thing and the Caps went up 1-0.
Just over five minutes into the third, Marcus Johansson and Evgeny Kuznetsov hooked up for a pretty goal. Fans of the EA Sports NHL video game series know that the inside-outside deke Kuznetsov pulled on Henrik Lundqvist is unstoppable.
Caps win 2-0!
Caps clinch the Metro! And the East! And the Presidents’ trophy!
By Patrick Holden 6 years ago
The finish line is in sight for the 2016-17 regular season and, despite Friday’s drubbing at the hands of the Coyotes and the fact that this Caps team will be judged by what they do in the playoffs, it’d be hard to argue this regular season in its entirety has been anything but a smashing success.
Here’s a non-exhaustive list of some of the reasons this regular season has been so great:
So yeah, this team has had an excellent season and has been a lot of fun to watch. While this won’t excuse anything that may or may not happen in the playoffs, it shouldn’t be forgotten that this is an era we’ll be able to look back on fondly.
Let’s do the snapshot and dig a little deeper into the numbers.
By Patrick Holden 6 years ago
