Possibly overshadowed by the Nylander drama yesterday, J.P. posted a great article about the Caps' penalty +/- so far this season.  The game situation analyzed in the article was strictly 5-on-5 ice time. This made me curious as to what the penalty situation looked like on the power play and the penalty kill. Being a "look it up myself" kind of guy, I consulted the indispensable Japers' Rink Penalty Tracker (or Japrin Pentra as I've come to call it. Kind of sounds like a religious text or something). Thanks to DMG and J.P. for maintaining it.

What I found in the Penalty Tracker was that the Caps have taken six penalties while on the power play (my research says seven) and none on the penalty kill (my research says one). 

The reason I find these situations interesting is because taking a penalty at this inopportune time greatly changes the dynamic of the current game situation. A penalty on the power play not only negates your man advantage, but it also creates a 4-on-4 situation, which opens up the ice and, in theory, creates more scoring opportunities. Not only that, but it also creates a man disadvantage on the ensuing 4-on-5. Taking a penalty on the penalty kill creates an even worse situation for your PK'ers by increasing the man advantage gap.

With that in mind, I figured I would look at each PP/PK penalty scenario that has occurred thus far. The descriptions include the penalty information, the game situation at the time, and the result.

Thursday, October 1. Away vs. Boston Bruins.
Penalty On: Mike Green.
Penalty: Tripping against Ference.
Occurred: Offensive Zone. 1st Period.
Game Situation: 5 on 4. Game tied 0-0.
Result: None.

Thursday, October 8. Home vs. New York Rangers.
Penalty On: Mike Green.
Penalty: Tripping against M. Staal.
Occurred: Offensive Zone. 2nd Period.
Game Situation: 5 on 3. Caps lead 1-0.
Result: Led to NYR goal during 4 on 4.

Monday, October 12. Home vs. New Jersey Devils.
Penalty On: Nicklas Backstrom.
Penalty: Holding against Langenbrunner.
Occurred: Defensive Zone. 3rd Period.
Game Situation: 5 on 4. Caps lead 2-1.
Result: None.

Thursday, October 22. Away vs. Atlanta Thrashers.
Penalty On: Mike Knuble.
Penalty: Slashing against White.
Occurred: Offensive Zone. 3rd period.
Game Situation: 5 on 3. Caps lead 5-3.
Result: Led to Schultz penalty during ensuing 4 on 5.

Penalty On: Jeff Schultz.
Penalty: Cross Checking against White.
Occurred: Defensive Zone. 3rd Period.
Game Situation: 4 on 5. Caps lead 2-1.
Result: Led to ATL goal during 3 on 5.

Friday, October 30. Home vs. New York Islanders.
Penalty On: Mike Knuble.
Penalty: Goalie Interference against Roloson.
Occurred: Offensive Zone. 3rd Period.
Game Situation: 5 on 4. Game tied 3-3.
Result: None.

Sunday, November 1. Home vs. Columbus Blue Jackets.
Penalty On: Alex Ovechkin.
Penalty: Interference on Vermette.
Occurred: Defensive Zone. 1st Period.
Game Situation: 5 on 4. Caps lead 1-0.
Result: None.

Saturday, November 7. Home vs. Florida Panthers.
Penalty On: Alexander Semin.
Penalty: Tripping against Campbell.
Occurred: Offensive Zone. 1st Period.
Game Situation: 5 on 4. Caps lead 1-0.
Result: None.

A couple quick observations that may or may not mean anything:

• The Young Guns are all represented here. Not surprising given they lead the team in PP TOI/60.
• Only twice has a PP/PK penalty led to a goal against. Small sample size though.
• Knuble and Green both have two PP penalties and they both have blown 5-on-3's. Grrr.
• Ovechkin and Backstrom's PP penalties were both committed in the defensive zone. I don't know the exact circumstances, but I would assume they resulted from backchecking a breakaway by one of the PK'ers. Possibly forgivable.  
• The fact that the Caps have only once been in a 3-on-5 situation so far is encouraging.
• None of these ill-timed penalties have occurred when the Caps are currently losing. 
• Most of these games were decided by one goal, so this stuff can matter.
• Darn you Todd White...

What do you guys think?