Our weekly look at individual Washington Capitals‘ ups and downs:
Goalies | Trend | Notes |
Michal Neuvirth | Two starts, zero finishes, a 9.64 GAA and a .733 save percentage are flat-out ugly stats for the kid | |
Jose Theodore | 3-1-0/2.15/.929 in two starts and two relief appearances; in other words, steady when the Caps have needed him to be. | |
Semyon Varlamov | Eighteen games and counting… buh-bye, Calder. | |
Defensemen | ||
John Carlson | Plus-four in two games since being recalled is impressive, even if one of those pluses was a cheapie. | |
John Erskine | Missed all four games in a week in which the Caps had five fighting majors, more than one-third of their season total. | |
Mike Green | On the ice for 12 of the 15 goals the Caps allowed for the week and 11 of the 19 goals they scored, racking up two goals and five assists along the way, Green now has points in eight consecutive games and in twelve of his last thirteen. I’d buy an up arrow, I’d buy a down arrow… so he gets a “no change.” | |
Shaone Morrisonn | Brutal start to the week (on the ice for all seven goals against in Tampa), Mo’s instigator and fight in defense of Green was the best thing he’s done in weeks, and following it up with a plus-two against Philly wasn’t bad either. | |
Brian Pothier | Mystery injury following the Florida game in which he scored his first goal since mid-November. | |
Tom Poti | One goal, one assist, plus-four for the week, including a plus-two in the 7-4 loss in Tampa. | |
Jeff Schultz | Plus-four for the week. Ho-hum. | |
Swingman | ||
Tyler Sloan | Played in all four games for the week, and seemed to get better with each one. | |
Forwards | ||
Nicklas Backstrom | When one goal and three assists is a quiet week, you’ve set the bar pretty high. | |
Matt Bradley | The coveted Purple Heart for his heroics in Tampa. | |
Jason Chimera | With a goal, three assists, two fights and a plus-three rating (and a Gordie Howe Hat Trick), he’s certainly starting to fit in rather nicely in D.C. | |
Eric Fehr | Two goals and a plus-four rating on a third-line that’s gellin’. | |
Tomas Fleischmann | One goal, two assists, an even rating, four shots on goal and just 42.2% in the faceoff circle might not deserve an up arrow, but his shootout game-winner against Florida gets him there. | |
Boyd Gordon | Won just 25% of his draws on the week and was minus-one in three games. | |
Mike Knuble | Had a tough go of it in the Sunshine State, but rebounded with three goals in two games over the weekend. | |
Brooks Laich | Had a clutch shootout tally against the Kitties and busted out in a big way against Philly on Sunday with as many goals as he’d scored in his previous 19 games (adding an assist, to boot). | |
Quintin Laing | One game, eight shifts, no stats of note. | |
Brendan Morrison | Two assists and a plus-five rating for the week, but no shots on goal for a guy who is looking more like a decent third-line center – and not a top-six pivot – all the time. | |
Alex Ovechkin | Three goals, seven assists and nearly a fight for the League-leader in plus-minus, who hasn’t scored a power-play goal since December 23. | |
Alexander Semin | Two goals, five assists and a plus-four rating keep Sasha on a roll (six goals, five assists in his last seven games), but that nagging wrist injury doesn’t seem to be getting any better. | |
David Steckel | When you dance with the League’s fighting major leader for your third NHL fight (and first in nearly two years), you get a Purple Heart. |