The Noon Number: 55.6 – Capitals overall special teams efficiency (i.e. power-play goals plus successful penalty kills divided by the sum of power-play opportunities plus times shorthanded, or ((PPG + (TS-PPGA))/(PP Opps + TS))… or “percentage of the time they’ve had a special teams opportunity that turned out favorably”). That mark (which is intended to capture both efficiency and weight opportunities on each special teams unit) is the highest the team has posted this late in a season since Game 29 of the 2010-11 campaign (56.8), and is higher than the team has had at any point other than during that 2010-11 season since before the 2004-05 lockout.
Of note, the Caps have an efficiency of 61.8% over the past 13 games, thanks to a scorching 50% power-play (!) over the past eight games and a 91% effective penalty kill over the last half-dozen games.