It is a little known fact…
– In 1976-1977, the Montreal Canadiens went 60-8-12 for the season to finish with 132 standings points. After 33 games they had a record of 24-5-4 for 52 points. The Caps are 25-6-2 after 33 games for 52 points. Yeah, yeah, bonus extra time points… but still.
– When he recorded an assist against the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night, Jay Beagle extended his personal record to 37 straight games in which he recorded a point, and the Caps earned a standings point (33-0-4).
– Philipp Grubauer beat Carolina on Monday night, bringing his career record to 11-8-6 (two no-decisions), 2.40, .922, in 27 appearances. In his first 27 career appearances, Braden Holtby was 16-8-3, 2.47, .917, with four shutouts.
– Only once in 30 games played this season did Nicklas Backstrom go consecutive games without a point – October 31st against Florida and November 3rd against the New York Rangers.
– The win over Carolina on Monday night represents the first time the Caps won the game on their schedule immediately preceding the Christmas break since 2009 when they beat the Buffalo Sabres on December 23rd, 5-2. The games since were as follows:
- 2010: 3-2 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on December 23rd
- 2011: 4-3 overtime loss at the New Jersey Devils on December 23rd
- 2013: 3-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on December 23rd
- 2014: 4-2 loss at the New York Rangers on December 23rd
The moral of the story: don’t schedule games for December 23rd.
– Here is an odd one to impress your friends. The Caps are 10-5-1 when they out-attempt opponents or hold them even at 5-on-5. They are 15-1-1 when they are under 50 percent of total shot attempts. They are 4-0-0 when they are held to under 40 percent Corsi-for overall (wins over Carolina, Tampa Bay, Montreal, and Pittsburgh). There could be score effects in there; four of the six regulation losses were by multi goal margins, but it still looks odd.
– Tom Wilson has 81 penalty minutes. The other 22 skaters have a total of 204 (neither Braden Holtby nor Philipp Grubauer have any in goal).
– Holtby has a goals against average of 1.96 through 27 games played. There are 11 other instances in which a Capitals goalie finished a season below 2.00 in goal against average. Those other 11 instances cover a total of 44 games, and no single goalie accomplished the feat in more than 14 games. Oddly enough, that was Holtby, too, who posted a 1.79 goals against average in 14 regular season games in 2010-2011.
– The Presidents’ Trophy-winning team of 2009-2010 had four winning streaks of five or more games (a 14-game streak, two six-game streaks, and a five-game streak). This year’s Caps have three such streaks already (a five-game streak and two six-game streaks, each of those six-game streaks coming in the last 30 days).
– Barry Trotz is 70-32-13 in his first 115 games behind the Washington Capitals’ bench (153 standings points). In his first 115 games, Bruce Boudreau was 71-33-11 (153 standings points).