| Outlet | This Week | Last Week | What They’re Saying |
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1 | 4 | Big picture
The Caps have won five games in a row and don’t play again until Thursday in Montreal. A win there, and it’ll be time to really get excited. As it stands, there is a lot to be happy about in Washington regarding the hockey team, and they are Bleacher Report’s new No. 1 team. They’re getting balanced scoring, good defense and superb goaltending almost every night from Braden Holtby. Washington’s underlying numbers are even making the analytics people happy, as their 52.4 Corsi-for percentage ranks fifth best in the league. By the numbers Washington is taking defensive-zone faceoffs only 29.77 percent of the time, which is making life easier on the defense and goaltender. The Caps are taking offensive-zone draws at a 32.13 percent clip and 38.10 in the neutral zone. Those are the kinds of numbers coach Barry Trotz likes. It’s always better to play in the other team’s end than your own. (November 29) |
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3 | 5 | Closing out November with a five-game winning streak and going 9-3-1 for the month has the Caps atop the Metropolitan Division. Braden Holtby was dominant (9-2-0, .927 save percentage for the month). (December 1) |
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2 | 5 | The Caps have taken full advantage of a soft November schedule. A more difficult December slate will tell us more about how good this team really is. (November 30) |
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2 | 4 | Five wins in a row for a Capitals team that can beat you in a million different ways. Caps fans have been teased for a decade, but this is the most playoff-ready lineup they’ve ever had. Wouldn’t a Stars-Caps Cup finals matchup be a treat to watch? (November 30) |
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1 | 4 | If you want to play a defensive game against the Capitals, they’ll match it. If you want to play an offensive game, they’ll match it. They give up only 26.5 shots per game. That’s the second-lowest in the NHL, and they happen to have Braden Holtby manning the pipes. How can you beat this team? (November 30) |
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1 | 5 | Workhorse Braden Holtby was named second star for the week and second star for the month of November. (December 2) |
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3 | 4 | The Capitals have the second-best goal differential (plus-24) in the league. (December 2) |
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3 | 3 | Good: They were outscoring the opposition 21-10 in their five-game winning streak entering play Thursday.
Not so good: They’re two games into a stretch in which they play 14 of 19 games on the road. (December 4) |
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3 | 4 | . All of a sudden, the Capitals have the second-best goal differential in the East. And we’re not talking enough about Braden Holtby. He went 9-2 in November with a .927 save percentage. (December 2) |
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3 | 4 | Braden Holtby has insinuated himself into the Vezina Trophy picture, winning seven straight games to move into the league lead with 15 victories. The Caps have now won five straight and boast the league’s second-best goal differential at +24. Last week: 3-0-0 (December 1) |
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1 | 1 | (November 30) |
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2 | 4 | Braden Holtby ripped a career-best seven consecutive wins to close November and was named the NHL’s second star of the month. (December 3) |
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4 | 6 | Winners of five straight, the Capitals are looking like a top contender, and are getting a surprise contribution from 36-year-old LW Jason Chimera, who has already matched last season’s total of seven goals, and has 10 points in the past nine games.
Key Injuries: D Brooks Orpik (lower body). (December 1) |
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3 | 2 | The Washington Capitals are winners of five straight games, and continue to dominate the opposition in almost every aspect of the game. They have a strong power play, great 5 on 5 possession numbers, and solid goaltending.
They’re hard to beat this season, and they don’t show any signs of slowing down. At this point, the Metro Division really seems to be their’s for the taking. The Rangers are close to them in terms of points, but they don’t have the possession dominance that the Capitals do; Washington is just a scary, scary team this season.(November 29) |
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– | 4 | (Last updated November 23) |
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