55.8 – Capitals‘ face-off percentage during the playoffs so far, best in the NHL. (Of note, the Rangers are 15th at 45.2% and the Islanders 16th out of 16 at 44.0%.)
The Caps have won 55.4% of the draws (98 of 177) through three games of their second-round series, with a particularly dominant Game 3 effort in which they won 40 of 58 (69%) highlighted by Nicklas Backstrom winning four defensive-zone draws against Derick Brassard in the last four minutes of play.
Backstrom ranks seventh in the playoffs in face-off win percentage (56.7%), but the whole League is looking up at Backstrom’s teammate, Jay Beagle, who is leading the circuit with a 67.5% efficiency. The pair also rank 1-2 in home face-off percentage, combining to win 99 of their 139 draws (71.2%) at Verizon Center.
And because you’re curious, here’s a look at the head-to-head face-off numbers for the first three games of the current series (click to enlarge):