After opening their first round series against the Philadelphia Flyers with a convincing win in Game 1, the Caps skated their way to a commanding 2-0 series lead on Saturday night, with a 4-1 victory.
Here’s a look at our breakdown from Game 1.
Now let’s take a look at what worked and what didn’t in Game 2.
What Worked
The power play was 2 for 2 on 2 shots, and the penalty kill successfully fended off three Flyer advantages, including an extended 5-on-3. The Caps’ three power-play goals through their first two playoff games of 2016 matches their power play output through the 14 such games they played last Spring.
Good stuff from both sides of the special teams coin so far.
What Didn’t Work
Although the Caps won the 5v5 scoring battle last night 2-1, that’s only because of a fluke goal in their favor, and another strong outing from the man in net. For the most part, the game at evens was played largely at the less desirable end of the ice if you’re the Caps.
Granted, War On Ice credited both teams with 14 high-danger scoring chances, which isn’t of that much surprise. As Craig Laughlin called out during the broadcast, it was very quickly evident that Philadelphia’s philosophy was to shoot often, and shoot from anywhere. We already know that’s not the flavor of Barry Trotz’s system. In fact, in Game 2 the Caps doubled their high-danger scoring chances from Game 1, though Philly’s count jumped from 4 to 14.
Let’s take a look at high-danger chances and shot attempts for both team through two games.
And HDSC as a percentage of shot attempts?
It’s pretty clear there’s a philosophical difference between the two teams that will play into possession numbers, but even with this context, the Caps’ possession game from Saturday night is something they’d certainly like to improve on.
For the second game in a row, the Caps have given the Flyers a chance to put their stamp on the game before its really matured. In Game 1 it was taking three penalties before the first period was complete. In Game 2, it was putting the Flyers on a two-man advantage that lasted over a minute in the game’s first frame. Just because the Caps’ penalty-kill unit has done an ace bailout job doesn’t mean this isn’t a habit to watch.
It’ll be interesting to see how this look changes for games 3 and 4, when the matchups will be largely dictated by the home coach, Dave Hakstol, as he takes the lead in the playoff matchup tango for the first time in his NHL coaching career.