5 – Number of home games this season in which the Capitals have been held to one goal or less by their opponent, including last night’s loss to the Hurricanes.
Since Barry Trotz took over as coach, the team has been an offensive powerhouse at home; they’ve been held to a single goal or shut out just 24 times since the start of the 2014-15 season, tied for the fourth-lowest in the League over that span. In that time, they’ve never had more than eight home games in a single season in which they’ve failed to crack two goals.
While they’re on pace to top that this year, they’ve improved in front of the hometown crowd of late (outside of just the ten straight wins). Last night was their first one-goal-or-less game in DC since back on 11/20 when Calgary beat them 3-1 (although they’ve done it three times on the road in between).
And while they didn’t end up with any last night, they’ve done a decent job of squeezing points out of these low-scoring games in the past, with the second-best home points percentage in the League over the last four seasons at .229 (4-17-3); only Detroit has been better, buoyed by a whopping 14 overtime/shootout losses at home.