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The Noon Number: Cluster Pucks

A look at how life comes at you fast

By Becca H
NHL: St. Louis Blues at Washington Capitals Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

26 - Number of times this season in which the Capitals have given up at least two goals in a five-minute span, including last night in Toronto when they ceded two second-period goals in just 3:08. 16 of those were in a span of less than three minutes, and three of those were in less than one minute (which... woof).

On five separate occasions they’ve given up three goals in under five minutes, the most recent being a three-goal outburst by St. Louis in the span of 4:42, and in their loss to Nashville last week they gave up goals 2:49 apart and immediately followed that up with a goal just under five minutes later.

Perhaps most troubling is the fact that they’ve not only given up clusters of goals in short spans of time, but also that it’s happened multiple times in the same game. The most egregious was in the recent 8-5 loss to Chicago, in which the Caps gave up goals at 6:36 and 7:56 of the first, 3:45 and 7:20 of the third, and 14:57 and 18:11 (also in the third), but it also happened to them twice in each of their back-to-back losses against Vegas and Anaheim, and twice in their a loss to Montreal back on November 1.

Unsurprisingly, the Caps have gone on to win just five times when allowing these quick-strike goals, three via the shootout and one in overtime.

Want to see all of them? Of course you do! Take a look:

Quick-Strike Goals Against

Date Opp H/A Result OT/SO Scorer Goalie Per. Time Strength Elapsed Time
Date Opp H/A Result OT/SO Scorer Goalie Per. Time Strength Elapsed Time
10/4/2018 PIT A L OT Jake Guentzel Braden Holtby 2 15:09 EV
10/4/2018 PIT A L OT Derick Brassard Braden Holtby 2 16:58 EV 1:49
10/11/2018 NJD A L Jean-Sebastien Dea Pheonix Copley 3 11:35 EV
10/11/2018 NJD A L Brian Boyle Pheonix Copley 3 14:45 EV 3:10
10/19/2018 FLA H L SO Evgeni Dadonov Braden Holtby 1 15:58 PP
10/19/2018 FLA H L SO Colton Sceviour Braden Holtby 1 16:36 EV
10/19/2018 FLA H L SO Jared McCann Braden Holtby 1 18:52 EV 2:54
10/27/2018 CGY A W SO Travis Hamonic Pheonix Copley 1 14:42 EV
10/27/2018 CGY A W SO Elias Lindholm Pheonix Copley 1 16:54 PP 2:12
11/1/2018 MTL A L Brendan Gallagher Braden Holtby 2 0:32 EV
11/1/2018 MTL A L Brendan Gallagher Braden Holtby 2 3:06 EV 2:34
11/1/2018 MTL A L Jesperi Kotkaniemi Braden Holtby 3 16:56 EV
11/1/2018 MTL A L Max Domi Braden Holtby 3 19:38 EV
11/1/2018 MTL A L Joel Armia ENG 3 19:40 EV 2:44
11/3/2018 DAL H L OT Jason Spezza Braden Holtby 1 10:51 EV
11/3/2018 DAL H L OT Tyler Pitlick Braden Holtby 1 11:01 EV 0:10
11/11/2018 ARI H L Richard Panik Braden Holtby 2 11:57 EV
11/11/2018 ARI H L Alex Galchenyuk Braden Holtby 2 14:38 PP 2:41
11/19/2018 MTL A W OT Brendan Gallagher Pheonix Copley 2 0:20 EV
11/19/2018 MTL A W OT Jeff Petry Pheonix Copley 2 1:08 PP
11/19/2018 MTL A W OT Kenny Agostino Pheonix Copley 2 1:35 EV 1:15
12/2/2018 ANA H L Andrew Cogliano Braden Holtby 2 14:31 EV
12/2/2018 ANA H L Rickard Rakell Braden Holtby 2 15:26 EV 0:55
12/2/2018 ANA H L Pontus Aberg Braden Holtby 3 7:16 PP
12/2/2018 ANA H L Hampus Lindholm Braden Holtby 3 9:01 PP 1:45
12/4/2018 VEG A L Pierre-Edouard Bellemare Braden Holtby 3 2:33 EV
12/4/2018 VEG A L Cody Eakin Braden Holtby 3 2:49 EV 0:16
12/4/2018 VEG A L Nate Schmidt Braden Holtby 3 18:35 PP
12/4/2018 VEG A L Nate Schmidt ENG 3 19:53 EV 1:18
12/14/2018 CAR A W SO Sebastian Aho Braden Holtby 2 4:39 PP
12/14/2018 CAR A W SO Teuvo Teravainen Braden Holtby 2 6:41 PP 2:02
12/15/2018 BUF H W SO Jack Eichel Pheonix Copley 2 2:25 PP
12/15/2018 BUF H W SO Rasmus Dahlin Pheonix Copley 2 7:21 PP 4:56
12/31/2018 NSH H L Miikka Salomaki Braden Holtby 2 9:57 EV
12/31/2018 NSH H L Ryan Johansen Braden Holtby 2 11:59 EV
12/31/2018 NSH H L Frederick Gaudreau Braden Holtby 2 14:30 EV 4:33
1/3/2019 STL A L Colton Parayko Braden Holtby 2 12:23 PP
1/3/2019 STL A L Oskar Sundqvist Braden Holtby 2 16:33 EV 4:10
1/8/2019 PHI H W Wayne Simmonds Pheonix Copley 3 16:33 EV
1/8/2019 PHI H W Claude Giroux Pheonix Copley 3 19:53 EV 3:20
1/14/2019 STL H L Ivan Barbashev Pheonix Copley 2 3:18 EV
1/14/2019 STL H L Vince Dunn Pheonix Copley 2 5:11 EV
1/14/2019 STL H L David Perron Pheonix Copley 2 8:00 EV 4:42
1/15/2019 NSH A L Viktor Arvidsson Pheonix Copley 2 12:08 SH
1/15/2019 NSH A L Rocco Grimaldi Pheonix Copley 2 14:57 EV 2:49
1/15/2019 NSH A L Nick Bonino Pheonix Copley 2 19:54 EV 4:57
1/18/2019 NYI H L Josh Bailey Braden Holtby 3 5:08 EV
1/18/2019 NYI H L Cal Clutterbuck Braden Holtby 3 7:34 EV 2:26
1/20/2019 CHI A L Brandon Saad Braden Holtby 1 6:36 EV
1/20/2019 CHI A L Patrick Kane Braden Holtby 1 7:56 EV 1:20
1/20/2019 CHI A L Patrick Kane Pheonix Copley 3 3:45 PP
1/20/2019 CHI A L Jonathan Toews Pheonix Copley 3 7:20 EV 3:35
1/20/2019 CHI A L Jonathan Toews Pheonix Copley 3 14:57 EV
1/20/2019 CHI A L Dylan Strome ENG 3 18:11 EV 3:14
1/23/2019 TOR A L Nikita Zaitsev Braden Holtby 2 13:11 EV
1/23/2019 TOR A L Auston Matthews Braden Holtby 2 16:19 PP 3:08