168 – Number of blocked shots for the Capitals so far this season, which leads the League; they finished last season in the middle of the pack with their 14th-ranked 1885 blocked shots.
The 168 shots absorbed by Caps’ defenders includes a bruising 31 blocked shots in their recent win over Chicago (one of which was likely the explanation for Tom Wilson’s recent maintenance day). That’s the second-most in the NHL this season and the most for the Caps in a single game since February 2014.
The team leader in blocked shots? None other than John Carlson, he of the 25+ minutes a night and the League-leading 20 points on the season thus far. The Caps’ blueliner has taken the brunt of 23 shots (which incidentally is also top-10 in the League), followed closely behind by fellow defensemen Radko Gudas (19), Jonas Siegenthaler (18), Nick Jensen (16) and Dmitry Orlov (15). T.J. Oshie leads all Caps’ forwards with 12.