It is all about seeding now. As the Washington Capitals enter Week 16, the top-four teams in the East Division have separated themselves from the rest of the division by a sufficient margin where we can start thinking seeding among the top four. And Week 16 is all about that subject for the Caps, who have a three-game work week against the two teams with which they are fighting for the top spot in the East.
The Opponents
New York Islanders (Tuesday/7:00pm at Capital One Arena)
The 8-4 win that the New York Islanders reminds one of the old adage, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” Or at least don’t score all your goals in one game. Since that licking the Isles put on the Caps on April 1st, the Islanders are 6-4-1 (3-4-1 in their last eight games), but they have had little help from their offense in assembling that record. They have only 21 goals in 11 games since then (1.91 per game) and have been shutout twice while posting a single goal in four other games. Almost a third of their goals in that stretch were scored in a 6-1 win over the New York Rangers last Tuesday.
Three of those last 11 games were played against the Caps, the teams trading 1-0 shutouts (the Caps’ win coming in a shootout) before the Caps doubled up on the Islanders, 6-3, on Saturday night.
The two losses at home to the Caps in the three-game set that started in Week 15 still left the Islanders with the most points earned on home ice this season (41), but their road record is less than impressive. At 10-11-2 to enter the new week, they are tied for 21st in points earned on the road, and their .478 points percentage ranks 19th. Their problem on road is that they cannot score, ranking 30th of 31 teams in scoring offense in road games (1.96 goals per game). Their power play also ranks 30th on the road this season (11.4 percent). New York has scored only three goals in their last four road games heading into the new week and have not won a game on the road in regulation since beating the New Jersey Devils, 3-2, on March 13 (4-5-0 since then, all the wins in extra time).
Pittsburgh Penguins (Thursday and Saturday/ 7:00pm at Capital One Arena)
After the Caps put a bow on their three-game set against the Islanders to start the week, the Caps end it with a pair of games against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Capital One Arena. These games will end the eight-game season series between the bitter rivals, the Caps hoping to improve on their 2-1-3 record against the Pens so far this season and recapture the top spot in the East Division that the Pens now occupy as the new week begins. The Caps have won two of the last three games (2-0-1), outscoring the Pens by a 10-6 margin, but have not faced the Pens since putting a 5-2 spanking on them in late February.
One could say that that game was a pivot point for the Penguins. After that loss, the Pens had a 10-7-1 record, tied for 14th in the league in points (21) and tied for 15th in points percentage (.583). Their rankings in most other statistical categories were similarly dismal, by Penguin standards – 17th in goals per game (2.94), tied for 27th in goals allowed per game (3.33), 25th in power play efficiency (15.1 percent), 25th in penalty killing (74.6 percent), 22nd in shots per game (29.6), ninth in shots allowed per game (29.0), and seventh in shot attempts-for at 5-on-5 (52.0 percent).
But since that loss to the Caps on February 25, the Penguins have a 22-7-2 record and have climbed the statistical charts. Over that span they are tied for the third-best record in the league by points (46), are fourth in points percentage (.742), third in goals per game (3.65), fifth in goals allowed per game (2.39), third on the power play (28.4 percent), 17th in penalty killing (79.6 percent), 13th in shots per game (30.3), 17th in shots allowed per game (30.2), and 13th in shot attempts-for at 5-on-5 (50.1 percent). Theirs is the best record of any team east of the Mississippi River (including all North Division teams as well) over that span of games, despite dressing 29 skaters and missing star center Evgeni Malkin since March 16.
The flip side of that, though, is that over those 31 games, 22 were played against teams now out of the playoff mix in the East, against whom they compiled a 16-4-2 record – Buffalo (5-1-0), New Jersey (6-1-1), the New York Rangers (3-1-0), and the Philadelphia Flyers (2-1-1). Against the playoff-eligibles over that span, the Pens are 6-3-0 – Boston (3-2-0), the Islanders (3-1-0).
Hot Caps:
Cold Caps:
Weird Facts:
Potential Milestones to Reach This Week (or soon):
Nicklas Backstrom:
Alex Ovechkin:
Evgeny Kuznetsov:
John Carlson:
Zdeno Chara:
Carl Hagelin:
T.J. Oshie:
Anthony Mantha
Dmitry Orlov
Nic Dowd