In Week 10, the Washington Capitals wrap up a short road trip before returning home to play the first two games of a three-game home stand. In doing so, they will face three teams – three very different teams. The rebuilding, the resurgent, and the really overdue for a championship.
The Opponents
Chicago Blackhawks (Tuesday/9:00 pm (Eastern) at United Center)
The Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup for the sixth time in franchise history in 2015. Since then, wining had become a challenge. Over six seasons following that Cup win, the Blackhawks missed the postseason three times and on the other three occasions lost in the opening round. Their 257-234-71 record over those six seasons ranks 23rd of the 30 teams to play over those six seasons, and their .520 points percentage ranks 23rd as well.
Things are not getting better for the Blackhawks. This season, their seven wins going into Week 10 are tied for fewest in the league (with the Anaheim Ducks). Only the Ducks have fewer standings points (17) than the Blackhawks (18), and Chicago’s points percentage (.346) is 31st in the league (Anaheim: .304). It is a team that cannot score (2.38 goals per game/32nd in the league in scoring offense). Only 12 times this season have the Blackhawks posted more than two goals in a game, tied for fewest in the league. And what is worse, Chicago is only 6-4-2 in those dozen games. The have not won a game in regulation when scoring fewer than three goals (1-11-2), their only win being a 2-1 overtime win over Los Angeles on November 3rd.
The Blackhawks have had trouble stopping opponents from scoring (3.54 goals allowed per game/23rd in scoring defense) as well. Only eight times in 26 games have they allowed two or fewer goals. Only seven teams have done so fewer times, and the Blackhawks’ record of 5-1-2 is second-worst in the league in win-loss percentage (.625).
Chicago’s lack of success starts at the beginning. They scored first only five times in 26 games, fewest times scoring first in the league (3-0-2 record). And they just dig the hole deeper. Their first period goal differential (minus-13; 12 for and 25 against) is second-worst in the league. Those 12 first period goals scored are fewest in the league.
And do not think home ice offers the Blackhawks all that much of an advantage. In 14 games played on United Center ice so far, Chicago has two wins in regulation (4-8-2 overall).
This will be the 103rd meeting of these clubs in the all-time series. Washington is 45-43-3 (11 ties) overall and 16-28-1 (six ties) in Chicago.
Dallas Stars (Thursday/7:00 pm at Capital One Arena)
The Dallas Stars have been a wildly inconsistent team from year to year for more than a decade. In 14 seasons since they lost in the Western Conference final in 2008, they reached the postseason only five times, only once in consecutive seasons (the second of them ending with a loss in the Stanley Cup final to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020). The inconsistency leaves the Stars with a middle-of-the-road record over those 14 seasons (551-418-134/12th in standings points/13th in points percentage).
This year, the Stars have been much more consistent on a game-to-game basis. Their 16-7-5 record going into Week 10 does not have long winning streaks (two three-game streaks are their longest so far), but neither have they suffered losing streaks (four two-game streaks, two of them with both losses in regulation).
One factor contributing to the Stars’ consistency this season is that they are a top-ten team in both scoring offense (3.75 goals per game/third in the league) and scoring defense (2.82 goals allowed per game/tenth). That double also applies to their special teams – eighth in power play efficiency (25.3 percent) and third in penalty killing (84.6 percent).
Part of Dallas’s improvement this year over last has been their performance on the road. While the Stars finished 15th in the league in points last season (98), they were tied for 18th in the league in points earned on the road (40/19-20-2) with a .488 points percentage. In 13 road games so far this season, the Stars are 7-4-2, tied for 11th in points earned (16), and ninth in points percentage (.615). They have done it by improving their road scoring offense by more than a full goal per game, from 2.51 last season to 3.69 so far this season. Their scoring defense has not improved as dramatically (from 3.20 goals allowed per game on the road to 2.85), but the improvement has been significant.
Special teams improvement on the road has been important to the Stars’ good start as well, especially the power play, which is almost 50 percent more efficient this season so far (33.3 percent) than it was on the road last year (22.5 percent). The road penalty kill is another case of the improvement being not as dramatic, but significant nonetheless (84.9 percent so far this season, 79.3 percent last season).
This will be the 105th meeting in the all-time series between the Caps and Stars. The Caps are 34-50-4 (16 ties) overall, 17-23-3 (eight ties) on home ice.
Toronto Maple Leafs (Saturday/7:00 pm at Capital One Arena)
The Capitals close out Week 10 with a home matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are just one point behind the Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Division standings going into the new week (Boston does have three games in hand). As the new week begins, the Maple Leafs might be focused on the present and keeping pace with the Bruins, but Leafs Nation always has this in the back of their minds – 4,283 regular season games and 286 postseason games. Those are the games that have passed for the Maple Leafs since they last won the Stanley Cup, in 1967.
This year’s team gives Leafs fans hope that the streak could end. While they stumbled out of the gate this season with a 4-4-2 record, Toronto is 14-1-4 in 19 games since November 2nd. They are tied for the league lead in wins over that period, lead the league in points (32), and they are second in points percentage (.842) over that span.
What is surprising about the 19-game run for the Maple Leafs is that their offense had been decent (3.47 goals per game/11th in scoring offense), but it is their scoring defense that has shined (2.11 goals allowed per game/second in the league). Fourteen times in those 19 games the Leafs allowed two or fewer goals in regulation, and only once in that span did they allow more than two goals in consecutive games (a 4-3 overtime loss to Vegas on November 8th and a 4-2 loss to Pittsburgh on November 11th).
One of secrets of success for the Leafs over their 14-1-4 run is getting out in front early and often. In those 19 games they scored first 13 times, tied for most times in the league over that span. Their 10-1-2 record in those games is not best in the league in points percentage (.769/T-9th), but those ten wins are tied with Vegas for most in the league since November 2nd, when the Leafs’ run started. Trailing first in games has been comparatively rare, but Toronto is 4-2-0 in those games, their .667 winning percentage ranking second in the league over that span (New Jersey: 5-1-1/.714). That early scoring is something that the Maple Leafs have sustained, too. Their goal differential over the first two period of games is an impressive plus-26 over their last 19 games, allowing them to take leads 14 times into the third period, where they are 11-0-3.
The Caps and Maple Leafs will be meeting for the 154th time in the all-time series. Washington is 76-60-7 (ten ties), 47-24-3 (four ties) in DC.
Hot Caps:
Cold Caps:
Weird Facts:
Potential Milestones to Reach This Week (or soon):
John Carlson
Nic Dowd
Marcus Johansson
Evgeny Kuznetsov
T.J. Oshie
Alex Ovechkin
Conor Sheary
Dylan Strome