Throughout the season, we’ll check in on the Washington Capitals to see which players, positions, and/or systems are hot and who is, well, not. Today we’ll be assessing the team based on their games from February 22 through March 9.
[Editor’s Note: Friendly reminder that this is merely meant as a look at the last few weeks in isolation, and is not a commentary on a player or system’s overall success this season – although you can certainly see trends emerge if you read these on a weekly basis.]
Opponents: Penguins (W 8-3); Oilers (W 7-3); Flames (L 3-1); Blues (L 5-2); Lightning (L 3-1); Senators (SOW 5-4); Rangers (OTW 3-2); Red Wings (W 5-2); Kraken (W 4-2)
Hot Front
The Top Six. Over the last nine games, the Caps’ top six forwards have combined for 25 goals and 54 points – 10 points apiece for Tom Wilson and Pierre-Luc Dubois, nine each for Connor McMichael, Aliaksei Protas, and Dylan Strome, and seven points (all goals) for the captain. That is some prolific scoring from the team’s skill guys.
Offense from the defense. John Carlson led the way with seven points and Jakob Chychrun led the scoring with four goals, but all of the team’s blueliners have gotten into the action over the last twoish weeks, with five of the six defensemen grabbing at least five points and all of them having at least one (TvR snagging one in the first game of this stretch).
Third periods. Over the course of the season, the Capitals have been one of the league’s best third-period teams; only the Jets have more goals in the third this year than the Caps’ 86 (tied with Colorado). That trend continued over the last nine games, with at least one third period goal in eight of those nine.
Cold Snap
Defense. As was the case before the 4 Nations break, the Caps’ offense has been bailing them out on a regular basis, scoring 35 times to the 27 they’ve given up. It might be on the upswing, as they’ve given up just two goals in each of their last three games, but prior to that it was six straight games with three or more goals-against.
Lars Eller. Only one player appeared in more than one game over the last nine and failed to register a point, and sadly that man was the Tiger. His offense isn’t necessarily why he’s in the lineup (thankfully) but a little would be nice.
Starts. The Caps have scored the first goal in just three of their last nine games (and just four times since the start of February); they’ve only led after the first period twice since returning from the break. Yes, they are among the best in the league at comebacks, but we’ve gotten to see that particular talent on display just a little too often and frankly it would be nice to see them jump out to a lead early and hold it until the end. Just for funsies.