Your weekly look at individual Washington Capitals‘ ups and downs:
| Goalies | Trend | Notes |
| Braden Holtby |  |
Holtby’s overall save percentage of .915 doesn’t tell the whole tale of how good he was and continues to be, especially considering the fact that he faced 106 shots, and he was a key component of a number of successful penalty kills. That said, after appearing in 21 straight games (and starting 15 in a row), and with back-to-back games coming up this week… no reason he can’t get a bit of a rest. |
| Justin Peters |  |
And, we suppose, there’s no reason why Peters can’t get into one of those games. Maybe. |
| Defensemen | ||
| Karl Alzner | |
Hasn’t been on the ice for a single goal-against at even strength in the last nine games – and no goals-against, period, in seven, a stretch that includes a significant period of time on the penalty kill. We’ve come to expect solid play in the defensive zone; he’s surprising all of us (and perhaps himself) with his work at the other end of the ice, though, as he picked up his career-high third goal of the season – and 10th in his career – last night in the win over the Panthers. |
| John Carlson | |
Picked up an assist Sunday night, but was on for six of the nine goals given up by the Caps this week. He also took a pair of penalties in the late stages of two consecutive games, each of which ended up being a five-on-three against the Caps (part of a larger issue with the team, to be sure). |
| John Erskine |  |
Is apparently still experiencing pain, and is nowhere close to returning to active duty. Nothing that will impact the Caps at the moment… but sad for Big John. |
| Mike Green | |
Was on the ice for two goals against this week – a shorthanded goal against the Islanders (for which he bears little responsibility) and the Panthers’ first goal last night (a reminder that he really needs to look where he’s going). That said, he was also on for five of the Caps’ goals, and assisted on three of them. |
| Jack Hillen | |
Hillen had the great misfortune of getting in Green’s – and then Kuznetsov’s – way Sunday night (and was Honest Abe for his troubles) but also picked up an assist in each of the games this week and posted impressive CF% at even strength in all three. Hard to ask for much more of the blueliner than that. |
| Matt Niskanen | |
Had a bit of a rough run against the Islanders, on the ice for three of their four goals that night (one at even strength, one shorthanded and one on the power play) but was very strong the rest of the week and was tied with Ovechkin for the team’s highest even-strength CF% on Sunday night. He did take a penalty in each of the three games, though… even if the one against the ‘Hawks was of the questionable variety. |
| Dmitry Orlov | |
His recovery continues to be slowed, and the hope is that he won’t have to face another surgery that would likely end his season for good. Just a rough, rough year for the kid who the Caps were hoping would be part of their revamped blueline. |
| Brooks Orpik | |
After a really scary-looking collision Monday night that required him to be helped off the ice by teammates, Orpik was upgraded from “it may not be as serious as it looks” to game-time decision for the Winter Classic, and then to part of the starting lineup. He then proceeded to skate almost 25 minutes against the ‘Hawks (which included a couple of hits and a couple of shot attempts), and close to that long a few nights later against Florida, where he picked up an assist, five more hits and a pretty bogus penalty. Love him or hate him… dude’s tough. |
| Nate Schmidt | |
Sat out all three games this week, including the Winter Classic, which he was conceivably on deck to play if Orpik was unable to go. |
| Forwards | ||
| Nicklas Backstrom | |
Added one more penalty to round out his recent run of undisciplined play (and as a result got to watch Chicago’s first goal on Thursday from the sin bin) but he’s picked up his game elsewhere, continuing to dominate in the faceoff circle and adding a goal and two assists to his point totals (including several on the rejuvenated power play that needed rejuvenation badly) – keeping him firmly ensconced as the team’s leading scorer. |
| Jay Beagle | |
Over the course of a week in which the Caps were shorthanded a whopping 17 times, Beagle put together just over ten minutes of perfect penalty killing, and continues to get put in situations that show his coach’s trust – including a big-time assignment on the top line for the high-profile Winter Classic. Still not where we want him to be on a consistent basis, but he’s been solid when called upon to fill that role and others. |
| Troy Brouwer | |
Brouwer had a pretty quiet week in general, with a minor penalty and even-strength possession numbers at or below 50% in each of the three games. He also only had one shot on goal… but it was a pretty big shot, both for the team and for Brouwer, as it proved to be the game-winning goal in the dying seconds of the Winter Classic. Any other week, any other game, one goal on one shot wouldn’t warrant that much attention. This wasn’t just any other game, though, and so we won’t treat it as such. |
| Andre Burakovsky | |
At just 19 years old, it would be easy for Burakovsky to pout over being perpetually scratched – including for the Winter Classic. So it’s a credit both to his maturity and to his coach’s ability to communicate that he’s doing quite the opposite, and performed very well in his lone game of the week, putting up a CF% at even strength of 67% and scoring the eventual game-winner – his first in over a month. |
| Jason Chimera | |
Aside from a penalty on Thursday (because of course he took a penalty at the Winter Classic), this was a pretty quiet week for Chimera overall. Decent but not great possession numbers, no points, limited ice time, etc. But he wasn’t on for any goals against, either, and had a couple of decent shot attempts… we’ll take it. |
| Eric Fehr | |
The undisputed king of the Winter Classic, Fehr didn’t disappoint when he followed up his two-goal performance back in 2011 at Heinz Field with the game’s first goal on Thursday at Nationals Park. That goal also marked his fourth in three games, and while that streak ended against the Panthers last night, he did add an assist to bring his points streak to four. |
| Marcus Johansson | |
Had a strong week possession-wise, and picked up an assist against Florida, his fourth point in the last six games… but (stop us if you’ve heard this one before) the Caps still need more from Johansson and the “second” line than the occasional point on the power play. |
| Evgeny Kuznetsov |  |
That goes for Kuznetsov, as well, who had an even-strength CF% below 50% in all three games this week and just three shot attempts – all three in Thursday’s win. He also took a double-minor in the final minutes of regulation against the Islanders on Monday, the second half of which resulted in the overtime winner by New York. |
| Brooks Laich | |
No forward skated more on the penalty kill this week than Laich, with about 12 minutes of shorthanded ice time to his credit (thanks to the Caps’ ongoing parade to the penalty box). Of course, that also meant he had the misfortune of being on the ice for all three power-play goals given up by the Caps this week, but it’s hard to fault him on any of them – and he picked up a goal and an assist, giving him points in three of his last four games (after going seven-straight without). Of note, though, Laich was on the ice for eight of the nine goals the Caps allowed overall, and that’s, well, less than ideal. |
| Michael Latta | |
Strong possession numbers but little else in his minimal ice time through the week’s first two games, than sat out Sunday’s win. Such is the life of an energy-line player, a role he fills pretty well. |
| Alex Ovechkin | |
Three goals, three assists and 31 shot attempts in three games – with four of his six points at even strength, and two of the three assists on the eventual game-winner? Yeah, that’s some old-school Ovechkin dominance right there, something which we knew would happen but which was nice to see all the same. |
| Aaron Volpatti | |
Remains on long-term injured reserve for the foreseeable future… but at least he’s got a great attitude about the whole thing, which is nice to see. |
| Joel Ward | |
Weird week for Ward, who was on for a number of goals-against and yet was the only member of the third line to not register a single point. Combine that with a relatively rough week in terms of possession, and not the best of stretches. We’ve simply come to expect more from #42. |
| Tom Wilson | |
Added three more penalties to his resume (although one of them was a coincidental minor that also took Daniel Carcillo off the ice, so that one doesn’t really count as a bad penalty so much as a public service) and spent the week off of the top line. Still, not a bad week overall for Wilson, who continued to provide a physical presence and put up good possession numbers (in admittedly limited ice time) in two of the week’s three contests. |
Advanced stats and this week’s five-on-five usage chart (below) via war-on-ice.com: