| San Jose Sharks vs Washington Capitals | ||||
| Team | P1 | P2 | P3 | Total |
 San Jose Sharks | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
 Washington Capitals | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Current Status: Final | ||||
Plus:
They won where it matters most!
Minus: This road trip doesn’t get any easier from here…
Caps Player of the Game: I’ll hand this one out to Evgeny Kuznetsov, who centered a top line that dominated play at 5-on-5 and even went as far as scoring a goal!
Three Takeaways
- The New Jersey Devils currently have the league’s most effective power play, converting on the man advantage at a staggering 37.5% clip. That means that 62.5% of the time they get a power play, they don’t score. The best power play units, no matter how efficient, will still frequently have games where they couldn’t break through despite generating the same great chances they pounce on most nights.
- With that in mind, I feel comfortable in saying that despite going 0-for-3, the Capitals’ power play looked good tonight! They entered the zone efficiently. They were able to execute set pieces that led to grade A chances, most notably a pass from Alex Ovechkin to the slot that found Tom Wilson’s stick, who left the puck several inches from crossing the goal line before inexplicably staying out. In a vacuum, I think you could walk away feeling pretty good about the Caps’ power play tonight and going forward.
- However, this game did not take place in a vacuum. Those 3 well-executed power plays still ultimately ended up adding to what is now thirty-one straight scoreless opportunities. One hour and two minutes of 5-on-4 play in which the Washington Capitals couldn’t score. There’s really not much you could say about what needs to change schematically or personnel wise at this point. They just simply have to bury one, which hasn’t been simple at all for most of this season.
My condolences to any other sicko that stayed up till 1AM for this.