You can tell a lot about a team by the way they win games, but you can tell just as much – and sometimes more – by the way they lose them. This season, Capitals fans have been relatively spoiled in that department, as the Caps are one of just six teams with single-digit losses in regulation, tied for the second-fewest overall, and have lost just 10 times overall this season (eight in regulation, two via overtime), which is tied for the fewest in the league with Winnipeg.
But it’s not just how infrequently the Caps have lost this season that stands out; it’s the manner in which they’re losing. Because even when not at their best, they’re still an incredibly tough out. How tough? Get ready for some numbers…
So far this season, the Capitals have avoided being on the sticky end of a lopsided loss, with five of their ten losses decided by one goal (two of those in overtime), and have only lost by two or more goals five times – four times by two goals, one loss by three goals, which is fewest in the league. Their five multigoal losses tie the Minnesota Wild for the fewest in the league, although the Wild flip their numbers, with one two-goal loss and four by three or more.
Even those two-goal losses are a bit of an illusion, as three of the four were games in which they trailed by only one, pulled the goalie to draw even and gave up an empty-net goal.
Basically they’re keeping things close when they’re behind, something that is helped by simply not giving up a lot of goals in the first place. They’ve only ceded four or more goals eight times this season, tied with Dallas for the second-fewest (both LA and Minnesota have done it just seven times); more importantly, they still have a league-best .500 record even when doing so, going 4-4-0.
It also helps that they’re (mostly) able to hold a lead. Tuesday’s loss in Chicago was the first time they’ve had a regulation loss when leading after the second period, and just the second loss overall, their overtime game against Toronto checking in as the other occurrence.
And while they have been known to give up the game’s first goal a little too frequently, they don’t tend to stay behind for long. They’ve trailed after the first period just six times, second-fewest in the NHL (LA, five times) and are tied with Carolina and Tampa for the league’s best win percentage in those games at .500; they’ve only trailed after the second period nine times, tied for fifth-lowest with Dallas, and again have the league’s best win percentage at .444. Over the course of the season, they’ve trailed for just 376:33, which is the second-lowest time in the league behind only the Kings (335:44).
When they do lose, they are pretty great at shaking it off, going 7-2-0 after a loss – in other words, they’ve only had two losing streaks this season, each no more than two games. They are one of just three teams in the league (along with Dallas and Minnesota) to not have a losing streak of more than two games…yet.
None of this is to say that the losses aren’t disappointing at times, or that they’re even playing well in all of those losses. Anyone watching that Chicago loss on Tuesday knows that much (and against a better team, that one probably ends up more lopsided). But since no team goes 82-0, it becomes about avoiding long streaks, minimizing the blowouts, and making your opponent earn those two points – and so far this season, the Caps are doing all of those things.