The Washington Capitals dropped two straight games to the Columbus Blue Jackets on two straight days by a combined 11-1 score. The Caps fell 4-1 on Sunday at Capital One Arena after being shut out 7-0 on Saturday.
This most recent game wasn’t “bad,” but they gotta start moving here.
- The Capitals ‘ five-on-five results were good in this loss. They posted positive differentials in shot attempts (+14), scoring chances (+14), and high-danger chances (+3). The Blue Jackets really capitalized on the few mistakes the Caps made, and the Caps still really couldn’t find holes in goaltender Jet Greaves’s armor. While the effort was definitely much better, still trying to fine-tune the little details this close to the playoffs starting feels very worrying. They gotta find another hot patch of shooting and get their goaltending situation together.
- Alex Ovechkin scored the team’s only goal, extending his all-time NHL goal-scoring record to 896 goals. The goal was his first against Greaves, making the 24-year-old netminder the 184th unique goalie on his list.
- Charlie Lindgren allowed four goals on 23 shots faced. Per MoneyPuck, Lindgren allowed 2.62 more goals than expected. On the other side, Greaves saved 1.85 more than expected. From a purely analytical POV, the Capitals’ goalies are hemorrhaging goals that they should likely be stopping and have been for several weeks now.
- I thought Ovi was the best player on the ice for either team, just from an eye-test perspective, and the stats also back that up. With him on the ice, the Capitals posted majorly positive differentials in shot attempts (+16), scoring chances (+13), and high-danger chances (+4). Individually, he fired six shots on goal and recorded 12 individual shot attempts, nine individual scoring chances, four individual high-danger chances, and four hits. He was probably the most well-rested Caps player, and that really showed, which makes me want them to sit him for at least one of the team’s last two games.
- This game felt like Ryan Leonard’s most quiet since he debuted for the Caps. I don’t love his fit on the team’s third line, but that’s probably the role he’s going to need to fill if the plan is for him to play every game in the playoffs. He only recorded one shot on goal and skated the fewest minutes in any of his seven games (11:17).
- The Capitals’ first-round playoff opponent is still undecided because they couldn’t find a win over the Blue Jackets in either game. It will be the Montreal Canadiens if the Habs can pick up two points from their final two games.
