The Washington Capitals have lost three games in a row for the first time this season. Tampa Bay handed them their latest defeat, a 3-1 loss on home ice in Saturday’s matinee matchup.
Sure, that’s not fun, but after the last few years, you’ll take seeing the first bad stretch of the year, 60 games into the season.
- The Capitals actually played very well in the loss, far better than the previous two. Tampa Bay only recorded 22 total shot attempts at five-on-five in the game, the least an opposing team has recorded against Washington this season. The Caps also almost doubled up the Lightning in five-on-five scoring chances, 21-11. However, Tampa did do a good job protecting the middle of their zone, only giving the Capitals a small advantage in high-danger chances (+1).
- What the Lightning did give up, Andrei Vasilevskiy swallowed up with his cat-quick reflexes and Stretch Armstrong legs. Vasi made 20 stops in his eighth straight win and, per MoneyPuck, saved a goal (0.96) above expected. Logan Thompson saved just 0.08 above expected, effectively just having as good a game as expected given what Tampa Bay created offensively.
- Alex Ovechkin did score again, though. The goal was his 31st of the season, tying his total from last year in 35 fewer games. He is now just goals shy of surpassing Wayne Gretzky for the NHL’s all-time goals record. If Ovi didn’t get hurt and scored at this same pace all season, he’d have 42 goals and be behind Leon Draisaitl by only two goals in the Rocket Richard Trophy race. He’s still on pace to score 47 goals this year, which is absurd.
- The Capitals absolutely dominated with John Carlson on the ice at five-on-five. During his minutes, they saw massively positive differentials in shot attempts (+22), scoring chances (+11), and high-danger chances (+4). However, neither team scored with him on the ice. The hockey gods truly were not kind to the good guys in this one.
- Washington’s middle-six forward group needs a jolt. They’re likely going to have to wait over a month for Ryan Leonard’s arrival, so I’d expect a trade to come to bring some energy to the group. Ethen Frank has one goal in his last 12 games. Lars Eller has two goals in his last 18 games. Andrew Mangiapane has one goal in his last 17 games. Nic Dowd has one goal in his last 24 games. Brandon Duhaime has one goal in his last 14 games. Taylor Raddysh has one goal in his last 36 games.
- The penalty kill was a strength of the team’s early in the season, but it has not been good since the calendar flipped into February. The Capitals have killed just 64.7 percent of opposing power plays since February 1, which ranks third worst in the NHL during that span. Tampa Bay was 1-for-3 up a man on Saturday.
