Hello All,

The Washington Capitals suffered a 2-1 loss in regulation to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday Night in Washington. The loss exemplifies largely the current state of the Capitals. For today’s piece, I will touch on the game lightly but also discuss the Capitals recent struggles.

Here Are the Stats:

Shots on Goal:

WSH – 32
PHI – 32


Shots on Goal (5v5):

WSH – 21
PHI – 29


Corsi For %
WSH – 47.9%
PHI – 52.1%

Corsi For % (5v5)
WSH – 42.42
PHI – 57.58%


Power Play:

WSH – 0/3
PHI – 0/1


Hits:

WSH – 19
PHI – 15


Blocks:

WSH – 20
PHI - 12


Scoring Chances For:

WSH – 29
PHI – 28



Scoring Chances For (5v5):

WSH – 22
PHI – 27



High Danger Chances For:

WSH – 12
PHI – 9



High Danger Chances For: (5v5):

WSH – 7
PHI – 9


Goaltending:
Vitek Vanecek: .937 SV% / 2.0 GAA
Martin Jones: .968 SV% / 1.0 GAA

Quick takeaways from the game:

The Flyers Were the Better Team – While the Capitals did make a little push at the end of the game, the Flyers deserveadly took this game in regulation. As you can see from the stats above the Flyers led in mostly every relevant statistical category on the night. Between shots, scoring chances, high danger chances, and Corsi, it was the Flyers who held the advantage. While the Capitals did generate a fair amount of high danger chances (12), it was the Flyers who escaped DC with a gritty 2-1 win.

Goaltending – I thought Vanecek looked pretty strong. Facing a Flyers offense with the skill they have, only allowing 2-goals is quite impressive. The Flyers are 9th in the league with 3.20 goals per game. On the Flyers side of things, Martin Jones looked really strong. He made some key stops late in the game that kept the Capitals from tying the game. For a team in the Flyers who really struggled with up and down goaltending last year, Jones looked the part tonight. The Capitals offense is 6th in the league with 3.36 goals per game so for Jones to stifle us to just a lone goal deserves credit.

Power Play Struggles – The Capitals power play once again failed to score a goal or generate many meaningful chances. The power play went 0/3 last night against the 15th ranked penalty kill of the Flyers. After last night, the Capitals now rank 22nd in the league on the power play at 17.5%. On the bright side, the Capitals do rank 6th in the league with 3.64 power play opportunities per game. If that rate continues, the Capitals will continue to get plenty of chances to right the ship. For the power play, it doesn’t help with Oshie and Backstrom being out! They are so key to the overall versatility the power play unit presents to opposing teams.

Brett Leason – Brett Leason continues to step up and provide depth scoring. The Capitals desperately need players to step up with Oshie, Backstrom, and Mantha out. Leason appears to be ready for the calling! The rookie has two goals in four games!

The State of the Capitals:

The Capitals injuries are piling up. These are not just any injuries. The entire second line of Mantha – Backstrom – Oshie is OUT! On the positive of things, the Capitals have been able to weather the storm so to speak because Ovechkin and Kuznetsov have been producing at an unreal rate. Ovechkin leads the league in goals and is third in points. Kuznetsov is 14th in the league in points. I don’t think many people other than Caps fans could have predicted this sort of production from Kuznetsov to start the season. Last night against the Flyers is a perfect example of what a typical game might look like moving forward if Ovechkin and Kuzy are not carrying the team. With Oshie, Backstrom, Mantha out, who is going to consistently step up? So far it has been the rookies in McMichael and Leason. Tom Wilson has generated some quality points through 11 games (8), but he needs to score more than one goal. He is getting some strong looks so I think that will come. Other guys like Sheary, Eller, Sprong have combined for 3G-8A-11P through 11 games. That is simply not good enough.\

Here is the big picture. The Capitals need to get more depth scoring to aid/assist Ovechkin/Kuzy/Vanecek/Samsonov. Without it, the Capitals will continue to be in close games and with the injuries present, could be on the losing side of many games.

Injuries:
Mantha – Out Indefinitely w/ Shoulder Injury
Oshie – Week to week with Lower Body Injury
Backstrom – Week to week? Hip? Capitals taking slow cautious approach with Backy

Next up, the Capitals host the Buffalo Sabres on Monday Night at 7pm.

That is all, thanks for reading and GO CAPS!

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