Since February started, the Capitals have lost four of six. In the two games they won, they were destroyed by the hardluck Blue Jackets, but Holtby did what Holtby does and basically singlehandedly eliminated the Jackets from the Playoffs.
Tonight the Capitals will take on the Wild.
What else is going on?
Well the Caps blew it on Tuesday, taking a 3-1 lead against the jets, and then, in a Globetrotter's-esque display of cockiness, they played the rest of the game without sticks. Just guys skating around, kicking the puck, generally doing nothing. If you were a Jets fan, good times! If not, it was a frustrating 3/4s of a period.
Jay Beagle was slashed, then the coach praised his recent play! At first, I thought someone had paid Byfuglien to 'Tonya Harding' the Caps worst player, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Beagle has a bizarre 38% CF on the year, making him one of the NHL's worst players.
The Washington Capitals have a -100 scoring chance differential when Jay Beagle is on the ice 5v5 in just over 500 minutes.
And, honest to god, I've heard serious people suggest Barrie Trotz for coach of the year. Do the Capitals even have an analytics dept? If so, who is running it, John Shannon?
To put in perspective how bad Jay Beagle is, consider this: He plays on a team that employs Taylor Chorny, Devonte Smith-Pelly and Brooks Orpik and is still the worst player.
"Oh but Beagle starts most of his shifts in the D zone!" Yeah? So does John Carlson and (if you haven't noticed) he is kind of awesome. Carlson racks up the points, limits shots, and has a positive possession rating relative to his team. Lots of players get defensive zone starts and are effective - they are not an excuse for being terrible.
One thing people always forget to factor in is that bad players cause defensive zone faceoffs to occur. Why is there a faceoff? Because the goalie covered it after the defense allowed a shot, or because the defense iced the puck. The bad play of players like Beagle leads to more faceoffs, thus inflating the amount of defensive zone starts they receive.
Sure, I guess you could excuse Beagle a little bit, but he is on the fourth line and it's not like he's the one asked to take on Crosby and Malkin.
Go Caps!
Anyways, here is a sweet night-time pic of my backyard rink.
The X Files continues to be amazing, and DMX is still really underrated. That concludes this issue of random thoughts, please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle until it comes to a complete stop.
Washington Capitals Blogger • 
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