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WSH 3, BOS 7 - Goaltending and Defense Come Up Short Again |
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Hello All,
The Washington Capitals returned home to Capitol One Arena to take on the Boston Bruins. The Caps were at one point up 2-0 in the game but then a lack of goaltending and defense ultimately doomed the Capitals. Bruins win 7-3. Ouch.
Here are the stats from the game followed by my takeaways:
Shots on Goal:
WSH – 30
BOS – 31
Shots on Goal (5v5):
WSH – 27
BOS – 25
Corsi For %:
WSH – 52.94%%
BOS – 47.06%
Corsi For % (5v5):
WSH – 57.69%
BOS – 42.31%
Power Play:
WSH – 0/2
BOS - 2/4
Hits:
WSH – 35
BOS – 27
Blocks:
WSH – 12
BOS - 11
Scoring Chances For:
WSH – 35
BOS - 28
Scoring Chances For (5v5):
WSH – 34
BOS - 23
High Danger Chances For:
WSH – 15
BOS – 9
High Danger Chances For: (5v5):
WSH – 14
BOS - 6
My Takeaways from the Stats:
Guys, other than the only thing that really matters in the game (the score), the Capitals actually played the better game. The Caps held statistical advantages in a majority of categories for the contest: Shots, scoring chances, Corsi For %, Corsi For % (5V5), high danger chances, and high danger chances (5v5). 57.69 Corsi For % at 5V5 is a great number. Where did it all go wrong? Untimely penalties, lack of defense, and goaltending.
The Good - Conor Sheary - In addition to the stats, I thought Conor Sheary played a great game. Conor Sheary scored his 9th and 10th goals of the season tonight. Sheary has been a bright spot for the Caps depth scoring this season. Sheary’s Cap Hit is only 1.5M. What a bargin.
The Bad…The Capitals Special Teams – Man, talk about taking some dumb penalties when you are up 2-0. It took the Bruins just seconds to score on the 5 on 3. I cant remember who the Capitals played a month or so ago but they also went down 5on3 and the opposing team also scored within seconds. Does anyone remember what game that was? Anyways…this sequence of back to back PPG goals completely stunned the Capitals. They could never quite recover. The Boston power play was 2 for their last 21 chances heading into tonights game and the Capitals made them look like one of the best PP’s in the league. Classic.
The Ugly – Goaltending – This is head and shoulders the biggest issue for the Caps right now. Samsonov got pulled last game after allowing 4-goals on 16 shots. Fucale gets pulled tonight after allowing 4-goals on 16 shots. Vanecek comes in and allows 2-goals on the first two shots and ultimately let in 3-goals on 15 shots. WOOF. The Zach Fucale story was a great one and im not ready to give up on him. I know he played great against Minnesota the other night but they had 2/3 of their team missing and we still lost that game. It is time to give Vanecek more reps. If I am going to try and pull anything positive from our goaltending its that most teams experience this at some point of the regular season. I am happy the Caps are experiencing what seem like end of the world type goaltending issues in January…not April. The Caps WILL figure this out. All that matters is that they figure it out for the playoffs..assuming they make it. My panic meter for goaltending on a scale of 1-10 is about a 5.
That is all, thanks for reading and GO CAPS
Washington Capitals Blogger • 
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