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WSH 3, BUF 4 (SO) - Buffalo Rides Power Play to First Win vs Caps |
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Hello All,
The short-handed Washington Capitals lost 3-4 (SO) on Sunday. Here are the team game stats:
Shots on Goal in the 1st Period: WSH 9, BUF 16
Shots on Goal in the 2nd Period: WSH 9, BUF 19
Shots on Goal in the 3rd Period: WSH 9, BUF 8
OT Shots: WSH 4, BUF 5
Total Shots on Goal: WSH 31, BUF 48
Power Play: WSH 2/3, BUF 3/5
Hits: WSH 16, BUF 11
Blocks: WSH 16, BUF 15
Giveaways: WSH 6, BUF 1
Takeaways: WSH 3, BUF 2
Here are some observations and stats from the game:
1. I loved Vitek Vanecek's game yesterday. I thought Vanecek looked as confident as ever between the pipes. Yes, he allowed three goals but they were all short-handed. He is making a case for more playing time if Samsonov struggles when he returns and struggles. Lets be real, with the way our defense is playing, that is a very real possibility. I still think it should be a 50-50 split moving forward and for the remaining of the season. The defense as to tighten up eventually, right?
2. Penalties – The Capitals continue to take some of the most penalties in the league. They took five minors yesterday against buffalo. As of this morning, they have the 10th most minor penalties in the league. The Caps also rank 17th worst with 3.99 penalties taken/60 minutes. There are more penalties being called this season around the league compared to last season. We can generally chalk this up to no preseason and a shortened camp. 3.99 penalties taken/60minutes would have been 4th worst in the 2019-2020 regular season. The Washington Capitals also rank dead last in the league in drawing 2.23 penalties per 60 minutes. Translation to all of these stats? The Capitals take a lot of penalties and don’t get a lot of power plays. Not exactly a winning recipe for long-term success.
3. Power Play – Although the Capitals do not typically get a lot of power plays, they had three yesterday and were able to cash in on two of them. Oshie had a really slick tip-in deflection goal off a Justin Schultz shot. After yesterdays game, the Capitals have the 8th best power play in the league at 33.3%, scoring on 4 of 12 opportunities. The Capitals were able to score two PPG goals yesterday without key power play contributors Ovechkin, Orlov, and Kuzetsov in the lineup.
4. Buffalo finally gets the win – In the fourth meeting between these two teams, Buffalo finally came out victorious. The Capitals are now 3-0-1 against Buffalo this season have earned 7 of a total 8 points. I think Buffalo deserved the win for this game.
5. Connor McMichael debut – With the abundance of players missing from the Capitals starting rotation, the Capitals gave Connor McMichael the nod for the game. McMichael was actually placed on the second line with Lars Eller and Richard Panik. Considering it was his first NHL game, McMichael looked pretty comfortable out there. The second line was buzzing for parts of the game. McMichael ended the night with 9:54 TOI, 1 SOG, two shot attempts, and two scoring chances, and won his lone faceoff. He did take a minor penalty in the first period. I give him a “B” grade for yesterday.
6. Justin Schultz – I think Justin Schultz has quietly been one of the Capitals most consistent defensemen across the board. Yesterday he was paired with Chara for the first time and that pair did get burned a decent amount. I do not have any advanced stats here other than just the eye test…Schultz looks good out there from a defensive perspective.
7. Nicklas Backstrom is played in his 962nd game, passing Peter Bondra for the third most games in Capitals franchise history.
8. As mentioned earlier, TJ Oshie scored a power play goal yesterday. Since joining Washington in 2015-16, that's Oshie's 130th goal, the second-most on the Caps during that span (Alex Ovechkin: 232).
9. Buffalo Sabres Power Play – I thought the Sabres power play looked really strong yesterday. They rank 10th in the league with a 27.3% power play. They move the puck well and have the talent with Hall-Eichel-Reinhart to convert on every opportunity. Look for this unit to continue to get better as the season goes on with more time together.
10. The Washington Capitals have 18 players with at least a point this season. That has to be near the top of the league but I can not confirm, only speculate.
Next up the Capitals host the New York Islanders on Tuesday night. The Islanders just split their games with the New Jersey Devils. They were shutout yesterday despite holding a 28-24 shot advantage. This is the first time the Capitals will face off against the Islanders since meeting in the playoffs last year. Although the Capitals are short-handed, I expect this to be a strong effort from squad.
Thoughts on the Capitals in this game? So far this season? Thanks for reading and GO CAPS!
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Stats and Facts provided by:
nhl.com/stats
hockey-reference.com
naturalstattrick.com
@CapitalsPR Twitter page
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Washington Capitals Blogger • 
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