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The Capitals Score a LOT + vs Hurricanes

January 23, 2017, 12:01 PM ET [56 Comments]
James Tanner
Washington Capitals Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT


Man, I had the blog all typed up and I left the tab to go find a cool song to put in, and the damn thing got erased. What a rage-inducing minor inconvenience.

I had written a very interesting - or so I thought - point about the Capitals being fun team to watch given that I've viewed 30+ Coyotes games so far this season.

I had all these stats, but now I'm all frustrated and can't be bothered to find them all again - but here's what I remember: They are on a 9-0-1 streak, and there have been at least seven goals scored in four of their last six games. In the two games that seven goals weren't scored, the Capitals won 5-0 and 6-0.



This is insane in a league where there is usually only five goals scored combined in a game. Six of the Capitals' last ten games have featured at least one team scoring at least five goals.

This is the best. Unfortunately, it's likely to just be an anomaly, as the NHL has searched for years how to get scoring back in a game that was designed for players who are significantly smaller than today's players.

Personally, I'd like to see them widen the play surface a bit, make the goal smaller and properly call all the penalties, but even that's problematic. I guess I'll just have to learn to love low scoring games (which I don't mind in the Playoffs, only January).

Tonight the Caps play the massively underappreciated Carolina Hurricanes.

It appears as if John Carlson will remain sidelined and that Holby will start the first half of the back-to-back.

The Caps have won three in a row, the Hurricanes have lost two in a row, and it is always a pleasure to watch Jeff Skinner.

Little known fact: Nick Backstrom - with the Caps recent surge in scoring - has moved into the top ten in scorers with 13 goals and 46 points.



This is impressive, and I know I'm supposed to pretend to hate the Penguins, but while looking at the stats I noticed something pretty crazy: Malkin, Crosby and Kessel are all in the top ten, and they all play on different lines.

I want to believe the Capitals can beat them and win the Cup they deserve - but that is a lineup that is hard to believe has been assembled under a salary cap.

As for tonight's game, I think Trotz is right to go with Holtby. The standings aside, the Canes are a much more dangerous team than the Senators.

Thanks
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