The Capitals beat the Canadiens the other night and lost 4-0 to the Blues last night to even their record at 1-1. At least, that's what I thought until a sharp-eyed comment section fellow reminded me about their 4-1 loss to the Devils on Monday. I must have been watching Melrose place. Either way, their actual record is 1-2.
The second game, against Montreal, was especially crazy because the Capitals spend almost 15 minutes of the game short-handed. The NHL is cracking down on slashing, and this is going to be a key decider in who does and does not make the playoffs this year.
Some teams are going to adjust and take less penalties, and those teams are the ones who are going to have success. The victory against Montreal not withstanding, you generally don't win games when you are short handed for nearly an entire period. Penalty differential is already a key factor in team success (because you're at such a disadvantage on the PK) but it will only become more of one if there are more penalties because the teams that don't take penalties will get even greater differentials. For any team that can limit their penalties this season, there is a huge advantage to be had.
The NHL is a league of almost full parity - last year, the Capitals were a stacked team and an exception, but after one of the worst off seasons an NHL team has ever seen (transaction wise) they are no better than the middle 10-15 teams, which means that something like staying out of the box during a penalty crackdown is now extremely important. For the 15 or so teams that have roughly equal rosters, penalty differential could become a deciding factor in who makes the playoffs.
Last year, the Capitals had one of the worst penalty differentials in the NHL, ranked 24th in the league. They had the roster to make up for this, but that is no longer the case. They still, however, have a lethal power-play, and so, if they can stay out of the box, this crackdown has the potential to really help their team.
The Caps also cut 11 players on Thursday, bringing the total number of players in camp down to 50. Of the 11 players cut, none have recognizable names and there were no surprises. Coach Barrie Trotz is expected to cut more players after this weekend.
There is room on the roster for two defenseman to make it (Assuming the spots for Taylor Chorny and Brooks Orpik are secure, which, you have to think they pretty much are). Competing for these two spots are (among others) Christian Djoos and Madison Bowy.
Bowey is a right shooting dman drafted in the second round 2013 and he's 22. He is said to be a decent enough prospect, but he hasn't exactly racked up the points in the AHL.
Djoos is a seventh rounder from 2012, and he actually does rack up the points. Last year in Hershey (AHL) he picked up 58 points in 66 games. He shoots left though.
I'd personally like to see Djoos as the Shattenkirk replacement, but Barrie Trotz is no longer taking my calls, so we'll see what happens. The only thing holding Djoos back is that he's under 170lbs, which is very, very small for an NHL defenseman.
The NHL has moved away from the size-at-all-costs approach, and this works well in Djoos favor. He's got NHL skill, so I say who cares if he's small? It's not like his job would be to hit people regardless of his size - he's an offensive player.
When you lose two great skating, highly skilled puck-movers like Shattenkirk and Schmidt, you need to replace them with highly skilled, great skating puck-movers. Djoos fits this bill a lot better than Jokkipakka or Bowy. Both those guys can move the puck, but Djoos has more high-end skill. This is especially key because if Chorny and Orpik are already taking up two spots, the last spot has to go to a guy who is more like those the team lost.