Hello All,
The Washington Capitals played mostly a really strong game against the Blackhawks tonight but found themselves taking untimely penalty after penalty and it ultimately doomed them. Credit the Blackhawks for taking advantage and converting on the power play when they were awarded their opportunities. The Blackhawks had absolutely nothing going at 5v5.
Here Are the Stats From the Game:
Shots on Goal: WSH – 46 CHI – 28
Shots on Goal (5v5): WSH – 33 CHI - 18
Corsi For %: WSH – 58.2%% CHI – 41.8%
Corsi For % (5v5): WSH – 60.44% CHI – 39.56%
Power Play: WSH – 1/3 CHI - 3/6
Hits: WSH – 29 CHI – 20
Blocks: WSH – 14 CHI 16
Scoring Chances For: WSH – 36 CHI - 23
Scoring Chances For (5v5): WSH – 31 CHI - 17
High Danger Chances For: WSH – 17 CHI – 9
High Danger Chances For: (5v5): WSH – 15 CHI - 6
My Takeaways:
Penalties – I alluded to it in my introduction but that was just as bad as of night as you will ever see for a team taking dumb penalties. The Blackhawks entered the game ranked 24th in the league with a power play that converts 17.1% of the time. The Capitals PK ranked 7th in the league at 83.3%. What transpired tonight is certainly an anomaly. As salty as I am, I again have to credit the Blackhawks. The goals they did score on the PP were phenomenal plays all-around. Good zone entry, versatile puck movement. High to low quick and precise. For a team with 11 wins in 28 games and a 24th ranked PP…not bad.
Ovechkin Ties All-Time PPG Record - With his 21st goal of the season and 274th career PPG, Ovechkin tied Dave Andrychuk for most power play goals in NHL history. It is also fitting that Backstrom earned an assist on the goal. This was Nicklas Backstrom’s season debut. In addition, this was the 25th regular season goal Ovechkin has scored against Marc-Andre Fleury, the most goals he has scored against a single goaltender in his career.
Nicklas Backstrom Returns to the Lineup - This was awesome to see for the Capitals and Backstrom made an immediate impact. As noted above, he started the play that ultimately led to the Ovi PPG in the first period Backstrom took 18 shifts and totaled 18:14 TOI. He finished with that lone assist.
Three Goals in 34 Seconds – The Blackhawks converted on a 5 on 3 in which they had 17 seconds to work. I think it took them 5 seconds to score after the face off. Just 18 seconds later, the Blackhawks scored again on the PP. Then Blackhawks scored another one shortly after. This quick onslaught was the difference. The building in Chicago was dead leading up to this.
Capitals Move to 0-6 in OT on the Season - The Caps scored with 3 seconds left just to force the game to OT. It was a nifty pass from Ovi to Sheary. The Caps have yet to win in OT this season and I don’t believe they will get many if I am being honest. Their record last year in OT was also one of the worst in the league. Not sure why other than we are old and not as explosive at 3on3.
Next up, the Capitals face off @ Winnipeg on Friday at 8pm ET
*********************** Stats and Facts provided by:
nhl.com/stats hockey-reference.com naturalstattrick.com @CapitalsPR Twitter page ***********************
Follow me on Twitter @HB_Capitals