Hello All,
The Washington Capitals kicked off their 4-game road trip with a 6-3 win over the New Jersey Devils. The Caps were largely outplayed this game, but still found a way to solve Mackenzie Blackwood and capitalize on their chances when they had them.
Here Are the Stats From the Game:
Shots on Goal:
WSH – 22
NJD – 41
Shots on Goal (5v5):
WSH – 14
NJD – 33
Corsi For %:
WSH – 38.74%
NJD – 61.26%
Corsi For % (5v5):
WSH – 37.5%
NJD – 62.5%
Power Play:
WSH – 1/3
NJD – 0/4
Hits:
WSH – 31
NJD – 13
Blocks:
WSH – 12
NJD – 11
Scoring Chances For:
WSH – 21
NJD – 36
Scoring Chances For (5v5):
WSH – 16
NJD – 30
High Danger Chances For:
WSH– 9
NJD – 18
High Danger Chances For (5v5):
WSH – 7
NJD – 17
xGF:
WSH – 2.04
NJD – 4.73
xGF (5v5):
WSH – 1.5
NJD – 3.89
Deserve to Win Meteer presented by MoneyPuck.com
My Takeaways:
Charlie Lindgren - As you can see above, the Caps were pretty much outplayed in every facet of the game. It was backup Charlie Lindgren who kept the Caps in this game early and allowed them a chance to win. Lindgren posted an xGoals Against of 4.869 but only allowed 3-goals. This translates to a 1.87 Goals Above Expected. Lindgren only allowed 1-goal on 27-shots heading into the third period. By this point, it was already a 5-1 game in favor of the Caps. Lindgren has served as an exceptional backup to Kuemper this season.
Mackenzie Blackwood - There is no way to put this other than Mackenzie Blackwood had a bad night for the Devils. Blackwood entered the game on a three-game win streak and was just announced as the NHL’s Third Star of the Week. According to moneypuck.com, Blackwood had an xGoals Against of 1.774, but actually allowed 5 goals. This translates to a -3.23 Goals Above Expected. I am going to go out on a limb here and say this was the Devils worst goalie performance in a lone game this season. Credit to the Capitals for seizing the opportunities they were given. The PP goal by Ovechkin for example was just an example of using zone time, moving the puck, and getting a clean shot as a result of tired legs by the Devils.
Aliaksei Protas - The hype train continues for Protas. He finally scored his first goal of the season last night on a beautiful move in the third period to ice the game. Here is the goal:
Protas has been great this season and seems to be developing a nice chemistry with Mantha
Honorable Mention - Alex Ovechkin scored his 3rd goal of the season with a PPG in the second period.
Here are a few stats for Ovechkin that were posted by CapitalsPR twitter:
The win was awesome, but lets not get ahead of ourselves. The Caps were badly outplayed last night. The Devils deserved a better fate than the outcome of this game. As a Caps fan, we are all too familiar with the roller coaster ride of having two mediocre goalies. Those things just happen sometimes!
Next up, the Capitals travel to Dallas to face the Stars on Thursday @ 8:30pm EST
GO CAPS
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Stats/Facts/Video Clips Provided By:
nhl.com/stats
hockey-reference.com
naturalstattrick.com
moneypuck.com
hockeyfights.com
@CapitalsPR Twitter page
@ChatterCharts Twitter page
@Capitals Twitter page
@HersheyBears Twitter page
>>>Follow me on Twitter @HB_Capitals<<<
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Washington Capitals Blogger • 
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