The Washington Capitals haven't just performed beyond expectations placed on them this season.
They have the best points percentage in the NHL with an excellent record of 21-8-2, good for a 0.710 efficiency.
Charlie Lindgren and Logan Thompson are a very good duo in goal, the club has several important veterans and several important additions were made this summer.
Obviously, Pierre-Luc Dubois is the first name that comes to mind and he is having a very good season with 22 points in 31 games.
Andrew Mangiapane was supposed to be a big addition, but he's not having the best season. He is still on track for a 20-goal season and could get back on track overnight.
Finally, the Capitals' attack obviously goes through Alex Ovechkin for the most part… except for the last 13 games, since Ovi is injured in the fibula.
Moreover, we saw the star of Caps practice today with a no-contact shirt.
He was also the first player on the ice this morning.
He had been seen starting to skate again recently, but hadn't officially put on a practice jersey yet.
The numerical advantage has always been dangerous for Washington when the Russian is on the ice.
On the other hand, Tom Gulitti, journalist covering the Capitals, tweeted some stats interesting demonstrations of the offensive performance of Caps with and without Ovechkin in the lineup.
As we can see, the power play seems to be more effective WITHOUT the veteran…
Quite weird…
The club had an efficiency of 16.4% (24th in the NHL) with its serves, while in the last 13 games, the efficiency jumped to 26.8% (9th in the NHL).
On the other hand, we can see that the rest of the offensive seems to be struggling, or at least, to be much less dangerous since his absence.
The average goals scored per game went from 4.33 (1st) to 3.08 (13th), which isn't that bad considering the league-wide ranking.
Furthermore, even if Ovi is mainly recognized for its contribution in numerical superiority, we can observe a drastic drop in offensive contribution at 5 against 5.
In 18 games with Ovechkin in the lineup, the Capitals have scored 55 goals at even strength (1st), while in the last 13 games, that has dropped to just 21 goals (29th).
Offensively in the last seven duels, things are going much less well, but the club continues to win on a regular basis.
In short, we can expect Ovechkin to return shortly and the numerical advantage could therefore be less effective…
In burst
– Not to be missed this evening, in addition to the CH match: the Laval Rocket and a first match for Filip Mesar since October 25.
– It’s true that he has quite a style.
– Indeed.
– A good question to ask yourself.
– Easton Cowan also scored a hat trick in the first match with Canada yesterday.
