Fun With Numbers

Just a little fun with some Caps' stats. Some of the numbers are pretty impressive, others are a bit depressing. But one thing is for sure, it's going to be fun.

7.7% - The Capitals power play efficiency which ranks them 26th in the league. It is still early in the season, but the Caps find themselves in the basement of the league in putting the puck in with the extra man. They are tied with Philadelphia before three other teams that have yet to score on the power play which are Florida, Montreal and Ottawa.

100% - That would be the Caps penalty kill which through 3 games has yet to allow a power play goal against them (knock on wood). They are one of six teams with such an honor, but the only team to have three games already under their belt.

28:20 - Mike Green's average time on ice per game which ranks him fourth in the league. Green has also accumulated the time in less average shifts per game than the 3 players ahead of him (27.3).

2 - The number of game winning goals by one Alex Ovechkin. Pretty impressive considering the Caps have only played three games thus far in the season. Ovi has 43 total game winning goals in his NHL career in the regular season. Three game winners in the playoffs.

95 - The third most shots on net faced by a NHL goaltender this year. That would be Micheal Neuvirth, who has a better goals against average and save percentage than the two ahead of him (2.62, .916).

4.00 - Average goals per game for the Washington Capitals which puts them in fourth place in the league. One team they trail are the New York Islanders, their next foe, who are averaging 5.00 goals per game through 2 games.

Fun With Numbers

I haven't done it in a while and I was bored. So, here are some interesting stat numbers feed your brain with. Just don't hurt yourself.

+19 - Alex Semin still leads the league with a plus 19. Which means when Semin is on the ice for the Capitals, it usually means a win.

25 vs. 31 - 25 is the combined number of goals scored by Sid "the Kid" Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, who are now one and two in the race for points leader in the league. 31 is the combined goals of Alex Ovechkin and Semin who are three and eighteen on the same points list. Remember, Semin has been injured and out for twelve games this season.

3rd - The Caps are third in the league when it comes to scoring on the power play at home. In 14 games played at the phone booth they have scored 17 goals. Only Boston and Philly are better. Surprisingly San Jose is tenth on that list but are a perfect 16-0-2 at the tank.

5th - Boyd Gordon is 5th on the list of face off leaders in the league winning 58.1% of his draws. His good buddy Dave Steckel is a mortal 11th on that list.

9, 7 and 14 - Ovechkin is 9 points away from league leading Malkin, 7 goals away from league leading Thomas Vanek and 14 assists away from league leading Malkin. He is in the top five in all three categories.

16 - The number of games the Capitals have held their opponent to 2 goals or less, of which they are 13-2-1.

33 - The number of players the Capitals have used to this point. They lead the league.

Caps are back at Kettler for practice this morning. Updates on Nick Backstrom, Tyler Sloan and Sergei Fedorov should follow soon after they hit the ice. All three left the game Saturday night with injuries.

It's All In The Numbers

It's fun with stats time. Mostly because I am bored. I had thought up a song to go with it, but we better save that for another time. Just know I am humming it in my head as I type.

1.000 - The Capitals winning percentage when leading after two periods, but are only .500 when leading the first and only .300 if they outshot their opponents.

6 - Number of times the Capitals were shutout last season, Carolina shut them out twice last year. So far the Caps have been shutout twice, once by the 'Canes.

1 - Number of times the Caps shutout their opponents last year, they hit their quota already this year with just one shutout against, yep you guessed it, Carolina.

5 - The number of overtimes the Capitals played in through 17 games last season, they have only played overtime once this year. Of those 5 games that went to over time, three went to a shootout.

51% - The Capitals face off percentage which is ranked 9th in the league.

1/3 - The fraction of games the Caps win when they are outshot, their winning percentage when they out shoot their opponents is worse: .300.

53 - Alex Ovechkin's on pace number for goals this season.

Make That #82

Capitals 0, Sabres 2
Scoresheet - Wash Post

I tried to be as positive as I could going into this game against Buffalo. It was the inconsistent offense that once again failed the Capitals and all the Caps can talk about now is next year. Not sure what was more disheartening, a disappointed finale loss, or a Verizon Center filled to the gut with Buffalo Sabres fans.

The Washington Capitals finish with a 28-40-14 record and finish 5th in the Southeast Division for a third season in a row. They will finish 14th in the Eastern Conference for a third year in a row.

Alex Ovechkin finishes this season with 92 points (46 goals - 46 assists). He was also a -19, worse plus/minus on the Capitals this year. He led the team in shots however taking 384 of them.

Alex Semin finish second in the points for the Caps with 73 points (38 goals - 35 assists). He led the team with 17 powerplay goals. Boyd Gordon had the teams best plus/minus with a +11, Donald Brashear led all Capitals with 156 penalty minutes. Chris Clark led the team in shorthanded goals with 4.

Some Capital Quotes:

"We'll add to the team until we're like Buffalo. I really take heart in looking at some of these teams that were on the bottom. Buffalo wasn't a very good team for a long time and had a very good business model, the same with Pittsburgh, and now both of those teams are 100-point teams and have very high expectations, and I think that's where our bar is going to raised." -Ted Leonsis

Caps' fans tear your hair out no more.

"It's nice if you get a few fans in there that remind you you're not in quite as hostile an environment as you thought." -Ryan Miller on the large number of Buffalo fans at the Verizon Center.

Sure. Why not, it's not like Caps fans are showing up.

"I think it will be a good summer for us. But you don't know who signs, who will come. But I hope. [The fans] hope. Coach hopes. Team guys hope." -Alex Ovechkin

We all had hope at the start of this season too.

"I'm definitely looking forward to next year, with everything that's being said and with what we have here right now. We have the makings of being very good. We were right there up until Christmas time, which is when our lack of depth really showed. Hopefully next year when guys get hurt they won't be missed as much." -Olaf Kolzig

Or everyone just has to stay healthy.

Buffalo Sabres clinch the President's trophy with the win. Capitals just get to go away. But hey, there is always next year!

Quotable Caps

Recent quotes from Panthers/Capitals game:

"I would like to have that play back ... You think in overtime they would
let us play a little more." -Steve Eminger

Welcome to the new NHL Em.

"We're taking penalties at inopportune times and the other teams are capitalizing. ... It's rough. But we've got to bounce back because we've got another game tomorrow." -Brent Johnson

When is a good opportunity to take a penalty?

"We needed to get a stop on the penalty kill." -Brian Potheir

Yea, that would have been nice. Although, the Caps did kill 4 of 6 against the Panthers Friday night. They didn't stop the goals (tying and overtime winner) that matter.

"Our penalty kill let us down. That's kind of been the story the past few games." -Glen Hanlon

And he's the coach! He should know.

"I wish the call went our way... It seemed inconclusive." -Glen Hanlon

Code for: "I'll let this one slide, but I better get a call next game!"

Pondering numbers:

• The Capitals were called for 6 penalties, all infractions were committed by different players (Beech, Pothier, Jurcina, Semin, Morrisonn, Eminger). Four of the six guilty were defensemen.


• The Caps are second in the league for goals against in the second period, allowing 100 goals slip past them (only 73 goals for in the 2nd). Philadelphia is first with 102.


• Kris Beech was 28% in the faceoff circle. Compare that with Novotny with 57%, Gordon at 52%, Laich even at 50% and Clark with 80% (of players that took 4 or more faceoffs, Fleischmann and Brashear both were 100% after only one draw).


• Ovechkin, Semin and Potheir combined for 22:25 on the power play against the Panthers. They combined for only 2 points (both assists) with the extra man. All three averaged :50 or more per shift for the whole game.


• The last three goals scored by the Caps and Cats were all power play goals.

Pencils Down, Times Up

Capitals 4, Lightning 1

Caps end the season on a hot streak. Not only did the Caps win 4 of the last 5 of their games of the season, they did it in convincing fashion against divisional rivals. Wins against one team in the playoffs, one team trying to make the playoffs and one team that have give the Caps fits all season.

Overall Grade: B+

Wash Post will have a better view of the season ender, and why Olie Kolzig was a no show in Tampa Bay. Brent Johnson was absolutely fantastic in this game stopping 42 shots on net.

How did the Capitals end up?

The Caps finish with a 29-41-12 record and 70 points. They finish last in the Southeast Division, and 14th in the Eastern Conference. The Caps were only 5 points behind Florida but 12 points ahead of the Conference worst Pittsburgh Penguins.

Four players finished with 20 goals or more, Alex Ovechkin (52), Dainius Zubrus (23), Chris Clark (20) and Matt Pettinger (20). Four players finished with 40 points or more, Ovechkin (106), Zubrus (57), Jeff Halpern (44) and Brian Willsie (41).

The Capitals were ranked 7 in the shoot-out with seven wins and six loses. With 230 goals for the Caps were ranked 23rd in the league, but were 29th in goals against with 300 slipping past the Caps goalies. Overall, the Capitals finished 27th in the league ahead of Chicago, Pittsburgh and St. Louis.

As much as the Caps did not have a story book season, their future is something that going to be exciting to watch. The bright spot for the Caps this season is Alex Ovechkin whose size, speed, and offensive explosiveness made the Caps exciting to watch this season.

What the Caps must do is accent that talent from Ovechkin. Some key off season pick-ups for the Caps must include a more dependable defensive core. A nice free agent signing may be Hal Gill from Boston who becomes unrestrictive free agent this summer. A good stay at home defensemen that may help out in front of Kolzig.

A player to lose this off season is Ivan Majesky. Even though his size is intimidating, his lacks speed and can be out of position at the wrong time.

The key to this off season will be what management can do to improve the team to give them a fighting chance for seasons to come.

Stuck In First Gear

The Capitals are stuck in a rut, and they are not sure how to get out of it. The Caps have been in 22 one goal games this year. They have won 10 of those games, 5 of those wins in the shoot out.

The team has the worst penalty killing percentage in the league, and even though they have tightened their special teams up, it’s no where near perfect. The Caps can make the game close, but getting over that hump to win those games is proving to be the challenging part of this season.

“We need to get better at things and guys hate losing. Good efforts aren't good enough anymore,” goaltender Olaf Kolzig said. “We've got to start finding a way to win these games.”

"We expect in due time to win these [close] hockey games," Head Coach Glen Hanlon said.

While some keep a positive attitude, many fans just look at the overall record. 13-23-4 has kept the fans at bay, and the Caps continue to play in a building with plenty of empty seats. Even with the exciting play of Alex Ovechkin.

The list of young hopefuls in the Capitals system may be impressive, but it lacks consistency. It seems that every Hershey Bear has had a chance at the big top only to be sent down as fast.

As much as they don’t want to admit it, the Capitals are defiantly in a rut. The Caps look competitive, but fail to show it when it counts. Out of 40 games played, 22 of them were one-goal decisions. The Capitals must find a way to win.

Caps Need To Tighten It Up

The Capitals have to work more on their consistency. It’s the thorn in the side of the Caps this year as the only players to show up to play has been Olaf Kolzig and Alex Ovechkin. And there are trade rumors circling the head of Kolzig even if management promises no exchange for the two time all-star.

The Caps work ethics is unmatched, and at times look as if they are playing inspired hockey. While other times they look disorganized and out played. Part of the problem may be the lack of a solid 3rd and 4th line.

While the first line consists mainly of Ovechkin, Dainius Zubrus and Chris Clark, and the second solid line for the Caps, Ben Clymer, Brian Sutherby, and Matt Bradley. The following lines are constantly changing, and it is becoming more of a hindrance rather than a help for the Capitals.

The lines contain Jeff Halpern that is having a tough year but for the most part has shown up to play every night he is on the roster. But his hard work has barely paid off, with only 3 goals to his name, and posting a -5. It’s not all Halpern fault though.

A carousel of rookies and minor league recalls has plagued the last two lines. Players like Jakub Klepis (13GP, 1G, 2A, -8), Tomas Fleischmann (13GP, 0G, 2A, -6), and Boyd Gordon (9GP, 0 points, -3) have come up through the farm system and have barely held their own.

And of course we can’t go too far with out taking a hard long look at the inexperienced and poorly played defensive core. Even with Brendan Witt playing hard nosed hockey, and Jamie Heward becoming the go to guy, the Caps seem to have a problem with defensemen that maybe too offensively minded.

What the Capitals’ coaching staff is looking for is hard hat, lunch pale players to bring more of a consistent game to the ice every night. Even if their squad is a young one, it should be able to put an effort forth every night.

With the playoffs in the now not so distant future, the Caps may want to start shopping for more hard working players and spend a little more of there salary cap. I would hope for Ted Leonsis to look for a more solid team to put in front of Kolzig and behind Ovechkin. Just remains to be seen if he will take that chance early.

-- Other Notes --

• The Caps have recalled Boyd Gordon and Boyd Kane (no relation). While Boyd Gordon sounds familiar to Caps fans, Boyd Kane is an eight-year pro who has played well of late in Hershey.


• Alexander Ovechkin was named NHL’s rookie of the month for December. Finally recognized for his league leading points among rookies and highlight reel goals, Ovechkin joins Sid “the Kid” Crosby and Dion Phaneuf who were rookie of the month winners for October and November respectfully.


• Atlanta fans took out their frustration on Dany Heatley of the Ottawa Senators as they played in Atlanta vs. the Thrashers. Heatley who requested the trade after the car wreck that killed a teammate returned to boos and heckles. The Thrashers responded by spanking the Senators for their fans.


• TV ratings move over. Attendance is up around the league. What TV? “The December average of 16,913 per game was 91.7% of capacity and two percent above the previous December high of 16,578, set in 2001.” I guess it’s better to see the game than watch it on TV. Too bad none of those numbers improve the Caps situation.

Glad to see every one made it to 2006, and I hope to see more of you as the season heats up going into the Olympics in February and playoffs sometime in April.

Flyers Future Faces Capitals

Preview Capitals vs. Flyers

The future looks bright for the Capitals, but they won't be the only youth on the ice at the Wachovia Center tonight. Ken Hitchcock will be starting three rookies in the center position against Washington tonight. Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, and R.J. Umberger will be the rookie players in very important positions.

This won't be the all-star lineup Flyers that we have seen in Philadelphia's previous games. Keith Primeau will be out of the lineup, nursing a concussion.

This is a great opportunity for the Caps to steal one away from the Flyers, if they continue their hard work and disciplined system. Hitchcock's team will be ready for the Caps, and it should be pretty entertaining.

Capitals recall Nolan Yonkman and Tomas Fleischmann from Hershey. Fleischmann is 10th in the AHL in scoring with at least a point in each of last nine games. Yonkman is returning after a short stint for conditioning.

By the Numbers:

• 0-3: Capitals' record when they are the first team to score (Vancouver is a perfect 8-0 when scoring first).
• 11.2%: Capitals' power play percentage, good enough for 29th in the league (only the Blue Jackets are worse).
• 24: Number of hits credited to Alexander Ovechkin.
• 25:50: Amount of time per game (minutes:seconds) Jamie Heward has been on the ice (ranked 12th in the league among all players).

TV - Comcast Sportsnet, Radio - 570 AM. Go Caps!

By The Numbers

Stats I thought were interesting for the Washington Capitals:

• 11 - 15: Goals For - Goals Against when 5 on 5 (compare that to 5 goals for on the powerplay and 13 goals agianst on the penalty kill)
• 4.71: Goals Against Average (30th in the League)
• 1: Goals Agianst when down two men
• 1.000: Winning percentage when Washington is leading after the second period by a goal
• 3rd: Place Capitals are tied for in Shoot Outs among the 14 teams that have gone to shoot out in regular season play

The Wash Post also talked about the amount of shots the Capitals are facing, 39.3 per game. The Caps are working on mimizing the shots agianst on their days off before playing Florida tomorrow night. Olaf Kolzig had a good quote in the article:

"It's not quantity; it's quality of shots," Kolzig said. "If we can eliminate the quality shots, that's a good start ... In the loss to Atlanta at home, I faced [39] shots, but it felt like 60 because there were a lot of scoring chances. Against Tampa, they had 40 shots, but it wasn't as busy a night."

The Capitals play at the Bankatlantic Center to play the Florida Panthers tomorrow at 7 p.m.
TV Comcast Sports Net, Radio 570 AM