After three games this season we know one thing for sure, the Washington Capitals can certainly score goals.
After three games, the team has scored 15 goals. Alex Ovechkin has five, Alexander Semin has four and Brooks Laich has three. The three stars have led the team to a 2-0-1 start. While it has only been three games, we have gotten a glimpse of just how dangerous this team can be when it is clicking on offense.
“There is a lot of skill,” center Brendan Morrison said after the games 6-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. “It is a great first few games for us.”
Washington looks to have picked up right where they left off and they look hungry. After getting embarrassed in Game 7 of their playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins last year, the team added two players that can bang in the pucks that are lying in the front of the net.
Mike Knuble and Morrison are being looked at to provide the goals the Caps couldn’t score last year and they are doing just that. Knuble has buried one goal on the doorstep on the power play, while Morrison has provided two goals and one assist.
The new additions seem to be finding their place in the organization. Morrison looks particularly comfortable, winning an unprecedented 63 percent of his face-offs.
“I want to be in the face-off circle,” Morrison said. “Right now, I just got the timing and I am in a good groove, timing-wise.”
One thing that has not been rock-solid this year is the team’s defense. To go along with the 15 goals there are also 11 goals against. It is hard to blame the goalies for the number of goals with the number of shots the team is giving up. Washington has given up 72 shots, a hard number to stop for even the league’s best goalies.
“I think the guys in front of him let him down a little big,” Head Coach Bruce Boudreau said in reference to the defense in front of the goaltenders. “There wasn’t much he could do on many of the goals.”
Holding a lead and playing protect the net hockey has been a challenge for the Caps. In all three games, when Washington has gained the lead, they want to score more, instead of protect the lead. Toronto, for instance, was able to crawl back into the game because the caps were turning the puck over on risky scoring chances.
“We have to learn how to win 6-1 when we are in that position not 9-1,” Boudreau said. “Hopefully, it was a cheap lesson for us and we can get success from it.”
In the end a win is a win, but it is certainly something to keep an eye on. Overall, the team has played well through three games. Not only is their scoring up, but also their power play percentage and penalty killing are higher. The team is converting on one in three man advantage opportunities - good enough for sixth in the league. On the other side of the ice, they are 10th in the NHL on the penalty kill.
While the team didn’t struggle in the man-advantage last year, they did when they were a man down. A simple way for teams to defeat the offensive minded Capitals was to put one of them in the box. It happened often, and they paid for it. This year, however, they are staying out of the box and thus have a greater penalty kill percentage.
“It is easy to kill penalties when you aren’t taking many,” Boudreau said after the team’s victory over the Maple Leafs.
The strong start is good, but the next nine days will be tough for the Capitals. Washington will be hosting their familiar foe the New York Rangers, traveling to Detroit to play the defending Western Conference Champion Red Wings and then hosting New Jersey, followed by San Jose. Almost every team, with the exception of the Rangers, has an electric offense. It will be a sure test of the Capitals’ ability to play defense.
Of all of those match-ups, the most intriguing will be in Detroit. The Caps dominated the Red Wings last year at the Verizon Center and get a chance to play a home and home series with them this year. Detroit is the perennial powerhouse in the NHL and a win in Detroit maybe enough to prove that this team is a legitimate contender.
Washington is on a mission to win a championship this year, and it looks as if they will stop at nothing to accomplish it. With the amount of offense they have, it will take a special team to stop them. If they stay healthy, there may be many wins in Washington’s future.
You can reach this columnist at atomlinson@theeagleonline.com.
