After the Caps’ 4-1 win over the Blues in St. Louis on Dec. 1, the team had an 18-6-2 mark after the season’s first 26 games. Washington was averaging 3.38 goals per game and was allowing an average of 2.61 goals per game for a goal differential of .71, or nearly three-quarters of a goal per game.
The Caps were 6-2 in overtime/shootout decisions and were 8-1-2 in games decided by one goal. Washington was clicking at 24.4% on the power play and its penalty killing outfit had succeeded on 85.3% of its missions.
Washington had an overall shooting pct. of 10.7% and had scored 70% of its goals at even strength.
Game 27 was in Dallas on Dec. 2. The Caps dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker, missing out on a possible game-tying tally in the final seconds when officials took a goal away from Washington, ruling that Alex Ovechkin was in the crease.
That loss started an eight-game winless streak (0-6-2). Even after emerging from that tailspin, the Caps have won just nine of their last 25 games (9-9-7).
The Caps’ offensive output has dipped drastically during that stretch, slowing to a trickle of exactly two goals per game. Washington’s defense has tightened to the point that it has allowed just 2.28 tallies per tilt during the same time period, but that’s a goal differential of minus-.28 per game. It’s a difference of minus-.99 goals per game from the team’s differential during the season’s first 26 games, too.
Washington is 0-7 in overtime and shootout decisions in its last 25 games, and as you’d expect, its record in one-goal games has suffered significantly. The Caps have won four of 15 games (4-4-7) decided by a single goal in their last 25 contests.
Washington has scored 82% of its goals at even-strength in the last 25 games as the power play has all but dried up in going 8-for-85 for an anemic 9.4% success rate.
The penalty kill has improved a bit, killing 86% over the last 25 games and running second-best in the league for the season. The Caps have allowed more than one power-play goal in just three of their 51 games this season.
Washington’s shooting pct. has taken a dive to just 6.3% over the team’s last 25 games.
You will notice those stats coincide almost to the day with when this blog started. So, canceled until further notice.
