Hello, All!
The Washington Capitals lost last night on home ice to the Boston Bruins by a score of 5-2. The Bruins were quick to take advantage of their opportunities early in the game and did enough to hold on to the lead in the third period.
Here are the stats from the game:
Shots on Goal:
WSH – 35
BOS – 30
Shots on Goal (5v5):
WSH – 24
BOS – 21
Corsi For %:
WSH – 56.41%
BOS – 43.59%
Corsi For % (5v5):
WSH – 53.41%
BOS – 46.59%
Power Play:
WSH – 0/4
BOS – 1/3
Hits:
WSH – 48
BOS – 32
Blocks:
WSH – 20
BOS – 13
Scoring Chances For:
WSH – 29
BOS – 28
Scoring Chances For (5v5):
WSH – 18
BOS – 24
High Danger Chances For:
WSH– 11
BOS – 11
High Danger Chances For (5v5):
WSH – 7
BOS – 10
xGF:
WSH – 2.92
BOS – 3.28
xGF (5v5):
WSH – 1.97
BOS – 2.06
Giveaways:
WSH - 17
BOS - 8
Image from MoneyPuck.com
My Takeaways:
Power Play - I thought the 1st unit power play looked average at best. It consistently took them at least a minute to finally get set up. The Bruins were noticeably shadowing Ovechkin further out to eliminate the one timer and they did a solid job of that. The Capitals 2nd unit power play impressed me in the limited ice time they saw. It was weird to see Erik Gustafsson skating on the left side where Ovi usually is, but it worked. That is the most unique puck movement Ive seen from our power play in years. The Bruins PK did a solid job last night
Quick Hitters on the New Guys:
Darcy Kuemper -Looks poised in net. A perfect example was his breakaway save on Brandon Carlo as time was about to expire in the 2nd. The defense and team have to play better in front of him no doubt. I do think the goal he gave up to Pastranak was soft. No traffic, just a regular shot on net. Overall, I am very pleased with his performance.
Dylan Strome - Smooth skater. The Protas-Strome-Mantha line was solid and one of our best all night. He looks like he will generate tons of scoring chances this season
Connor Brown - I will be honest I did not notice Connor Brown a lot last night. He only registered 2 SOG, 1 Hit, 1 Block, and 2 Giveaways in 19:28 TOI. The Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Brown line was our third best line in terms of xGF (.24) while also giving up a team high .36 xGA at 5v5. Big picture…we need more from Brown if he's gonna play first line minutes
Erik Gustafsson -The more I watched this game, the more I felt safe when Gustafsson was handling the puck. One of his scouting reports listed online says the following “Has no problem with the offensive part of being a defenseman: he moves the puck well and can quarterback a power play. However, his play in the defensive zone has never matched his abilities with the puck and he is not a physical player, either. Can be productive in sheltered minutes and when paired with a defensive-minded partner.” -sportsforecaster.com. He showed his QBing abilities on the 2nd PP unit. So far so good from him.
Aliaksei Protas -Official to the lineup full-time this season. Protas in large part played very well. As mentioned earlier, his line was one of our most productive last night. Protas-Strome-Mantha had the second best xGF at .54 at 5v5. In addition, they had the best xGA .13 at 5v5. He only logged 11:16 TOI
Honorable Mentions:
Alex Ovechkin - He has 9-Hits and had a couple great chances to score a goal last night. The dude is a machine.
Martin Fehervary - Team high 10-hits and looked awesome out there. He was hustling for every inch on the ice and it showed. He is my 1st-star
Anthony Mantha -Solid game. Seeing him get on the scoreboard early is big for his confidence.
Overall a solid game but just not enough in the third period. A couple penalties back-to-back hurt the Caps comeback momentum. The Caps are back in action tonight @ Toronto to face Ilya Samsonov. I feel weird.
Thanks for reading and GO CAPS
Washington Capitals Blogger • 
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