Hello All,

The Washington Capitals capped off their 5-game road trip with a 2-0 win against the Arizona Coyotes. The Capitals finish their road trip with a 3-1-1 record. Today I will touch on the game, but also reflect back on some notable news and notes from the week. Due to work obligations, I was unable to set aside time to post when Ovechkin hit 50 goals on Wednesday. I apologize for those who read the blog consistently.

Here are the stats from the game:

Shots on Goal:
WSH – 29
ARI – 19

Shots on Goal (5v5):
WSH – 22
ARI – 18

Corsi For %:
WSH – 63.44%
ARI – 36.56.7%

Corsi For % (5v5):
WSH – 41.77%
ARI – 58.23%

Power Play:
WSH – 0/4
ARI – 0/0

Hits:
WSH – 15
ARI – 32

Blocks:
WSH – 9
ARI – 12

Scoring Chances For:
WSH – 27
ARI – 18

Scoring Chances For (5v5):
WSH – 21
ARI – 17

High Danger Chances For:
WSH– 9
ARI – 9

High Danger Chances For (5v5):
WSH – 8
ARI – 9

My Takeaways:

Vitek Vanecek - Vanecek got the start after a shaky performance by Samsonov in Vegas on Wednesday. Vanecek posted a shutout, which was his 4th of the season and is tied for 4th most in the NHL. Most importantly, Vanecek stopped all 9 high-danger shots that he faced. For a guy that is more known for making the stops, not the saves...this was huge. The Capitals are desperately looking for either Vanecek or Samsonov to seize the true #1 goalie spot for the team. Neither has stepped up to the task, but a shutout with 9 high danger saves is a good start for Vanecek. I expect the Caps to roll with Vanecek again on Sunday against the Maple Leafs. Samsonov has been chased twice against them in the same season. Please dont make it a third time, Laviolette.

Conor Sheary Sheary is having a career year. Although it is not his best season ever, it is up there! Sheary notched his 18th goal of the season last night and 41st point of the season. This is the second most points he has ever put up in a season all-time for his career. At only a $1.5M AAV against the team cap, Sheary is producing well above the price of which the Caps pay him. Sheary played on the 2nd-line last night with Johansson and Backstrom. The line shake ups lately have been quite interesting to see. Not sure how I feel about them. Just get it right for the playoffs, Laviolette.

News and Notes

Ovechkin Hits 50 - You have heard it at nauseam by now. On Wednesday against the Golden Knights, Ovechkin scored his 49th and 50th goal of the season. This is the 9th time Ovechkin has scored 50-goals in a season which ties him for most all-time with Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy. In addition, he set the record for most goals in a season by a players 36 or older. Many people continue to doubt Ovechkin and his ability to maintain his goal producing pace as he continues to age. I am 100% a believer that Ovi will catch Gretzky. However, I dont think I truly considered the idea he could hit 50 again. Shame on me. Sure, it always a possibility. But last season was just average for Ovechkin. He scored 24G in 45 GP during the shortened COVID season. That is just 0.533 Goals/GP which is roughly a 44-goal pace over the course of a standard 82-game season.

Ovechkin now sits at 780 career goals. He is 21 goals away from tying Goride Howe for 2nd all-time. He is 114 goals away from tying Wayne Gretzky for most all-time. As it currently stands, Ovechkin only needs to average 38-goals a year for the next three years to tie Gretzky. Ovi is on contract for the next 4-years.

Race to Avoid Florida - The Caps are in a tighly contested race with Pittsburgh and Boston to avoid the "wild card #2" spot in the playoffs. The WC2 will play Florida and no one wants to play Florida in the first round. I think the Caps would actually fair okay against the Panthers, but it would be nice to avoid that hypothetical sitation regardless. Here are the three teams jostling for position and their remaining schedules:

Washington Capitals:
Points - 99
Games Remaining: 4
Games Remaining that they will be favorites - 2
ROW - 39
Remaining schedule: TOR, NYI, @NYI, @NYR (back-to-back)

Pittsburgh Penguins
Points - 99
Games Remaining: 4
Games Remaining that they will be favorites - 4
ROW - 41
Remaining schedule: @DET, @PHI (back-to-back), EDM, CBJ

Boston Bruins
Points - 99
Games Remaining: 5
Games Remaining that they will be favorites - 3
ROW - 45
Remaining schedule: NYR, @MTL (back-to-back), FLA, BUF, @TOR (back-to-back)


My Final Projections if teams only win the games they are favorites:
Pittsburgh - 107 points
Boston - 105 points
Washington - 103 points

The Caps realistically have to win at least 3/4 games to even be in the hunt to move up in the standings. None of this means anything if the Caps cant win these games. If the Caps cant win these games then they are likely more pretenders than contenders. In addition, they need teams like NYR, FLA, and TOR to beat Boston. I strongly believe Pittsburgh pulls it together to close out the season with a favorable schedue. How cool would it be if Vrana went beast mode today and scored a hat-trick for Detroit against the Pens? Cmon Vrana! Boston has a tough schedule down the stretch and I think we have a better chance of catching them.


That is all for today. Thank you for reading and LETS GO CAPS



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Stats/Facts/Video Clips Provided By:

nhl.com/stats
hockey-reference.com
naturalstattrick.com
hockeyfights.com
@CapitalsPR Twitter page
@Capitals Twitter page
@HerseyBears Twitter page
>>>Follow me on Twitter @HB_Capitals<<<

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