Japers Rink

Heading into Game 3, we talked about line matching both generally and specifically. So how’d it play out in two games in Montreal? Here are the five-on-five matchups for the two games (Game 3 on the left, Game 4 on the right): Just from a quick glance, the chart on the right has a lot more red (good for the Caps), which makes sense – per Natural Stat Trick, the Caps had a … [Read more...] about Jeu de Match: Line Matching in Montreal

There’s no question that this Capitals team was nowhere near at their best in Game 3. They seemed ill-equipped to handle the big spotlight of Bell Centre, of putting a stranglehold on the series, and of taking out a team that had pushed back in two previous games. Last night was a very different story, thankfully with a very different outcome, as well. It wasn’t a perfect game, … [Read more...] about Capitals-Canadiens Game 4: How the Game Was Won

LT is Risen If the Washington Capitals were a religion, then devotees seeing their long-haired savior go down on a Spring Friday only to unexpectedly rise on Sunday and lead them would be a parallel too apt to ignore. But the Washington Capitals are not a religion, so fans just have to settle for a Willis Reed-light comeback from Logan Thompson and a 3-1 series lead. We’ll take … [Read more...] about The Narrative: LT is Risen, That Hit and Doggy Style

Over the course of the regular season, the Caps had the League’s fifth-rated penalty kill, successfully squashing a robust 82 percent of the man disadvantages they faced, with the underlying metrics to back up that ranking. In the playoffs so far? Not so much. Granted, these are very small samples we’re talking about, but so far the Caps have only escaped eight of 13 … [Read more...] about Penalty Killing Me… and Not Softly

Over the course of the regular season, the Caps had the League’s fifth-rated penalty kill, successfully squashing a robust 82 percent of the man disadvantages they faced, with the underlying metrics to back up that ranking. In the playoffs so far? Not so much. Granted, these are very small samples we’re talking about, but so far the Caps have only escaped eight of 13 … [Read more...] about Penalty Killing Me… and Not Softly