Caps Quick Hits: What’s Eating Ovechkin, On Back-to-Backs and Bad Puck Luck

The Caps wrapped up a week out west Sunday night with a 4-2 loss in Vancouver, capping a 1-2-0 road trip through Western Canada that saw the Caps play very well in a 3-2 loss in Edmonton and 3-1 victory over Calgary only to fall short in the finale against the Canucks. Note how lethargic the Caps looked Sunday night in Vancouver at the end of the long journey and be thankful the Caps don’t play in a place like Winnipeg or Colorado where long-distance road trips would be the norm.

Onto the quick hits:

That Edmonton Game Stings

With how good the Caps have looked overall, expectations are raised. In a stretch of games against Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, you’d like to see the Caps pick up more than two points if they fancy themselves contenders.

Of course, when viewed in context, luck was not on their side. The hockey gods did not want them to beat Edmonton, evidently, despite their 64% Fenwick score in that game. Of course, if you’ve been watching Caps hockey over the last 39 years or so, you might reasonably expect Ben Scrivens and his .882 save percentage to play like Patrick Roy against Trotz’s bunch. That loss stung even more given the fact that they couldn’t steal some points out of Vancouver.

Worried About the Canucks Loss? Don’t Be

Unfortunately for the Caps, they needed points in Edmonton to have a reasonable chance at a successful trip, because the way the schedule was setup did them no favors Sunday night in Vancouver and it showed on the ice. Excuses don’t win championships (or some other rah-rah sports cliche here), but the fact is that the Caps flew in that morning on a 90 minute flight after playing the night before in Calgary.

As was pointed out in the Japers’ Rink comments section Monday, road teams on the back end of back-to-backs have a win expectancy just a shade over 42%. That was the end of a long journey through Western Canada for the Caps, and it showed. They looked sluggish and slow. Passes weren’t tape-to-tape. Turnovers were a major issue. And then of course the home cooking in Vancouver with the officials didn’t help.

There’s a reason they haven’t won in Vancouver since 2001. It’s never fun to watch them surrender over 30 shots for the first time all year and Fenwick at under 50% also for the first time. But it’s a little unfair to judge them on that one game.

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What’s Up with Ovie?

Should we be worried about Alex Ovechkin? The answer is maybe. The Vancouver game marked his fourth straight with 0 points after he came out of the gates guns-a-blazing to start the year. He went through two four-game stretches of 0 points last season. None the season before that. Actually, you have to go all the way back to 2006-2007 to find the last stretch before that of four games with 0 points recorded. That’s a testament to just how great he has been and how much we should appreciate him.

He’s been visibly off these last few games. Look at his SOG logs. In games 2-4 this season he registered seven, eight and five SOG. The last four? A grand total of seven shots.

So let’s see if he snaps out of it on his own. If this continues through the weekend, sitting him might be a good idea. Perhaps he’s hiding a minor hand or wrist ailment given that he blocked a shot with his hand recently and took a tough slash a couple weeks ago. It’s early, and Ovechkin has been doing all of the little things for Barry Trotz, so the questions regarding his relative lack of point production haven’t started yet. But they will if this keeps up, and the Caps haven’t had a tendency in recent years to divulge injury info unless necessary.

Recall the Sidney Crosby scenario last playoffs when the Penguins and Crosby assured us he was healthy, only to have him get a procedure on his wrist shortly after elimination. The point is, it’s hard to know what’s going on to us outsiders if someone has a hand or wrist injury.

Ironically, Ovechkin has continued to excel at all the things the mainstream goons rip on him for. He’s been defensively engaged, with timely back checking and shot blocking. He’s been a possession monster . And he’s throwing his weight around delivering punishing hits  (as is his tendency when his shot is not going in). But they need him to drive the bus when it comes to goal scoring.

 The Week Ahead

The Caps get two days to catch their breath before they host the Detroit Red Wings this Wednesday. They will then play back-to-backs at Tampa  Bay on Saturday and at home against Arizona Sunday. Washington is 8th in Fenwick-Close right now at 53.28% while the Coyotes, Wings and Lightning are 15th, 17th and 18th in those categories.

By standings points, Tampa is 5-3-1 with 11 points and second in the Atlantic, Detroit is 4-2-2 and third in the Atlantic with 10 points. Arizona is 3-3-1  and a -7 goal differential in the brutal Pacific division, good for sixth place out of  seven.

Expectations

The Caps should be able to gain at least four points out of the possible six this week. A month ago, that might have been a lofty goal but things have changed with their re-emergence back onto the scene in the Metro Division. Tampa Bay is one of the better teams in the East and will be a tough matchup on the road, but Detroit is good-not-great and the Caps should be motivated to make up for their road trip. Arizona will come into town after playing the night before in Carolina and there’s little excuse for the Caps not to carry the play.