Capitals: Analyzing Ilya Kovalchuk's Game vs The Winnipeg Jets

We’re going to do something a little different here today.

We’re going to analyze Ilya Kovalchuk’s game in Winnipeg on Thursday night, but not the usual way you might see. We’re not just going to look at stats or advanced stats and say “he needs to improve here, or that needs work”.

What I’m going to do here is show you what I wrote down after every shift Kovalchuk had during the game in Winnipeg. This will be more like a scouting report. However, as you may soon find out, I am no scout.

I thought this would be an interesting thing to do since Kovalchuk is a new Capitals player and if he had a great game and you read this, that would be what a great game from Kovalchuk looked like. The same would go for if he had an average or even a poor game.

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So lets see how this goes.

Before we jump into the shifts I’ll just point out Kovalchuk played 16:57 on the night. 2:39 of that was on the power play. I counted Kovalchuk playing 17 shifts for the game.

1st Shift

There was a bit of a scramble off the faceoff, Kovalchuk stepped in behind Lars Eller and he either poked the puck or the puck went off him and back to Eller who then had a great chance. A few seconds later Kovalchuk had an easy pass off the boards to Kempny at the blue line who flicked a shot towards the net, I’d call that shot a half chance. Not threatening but it could get deflected or cause a rebound.

2nd Shift

After a teammates turnover at the defensive blue line and a quick re-entry Kovalchuk blocked a cross ice pass. Later on, he missed Eller on an easier pass but the puck got deep anyways. He then missed an opportunity to help win the puck back behind the net, he flew by a teammate and a Jet that was tied up and the Jets ended up clearing the zone.

3rd Shift

Not much on this shift, but another chance where there were two Capitals and one Jet and Kovalchuk and his Washington teammate lost a battle which led to an exit by Winnipeg.

4th Shift

Kovalchuk was able to dangle off the side boards and into the middle of the ice, he didn’t shoot the puck however and he lost control of the puck soon after. The puck went into the corner where two of his teammates won a battle and got him the puck close to the net to the left of the goaltender. Good shot and good chance but he was possibly into too tight and didn’t have much to shoot at.

5th Shift

While leading a rush he made a nice pass to area pass to Carl Hagelin to get into the zone. Later in the shift he chipped the puck in and followed it in a bit before curling off and changing.

6th Shift

Not much here either. He missed a chance to potentially chip it out of the zone at the blue line, didn’t get it out, instead the puck was poked back to a teammate who had to find a way out instead.

7th Shift

The first shift for Kovalchuk in the second period. He tipped a puck in to prevent an icing. His forecheck made it a little difficult for Winnipeg to get out of their own zone.

8th Shift

A bit of a soft play defensively let Winnipeg into the middle of the ice. A few seconds later the Jets tried a cross ice pass in the middle of the ice which Kovalchuk knocked away. He then had a turnover at the defensive blue line which caused the team to be a little scrambled. That forced the line to have a long shift as well.

9th Shift

Here he supported the breakout nicely. After he received a pass from the D near their own blue line he skated through the neutral zone, dropped a pass to a teammate near the boards setting up a shot.

10th Shift

This shift is on the power play. Kovalchuk is on the second power play unit and he is in the Ovechkin spot. He gets a one timer off, looks to place the shot well far side, but Connor Hellebuyck robs him. Later he dumps the puck back in after a WPG clear. He and the Caps work to get the puck back. Some nice stick handling and skating from Kovalchuk draws another penalty behind the net.

11th Shift

This shift gets started on the power play but there is nothing to mention from it. After the power play expires Kovalchuk tried to deke his way past a couple of Jets, but it’s a fairly easy play and clear for Winnipeg.

12th Shift

The first shift of the third period for Kovalchuk. This is on the power play. He knocks down a clearing attempt that was a couple of feet in the air. Not much else happened. He was also on the first power play unit.

13th Shift

On for a goal against. This was a bit of a rough play for Kovalchuk. The Caps changed while the Jets were getting into the Washington zone and Kovalchuk had to scramble off the bench a bit to help out. He maybe have been able to prevent the pass into the slot a little better, but I won’t blame him here at all.

14th Shift

Kovalchuk and the Capitals might have had an iffy change the last shift but this one works to their benefit. He is the late man in after a change which gives him a good shot in a high danger area. The puck unfortunately gets deflected. Later he tries a bit of a fancy play in the neutral zone, It doesn’t work and it sends Winnipeg the other way and they get a good chance.

15th Shift

Nothing of note happened this shift honestly.

16th Shift

Kovalchuk and a teammate engaged in a loose puck battle which the Capitals got. That leads to a shot for. A bad angle shot later by Kovalchuk gets deflected off the outside of the near post. He and the Caps put pressure on the Jets and it leads to a turnover and more zone time by Washington.

17th Shift

This was after an empty net goal and the game was sealed for Winnipeg. Near the Caps blue line he has trouble with a puck, possibly a bouncing puck and it gets turned over to the Jets. They get a good chance after a quick re-entry that Samsonov has to make a very good glove save on.

There you have it. That’s what I wrote down after every Ilya Kovalchuk shift during the game vs the Jets on Thursday night.

I thought he had a fine game. Wasn’t great, far from bad. He had some nice moments, like drawing a penalty behind the Jets net right after a power play ended. He also had one maybe two good chances himself.

Must Read. Capitals are now a Stanley Cup contender thanks to Ilya Kovalchuk. light

If I had to give him a grade, I would give him a C+ or B-. I have a feeling that if I wasn’t specifically looking for Kovalchuk I might not have noticed him much. That seems to be the case for a lot of Capitals this year, hopefully he doesn’t fall into the mold.

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