Washington Capitals: Stanley Cup Playoffs Round One Observations

The Washington Capitals had several interesting storylines develop in their first round playoff series against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Washington Capitals moved on to Round Two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 1-0 victory on Sunday over the Philadelphia Flyers. This earned them a date with the red-hot Pittsburgh Penguins.

A lot can happen in six games, and the Washington Capitals especially were under the microscope as the postseason began after such a successful regular season. Here are some of the biggest observations that I made as the first round came and went.

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• The stars were shining.
  • The Washington Capitals have been perceived as a team of chokers over the years when some of their biggest names didn’t “show up” in the postseason. While this is somewhat true in theory, that narrative switched places in the first six contests of this year’s playoffs for the Caps.
    • When you think of the stars on this team, Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, John Carlson and Braden Holtby come to mind the most. Of course you have a guy like Evgeny Kuznetsov, but he is still not necessarily as established as the others.
  • Holtby played out of his mind (actually, he probably didn’t), and each of the other four star players that I mentioned contributed in big ways.
  • I want to talk about T.J. Oshie. He was maligned in St. Louis for his disappointing playoff record, so he was traded to the Washington Capitals – another team littered with players who have been criticized for their postseason play.
    • In 30 playoff games with the Blues, Oshie managed nine points. With the Capitals, Oshie scored almost half as many points as his career total in just six games with his new team. His four points were good for fifth on the Washington Capitals in Round One.
    • The second line is due.
      • As in the regular season, the second line of Andre Burakovsky, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Justin Williams absolutely dominated from a possession standpoint. Their 62.1 Corsi For Percentage was tops on the Washington Capitals.
      • Despite this, Williams had just two assists, Kuznetsov just one goal, and Burakovsky was kept off of the scoresheet completely.
        • To this point: Kuznetsov’s 5% and Williams’ 0% shooting percentages will absolutely not last forever. These guys need to keep putting rubber on the net and the goals will come.
        • A bit about Burakovsky now. He had just six shots over the course of the entire series, and that simply has to change. He is still very young, and growing pains can be expected in the playoffs from him. However, he has one of the better shots on the team and he is incredibly talented. The Capitals have to stay patient and let him get his opportunities.

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        • This series was never as close as it seemed.
          • Though the Flyers managed to steal two games, I’m not sure that there as ever much logical doubt that the Washington Capitals could win the series. After the Flyers were arguably the better team in some facets in their game two defeat, the series swung in favor of the Caps from there.
          • The Flyers managed just 36 combined shots in their victories. In those same games, the Capitals registered 76.
          • Michal Neuvirth is probably the only reason that this series didn’t end in a sweep. The Flyers could not put more than two goals on the board on any given night, which was made worse by the fact that the Capitals lit Steve Mason up in two consecutive games. Neuvy played great, and that bought the Flyers a little bit of extra time.
          • A round one test could end up being a good thing.
            • While some people will tell you that it isn’t a good sign of things to come that the Flyers did pose a challenge to Washington in some ways, it could be a good thing in the long run.
              • Though the series was never truly in doubt, the Capitals were peppered with the usual questions of their playoff past and if that still carries over.
                • It took a few days, but the team put these to rest with a game six victory. I’m not convinced that battling through this early in the playoffs won’t help them stay motivated and stay confident as they get deeper into the postseason.
                • The Washington Capitals must stay out of the box.
                  • Take a look at this graph on a six-game rolling average. The Caps just can’t take as many penalties against the Penguins if they want to have a good chance in this series.

                  

                  Next: Top Five Capitals From Round One

                  All in all, the series went about as we all probably expected, albeit a little bit more low-scoring. There is a lot that we learned about this team in round one, and hopefully, the journey is just beginning.