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Washington Capitals: Three Keys to Major Success

By David Trice

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 03: Alex Ovechkin #8, Nicklas Backstrom #19, and Brooks Orpik #44 of the Washington Capitals watch the 2018 Stanley Cup Championship banner rise to the rafters before playing against the Boston Bruins at Capital One Arena on October 3, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 03: Alex Ovechkin #8, Nicklas Backstrom #19, and Brooks Orpik #44 of the Washington Capitals watch the 2018 Stanley Cup Championship banner rise to the rafters before playing against the Boston Bruins at Capital One Arena on October 3, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 18: Richard Panik #14 of the Washington Capitals celebrates a goal against the St. Louis Blues during a preseason NHL game at Capital One Arena on September 18, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 18: Richard Panik #14 of the Washington Capitals celebrates a goal against the St. Louis Blues during a preseason NHL game at Capital One Arena on September 18, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Team Defense

If a team goes through adding and retaining the personnel necessary to improve an area of weakness and improvement doesn’t occur in this area it would be an obvious failure. It’s no wonder why the Capitals felt it was important to improve the team defense given the state of their defense when compared to the league.

Last season the Capitals had a 78.93 PK% for the 8th worst in the league and about 1.5% less than league average, 80.22 PK%. The percentage of scoring chances in the team’s favor, SCF%, was 48.3 placing them 10th worst in the league meaning they had more scoring chances in the opponents favor over their own which could be a byproduct of the lacking team defense.

WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 18: Austin Poganski #53 of the St. Louis Blues skates against the Washington Capitals during a preseason NHL game at Capital One Arena on September 18, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 18: Austin Poganski #53 of the St. Louis Blues skates against the Washington Capitals during a preseason NHL game at Capital One Arena on September 18, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Along the same lines the Capitals percentage of high danger scoring chances in the team’s favor, HDF%, was 44.9 for 6th worst in the league meaning the opponent had the advantage which can be attributed to the Capitals inability to keep opponents out of their own zone.

If the Capitals can at least be around the league average for the PK%, and have greater than 50% for SCF% and HDF%, that should be a good indicator of a vastly improved team defense.

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