Stars and Sticks
Fansided

Washington Capitals: New Additions Impact in First Week

By David Trice

UNIONDALE, NY - OCTOBER 04: Washington Capitals Left Wing Brendan Leipsic (28) controls the puck with New York Islanders Center Derick Brassard (10) defending during the first period of the game between the Washington Capitals and the New York Islanders on October 4, 2019, at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, NY. (Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
UNIONDALE, NY - OCTOBER 04: Washington Capitals Left Wing Brendan Leipsic (28) controls the puck with New York Islanders Center Derick Brassard (10) defending during the first period of the game between the Washington Capitals and the New York Islanders on October 4, 2019, at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, NY. (Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Richard Panik

UNIONDALE, NY – OCTOBER 04: Washington Capitals Right Wing Richard Panik (14) controls the puck with New York Islanders Defenseman Nick Leddy (2) defending during the first period of the game between the Washington Capitals and the New York Islanders on October 4, 2019, at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, NY> (Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
UNIONDALE, NY – OCTOBER 04: Washington Capitals Right Wing Richard Panik (14) controls the puck with New York Islanders Defenseman Nick Leddy (2) defending during the first period of the game between the Washington Capitals and the New York Islanders on October 4, 2019, at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, NY> (Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Richard Panik, has some large shoes to fill with the production fan favorite Brett Connolly provided the Capitals in a third line role. With the suspension of Kuznetsov to start the season he had been given a considerable amount of time on the power play, with 11:28 PPTOI.

While he hasn’t found any points so far, he has been in the vicinity of opportunities and even provided some distraction for the opposing defensemen by camping out in the hard areas. Panik has gotten a few shots on goal with three on the year, but he has made his impact the most with his physical play.

Panik has applied four hits and blocked three shots so far.  He has even been called to the faceoff dot a few times, and has been pretty successful while winning three out of four faceoffs good for 75% FOW%.

With the return of Kuznetsov from his early season suspension, Panik was finally given a chance on the penalty kill with 1:40 SHTOI against the Stars. He had a fair impact since the team didn’t allow a goal on the PK.

So far Panik has not found the scoresheet in the manner I expected. But much like Gudas I believe Panik is finding his rhythm with his new teammates. However, Panik is showing good fundamentals and defensive awareness in all zones of the ice. It’s only a matter of time he will begin a scoring frenzy with how he is camping out in front of the net, he will be in prime location to put back some rebounds when they are able to find his stick.

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