Stars and Sticks
Fansided

Capitals: Top 3 key players to watch against Flyers

By Michael Marzzacco

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 04: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals celebrates after scoring his first goal of the game against the Los Angeles Kings in the third period at Capital One Arena on February 04, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 04: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals celebrates after scoring his first goal of the game against the Los Angeles Kings in the third period at Capital One Arena on February 04, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 4
Next
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 04: Radko Gudas #33 of the Washington Capitals skates with the puck against the Los Angeles Kings in the first period at Capital One Arena on February 04, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 04: Radko Gudas #33 of the Washington Capitals skates with the puck against the Los Angeles Kings in the first period at Capital One Arena on February 04, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Radko Gudas

Facing his former team for the third time will be Radko Gudas, whom the Capitals acquired from the Flyers in exchange for Matt Niskanen. Last season Gudas recorded 20 points (four goals, 16 assists) in 77 games with the Flyers.

Gudas leads all Capitals defensemen and is second on the team in hits with 147. Last season, Gudas ranked third in the NHL among blueliners and 10th overall in hits with 255 and since 2012-13 Gudas has recorded 1,484 hits which is second among defensemen in that stretch and sixth in the league.

If Gudas can stay out of the box he’ll be a big help with the Caps penalty kill, which has had momentum as of late. The Caps have killed 29 of their last 32 penalties over their last 10 games and their kill percentage of 84.7 is ranked second in the NHL behind the San Jose Sharks who are at 86.9 percent.

Per the game notes, the Capitals 84.7 kill percentage is the highest it’s been since the 2015-16 season (85.2 percent) and the eighth-highest percentage in franchise history.

Gudas and his pairing partner Jonas Siegenthaler lead the pack when it comes to penalty kill time with Siegenthaler leading at 166:42 with Gudas at 147:32.

Of course there’s one more player to talk about and the choice is too obvious.

Home/Editorials