Stars and Sticks
Fansided

Washington Capitals: Stars Of The Week – Kovalchuk Is A Capital

By CJ Witt

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 25: Ilya Kovalchuk #17 of the Washington Capitals looks on against the Winnipeg Jets during the second period at Capital One Arena on February 25, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 25: Ilya Kovalchuk #17 of the Washington Capitals looks on against the Winnipeg Jets during the second period at Capital One Arena on February 25, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 3
Next
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 25: Evgeny Kuznetsov #92 of the Washington Capitals skates against the Winnipeg Jets during the second period at Capital One Arena on February 25, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 25: Evgeny Kuznetsov #92 of the Washington Capitals skates against the Winnipeg Jets during the second period at Capital One Arena on February 25, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Evgeny Kuznetsov

This could go to maybe a couple of guys, but Evgeny Kuznetsov at the end of the day ticked every box you need to make our list. His stats were good, his advanced numbers were good and I thought he was one of the more noticeable Capitals almost all week.

Kuznetsov had three points this week behind only Ovechkin. All three of his points were assists, two of those helpers were primary. Being easy to see almost all week surely helped him on the score sheet.

His advanced stats look similar to Ovechkin, go figure playing on the same line. His Corsi rating was 47.42%, the same as Ovechkin. He scoring chance for percentage was 53.85% being on the ice for 28 chances for and 24 against. He was also on the ice for 11 high danger attempts for and 8 against.

He didn’t have the best individual stats, but he still had numbers. He had seven shots on goal this week, among the leaders, that was tied for fifth. He only had three scoring chances though and had the same amount of high danger chances.

Kuznetsov, who usually struggles at the faceoff dot had a pretty good week this week winning over 55% of the draws he took. He won 24 of 43 on the week.

Getting Kovalchuk seemed to ignite Kuznetsov. If he plays like this for the rest of the season and into the playoffs, lookout. We could be seeing Kuznetsov make out stars of the week a lot more frequently.

Trending. Capitals defeat Minnesota Wild 4-3. light

An honorable mention I think should go to Hathaway. He had a goal this week and his advanced stats were pretty incredible. His Corsi rating was 62.79%, his scoring chance percentage was 83.33% and his high danger attempts percentage was 85.71%. The only reason he didn’t crack our list was due to him being less noticeable than the three we named. But still, he deserves to be pointed out.

Home/Editorials