Washington Capitals: Top 3 key players to watch against Bruins
The Washington Capitals have one more Round Robin game.
The Washington Capitals will take on the Boston Bruins to close out the Round Robin on Sunday afternoon with a 12 noon puck drop. It’ll be a battle for the third seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Bruins entered the playoffs as the number one seed but now could enter the Stanley Cup playoffs in the opening round as the fourth seed if they drop another game. They fell in the Round Robin opener to the Philadlephia Flyers 4-1. They also dropped their most recent game, a 3-2 defeat to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Flyers and Lightning will meet tonight to determine the number one seed for the east making this contest a third place game. The Caps as we all know came back from a 2-0 deficit in their first Round Robin game against the Lightning but fell in the shootout. Recently they dropped their second Round Robin game in an uninspiring effort 3-1 with Travis Boyd scoring the lone Caps goal. The Caps could face either the Carolina Hurricanes or the New York Islanders in the first round of the playoffs when all this is said and done.
Here are the top 3 players to watch for tomorrow’s game.
#3 Alex Ovechkin
Alex Ovechkin is due. After scoring two goals in the exhibition game against the Hurricanes, the Capitals star was held off the scoresheet in the two Round Robin games. He would love to get back on the board in the finale before the pressure really begins.
Ovechkin had just three shots in 21:29 of ice time in the first Round Robin game. In the second, which was worse from a team effort standpoint, Ovechkin had two shots in 20:26.
Ovechkin’s advanced stats weren’t too good either. His Corsi For percentage in the first game was a 41.67 percent. Ovechkin’s Corsi For percentage was even worse during the Flyers game, dipping to a 35.29 percent.
Ovechkin had a strong regular season with 48 goals tied with David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins, each splitting a Rocket Richard Trophy. This will be a matchup between two of the best goal scorers in the game and should be fun to watch.
Ovechkin’s playoff stats are pretty solid with 65 goals and 61 assists for 126 points in 130 games. His shot percentage is at 11.3 percent and he averages 21:20 of ice time in his career.
Ovechkin isn’t the only player to keep an eye on in this game. There’s two other players to watch.
#2 Braden Holtby
One player who has given the Bruins problems has been the man in the crease for the Capitals. Braden Holtby has been unstoppable against the Bruins and at one point in his career had won 12 straight games against them. He’s also had plenty of history against that team.
He made his NHL debut in the middle of a contest against the Boston Bruins, coming into the game in the middle of the action. He appeared for 10:09 and made four saves.
He became a star in Washington in the 2012 playoffs, helping lead the Caps to a first round upset of the then defending Stanley Cup champion Bruins in seven games. Holtby was arguably MVP of that thrilling series. Holtby made 233 saves on 248 shots in that series for a .940 save percentage.
Holtby is 25-14-6 this season with a 3.11 goals against average and an .897 save percentage in 47 starts. So far in the playoffs he’s 0-1-1 with a 2.46 goals against average and a .898 save percentage. In the first Round Robin game, Holtby made 26 saves on 28 shots for a .929 save percentage in a game that he helped keep the Capitals in.
The second game was a tougher one for the Holtbeast thanks to poor defense that needs to step up tomorrow.
#1 T.J. Oshie
The number one player to watch is the biggest impact player from one of Washington’s biggest wins over Boston in recent memory. T.J. Oshie had himself a game in December and a highlight-reel goal that might’ve been the best goal of the season for the boys in red.
Oshie had two goals in that December game that saw the Caps win 3-2. Both came in the second period. His second goal was a thing of beauty as he undressed two Bruins defenders and whiffed a backhanded goal into the net.
Oshie knows the top six needs to produce and knows that the team is struggling to create chances during this Round Robin.
Oshie told Samantha Pell of The Washington Post (subscription required):
“[In the summer] no one is really playing for real, and then you get out here and it is a lot harder. You have to work a lot harder to score goals. You got to work harder to get in position to score goals, and things happen a lot faster. So we definitely need more offense. If not goals then at least chances and momentum from the top six here.”
Capitals: Three Stars Of The Game – Holtby The Lone Standout. light. More
Oshie, Ovechkin, Holtby and the rest of the team look to play better as the Caps close out the Round Robin against the Bruins. Puck drop is at 12 p.m. and you can catch the game on NBC Sports Washington plus.