Defense
This was a question we had for the Capitals all season long. How good was this defense? Were they good enough and could they handle pressure from the hard working teams. This, combined with the effort we just talked about proved to be a big reason why the Capitals lost.
It’s not like the Capitals gave up 25 goals in 5 games. They weren’t giving up 5 goals a game, that’s not what I mean by saying the defense wasn’t good enough. Overall, I just though the defense had trouble dealing with the Islanders pressure and that was a concern I’ve had with this team all season.
If you want proof of the defense having trouble in the Islanders series just look at high danger attempts allowed. Despite playing in at least one fewer game than the teams around them the Capitals gave up the sixth most high danger attempts. Washington gave up 74 high danger attempts. To compare, the Montreal Canadiens gave up 70 high danger attempts. The Caps played in 8 playoff games, the Canadiens played in 10.
The St. Louis Blues and Hurricanes both played in 8 playoff games as well. The Blues gave up 59 high danger attempts, the Hurricanes gave up 61.
Washington was just not good enough defensively and were unable to keep teams from getting to those high danger areas.
That could possibly be more damning for Reirden considering he was thought of as more of a defensive guy. He was in charge of the defense before he took over head coaching duties. You would think a coach known for working with the defense would have a defensively solid team.
This season the Capitals gave up 3.07 goals against per game. That was the 18th most in the regular season. Defense wasn’t a problem that crept up in the playoffs. This was a season long issue, and it hurt Reirden and the Capitals when it mattered most.