Who Is Off To A Good Start For The Washington Capitals
We are now six games into our shortened fifty-six game season. Believe it or not we are already about 10% of the way through the regular season. That perhaps goes to show how important every game could and will be. Teams obviously want get off to a good start. The Washington Capitals are no different.
Six games into the season the Capitals have not lost in regulation. They sit at 3-0-3 and that’s good for 9 points. They currently sit atop of the east division, somewhere I think a lot of Caps and hockey fans assume they will stay. The team has gotten off to a good start, so which players have gotten off to a hot start?
That’s what we’ll talk about here today. There have been several Capitals, and for that matter, key Capitals that have gotten off to a good start. Lets go ahead and take a look at who makes our list.
Nicklas Backstrom
I have been a big critic of Nicklas Backstrom‘s for the past two seasons or so. Far too often have I watched this Capitals team the last two years and I never notice number nineteen. Early on this season not only am I noticing Backstrom a lot more but he has gotten off to a good start in the scoring department.
Backstrom leads the team in points with 7, four of those are goals, two of those goals are 5v5. The Capitals need Backstrom to score a little more. He’s a player who should be at or over a point per game in my opinion. He has not done that since the 2016-17 season. He’s off to a good start this season.
His advanced stats don’t look too pretty. His Corsi% is 45.61%. While on the ice at 5v5 the team has 30 scoring chances for and 40 against, obviously being on the wrong side of that stat. The Capitals also have 10 high danger attempts for and 18 against with Backstrom on the ice.
But, he and the team are getting goals. While on the ice the Capitals have scored 6 goals and allowed 4 goals. That’s the point of the game, how many do you score vs how many do you allow.
Backstrom also has the second most individual scoring chances and high danger attempts, behind Evgeny Kuznetsov on both. He has 9 scoring chances and 4 high danger attempts. Kuznetsov has 10 and 7 on those stats.
NO ANGLE, NO PROBLEM pic.twitter.com/RdogcXjzYH
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 24, 2021
Right now, Backstrom is scoring, he is noticeable, and in my opinion, he’s been one of the better Capitals to start this season.
Tom Wilson
Tom Wilson is unfortunately a little banged up at the moment but that does not stop him from being towards the top of the team scoring. It’s rarely hard to notice Wilson, he always seems to play with speed and physicality, he’s done that early this season and he’s scoring as well.
Wilson has 3 goals and 3 assists in 5 games so far this season. That six points ties him for second in team scoring with T.J. Oshie and Jakub Vrana, behind only Backstrom’s team leading 7 points. His 3 goals are also tied with Vrana for second on the team and also only behind Backstrom and his 4 goals.
While 5v5 Wilson has 7 individual scoring chances and has 3 high danger attempts. Both of those numbers rank top five on the Capitals.
Like Backstrom, Wilson’s advanced stats leave a little to be desired. His Corsi% is a poor 42.45%. While on the ice the Capitals give up more than they get, earning 19 scoring chances and 9 high danger attempts. On the flip side, they have allowed 24 scoring chances and 13 high danger attempts.
As you might assume, Wilson is towards the top of the team in hits. He has 22 total hits in 5 games, that’s behind only Garnet Hathaway’s 24 and he has played in one more game than Wilson.
If we’re going to take something away from Backstrom and Wilson, they are scoring, the team is scoring while they are on the ice. Hopefully they can bring up their advanced stats. Because if the scoring dries up, they might start to run at a deficit.
T.J. Oshie
We’ve talked about T.J. Oshie a little bit already today. He is near the top of the scoring list as well. In terms of noticeability, Oshie may be the top Capital in my opinion. The thing about Oshie, is he isn’t noticeable because he’s scoring, he’s scoring because he’s noticeable. A big difference. Also something I will point out in a minute.
Oshie is one of three players tied with six points. He has scored 2 goals and added 4 assists. Two of his four assists are primary assists as well.
Oshie has 8 scoring chances while 5v5 and also has 3 high danger attempts.
Oshie’s advanced stats are a bit of a mixed bag. His Corsi% is better than the two guys we’ve already mentioned at 49.66%. But his scoring chance percentage is 43.08 having 28 for and 37 against and his high danger attempts percentage is a gnarly (that’s right I said gnarly!) 29.17% having 7 for and 17 against. His possession numbers are good, but he and his teammates have to do better at limiting chances and high danger attempts.
.@TJOshie77 making that look EASY PEASY pic.twitter.com/NeUX1EpluY
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 24, 2021
My concern for Oshie is the same as Backstrom and Wilson. So far, the offense is there. But some underlying numbers might be concerning, particularly if the offense were to decrease.
Honorable Mention – Jakub Vrana
I’m putting Jakub Vrana as a honorabale mention because I have hardly noticed him so far this season other than when he’s scoring. As I said earlier about Oshie who is scoring because he’s noticeable, I feel Vrana is only noticeable because he’s scoring. If Vrana wasn’t scoring I feel I would hardly notice him at all.
Vrana has six points this season, 3 goals and 3 assists. His advanced stats are the best of the guys on this list. His Corsi% is 53.68%, his scoring chances percentage is 55.56% and his high danger attempts percentage is 53.85%. To me, this is why advanced stats don’t always tell the whole story. The three guys I mentioned above Vrana, to me, were better than him. Vrana had better numbers, but I just didn’t notice as much.
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The good news for Vrana is I don’t have the same concern for him as I do with the others. He’s on the right side of the advanced stats. If his offense comes down, there isn’t much worry that a bunch of goals will be scored against him and his linemates.