Washington Capitals vs Penguins: Time to Make a Stand with Big Win

The Washington Capitals are entering the time in the year where they need to make a major statement through their play, can it be done against their archrival Penguins?

Again the Washington Capitals found themselves on the losing end of an overtime affair with rival Pittsburgh Penguins by way of a 3-2 score.  While this didn’t make a dent in the standings for the respective teams it is one of those games which may come back at the end of the year having made a major impact in the overall outcome. With the Capitals struggling to string together a solid winning streak, it’s time to really step up and make a true statement of their intent to contend for the Stanley Cup.

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Before reaching the half way mark for the 1st period, the Washington Capitals 18th ranked PK was put to the test. Sadly they failed by allowing a goal by Evgeni Malkin. Following this both teams locked it down for the remainder of the period as expected with a top rivalry and the score would enter the first intermission at 1-0 in the Penguins favor.

It didn’t take as long into the 2nd period and the Washington Capitals responded to tie the game on the stick of Richard Panik for his second goal on the year. In typical Capitals fashion they would later take the lead in the same period off a goal by Conor Sheary, but this lead would be short lived as they would allow the tying goal less than 30 seconds later. After this both teams stepped up to keep it knotted at 2 apiece leading to the end of regulation, thus again requiring extra time to determine the winner.

In the extra period the Penguins would not take long to snatch the extra standings point from the Washington Capitals with an overtime goal. This would mark the third time this year they would lose to the Penguins in overtime or a shootout. It also leaves the Capitals with a 1-4 record against their chief rival. This should come as no surprise since the Capitals allowed nearly twice the amount of shots on Vanecek (37) they were able to produce against Jarry (22). Again this should be expected since the Capitals possession numbers support more shots from the Penguins, where they had 42.1 CF% and 57.9 CF% respectively. What can the Washington Capitals do to make the statement necessary to take hold as one of the better teams?

When looking closer at the Washington Capitals it makes you wonder how they are in their position in the standings given their goal differential of -3 is currently the 3rd worst in the east division. For contrast purposes the Bruins who are leading in the East right now hold a +15 goal differential while being the best at holding the opponent from scoring while being 4th best in scoring. In the same thought process the Capitals are leading the division in terms of scoring, but it doesn’t help when they allow more goals than all other teams in the East Division. The statement would be achieved if the Capitals can do a better job of eliminating a bunch of scoring chances for the Penguins.

Taking a dive into the advanced team analytics, it appears that the Washington Capitals actually hold their own in regards to scoring chances. The Capitals currently are ranked 6th in the league with a 60.8% SCF (scoring chances for percentage) and 8th in HDF (high danger scoring chance percentage) with 59.8%.  So how do they maintain their position in goals for and against, well looking at the rate they convert their scoring chances sheds some light on it. Out of the 59.8% of the HDF the Capitals have only converted on 8.8% of those occurrences good for 27th in the league. But even with the obvious defensive issues the team has they also have done well to resist the oppositions high danger scoring opportunities as they have held their opponents to 8.5% conversion rate good for 5th best in the league.

So to really take hold and be a true contender for the Stanley Cup again the Washington Capitals are going to need to find ways to cash in better on their high danger scoring opportunities. But the team can not neglect stopping their opponents in manageable situations given they do well enough when the other team has a good opportunity. Can they start this trend against the Penguins in the last of a 5 game home stand? Here is how to find out:

Date: February 25, 2021
Time: 7 p.m. EST
Where: Capital One Arena
TV Broadcast: NBC Sports Washington
Radio: Caps Radio 24/7
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