The Defense Isn’t Too Bad
Coming into the season I was really worried about the defense when I looked at the lineup. Ten games into the season and the results are not too bad. Actually, they look pretty good. It might have gotten off to a rocky start. They allowed 23 goals in their first six games. But they have recovered and over the past four games they have allowed just 7 goals.
That means they have allowed 30 total goals this season. That ranks in the top ten in the NHL so far this year.
They are not just dodging haymakers either. They have allowed 222 scoring chances while at full and even strength, which is top ten. They have also allowed 96 high danger attempts which is in the top half of the league as well.
I was not expecting this team to be good on defense at all. We also need to point out, we’re not sure if they are good or if they are just in a good spell here against some weaker or struggling teams.
Are the Capitals actually pretty good on defense? Are they what they have been the last four games? Or are they the team that let up four to the Penguins, six to the Senators, four to the Devils and got absolutely destroyed for a period that game?
Ten games is a good sample size to figure things out about a team. But this one is kind of split down the middle. The numbers look good, the recent results have been good, but I want more evidence they can be good defensively for a longer period of time.