The Washington Capitals know they have one of the top flying offenses in the NHL. The standings show it. They got the hot hand in goaltending with Logan Thompson and a quality backup in Charlie Lindgren when he's healthy and on his game. But what about the defense?
Here were the pairing's in last night's game which resulted in a win over the Ottawa Senators:
Jakob Chychrun - Trevor van Riemsdyk
The strengths are pretty much straightforward. A strong defense to protect either Thompson or Lindgren plus a one-two offensive punch packed by guys like John Carlson and Jakob Chychrun. All in all it's been a team effort and that's why the Caps are looking down on everybody in the Eastern Conference.
Let's further break this down with some advanced stats using the line tool at Natural Stat Trick. When Sandin is paired with Carlson their combined corsi for percentage is at 52.08 percent while their expected goals for chances are at 57.05 percent and their high danger chances for at 55.91 percent.
Now let's look at Martin Fehervary and Matt Roy. Roy is a newcomer from the Los Angeles Kings that was signed by the team during the summer free agency period. Fehervary, as we know, has been here for a bit of time. Their combined corsi for percentage is at 48.50 percent, their expected goals for percentage is at 44.48 percent and his high danger chances for percentage is at 46.75 percent.
Finally let's break down the advanced stats of Jakob Chychrun and Trevor van Riemsdyk. Their combined corsi for percentage is at 52.89 percent, their expected goals for percentage is at 46.95 percent and finally their high danger chances for percentage is at 53.16 percent.
And let's finally round this out with the basics. TvR has 13 points which are all assists. Chychrun has 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points along with a plus/minus of +17 so there's good reason why fans want him signed to a contract extension, plus he's just 26.
Fehervary has one goal and 10 assists for 11 points and a +8. Roy has nine assists and one goal for 10 points along with a +7. If you're a plus/minus guy you'll notice we accidentally skipped TvR. Our bad. He's got a whooping plus/minus of +14.
Rounding it out up top, Sandin has four goals and 14 assists for 18 points along with a plus/minus of +15. Carlson has four goals and 24 assists for 28 points and a plus/minus of +17.
Overall it's a rock solid defense. Brian MacLellan, Chris Patrick and Spencer Carbery did a termendeous job shaping it and the numbers based on the standings speak for themselves.
A weakness? I guess you can say the Caps have allowed 111 goals. But that's not weak at all. Among he teams behind them, they all play out west so that means the Washington defense and goaltending have allowed the fewest goals in the Eastern Conference. They just have to tighten up so LT or Chuck doesn't have to bail them out too hard.