The Washington Capitals are taking on the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round beginning on Tuesday night from Capital One Arena at 7 p.m. on ESPN for Game 1. Let's break down the stats among the two teams so far in the postseason.
Let's not bury the lede here and cut to the chase of which stat will give the Caps the edge. I think it'll be their defense and in particular their blocked shots that will give the Capitals the edge.
It's all about defense to win any playoff series. Players will be willing to lay out their bodies on the line in hopes of helping the team succeed.
So far in the postseason the Capitals have had 97 blocked shots compared to the Hurricanes 73. The Hurricanes average 12.63 blocked shots per 60 mintues this playoffs while the Caps average 19.24 blocks per 60 minutes of play.
The hits will also be important. Carolina does have a slight edge in that but that doesn't mean the Caps don't have heavy hitters either.
The Caps have 160 hits in the playoffs so far. The Hurricanes have 192 so not too far ahead. Turnovers will also be key. The Caps did a good job protecting the puck in the first round as they had just 63 giveaways that series.
The Hurricanes had 67 giveaways in a five game first round series win over the New Jersey Devils. On the power play the Capitals had a 23.1 percent success rate in the playoffs while the Hurricanes had a success rate of 31.6 percent.
So Carolina is the better team on the man advantage yes. The Capitals penalty kill will have to be on their heels this whole series. Another key would be to stay out of the penalty box altogether.
The Carolina penatly kill has been a perfect 100 percent. The Capitals are at 66.67 percent. The Devils were completley stifled on their power play in the opening round.
The Caps also have to control the puck more and longer than the Hurricanes. The Canes have good possession metrics probably the best in the league in corsi. Control the puck, block the shots, and stay out of the box. Do those those things and you're talking about a Caps win. Game 1 is Tuesday.