The bar is set high, and it is their own fault. The Capitals had the NHL’s best regular season in 2009-10. They have won three Southeast Division titles in a row, played 28 playoff games since 2008 and are one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup. So why is their 14-4-1 record and NHL-best 29 points generating limited excitement? Because for much of this season it won’t be about whether Washington wins games but the way it does so. That’s the ultimate legacy of last year’s shocking first-round playoff loss to Montreal: A team falls short of its ultimate goal, and the search for reasons why takes over.
“Whether we play the right way or the wrong way, we’re going to win a lot of games because we have so many guys with so much skill that we can get away with it during the regular season,” Caps forward Matt Bradley said. “But I think the key for us is how we win and not winning only.”
That means getting early leads, protecting them, limiting dumb penalties and killing them off when they happen. So far, so good. The Caps allow 2.58 goals a game, 10th fewest in the NHL. Last year that number ended up at 2.77, good for 16th. The penalty-kill rate was 78.8 percent (25th) last season. This year’s group sits at 83.8 percent (12th). Minor penalties are up slightly from 4.1 to 4.4 a game. So Washington is better in most areas. But is it enough?
| Caps notes |
| » Washington (14-4-1, 29 points) plays at Atlanta (7-9-3, 17 points) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. It is the fourth meeting between the two teams in 20 games. |
| » Caps defenseman Tom Poti (undisclosed injury) skated for 30 minutes before practice Thursday but will not return this weekend. He has played once since Oct. 21. |
| » Washington has a 10-1 record at Verizon Center but is just 4-3-1 on the road this season. |
“One thing I’d like to see us really learn how to do is staple down teams, just suffocate them when we have a lead,” forward Brooks Laich told the Sports Junkies during a Thursday morning radio appearance on 106.7 The Fan. “If a game is 3-0 or 4-0, just suffocate them. Don’t let them come back and turn it into a 5-3 game.”
That’s been a mixed bag so far. The Caps have yet to lose a game by blowing a third-period lead, and five times they’ve successfully held tight to small advantages in the final minutes. But Washington also gave up three third-period goals each to Boston and Toronto in games it ultimately won. The Caps also let Atlanta tie a game with just 33 seconds left and saw Ottawa tie the score with a third-period goal. Again, they won both.
“It’s an on-going process, and it’s definitely something we have to work on,” Bradley said.
