With the regular season drawing to close, the Capitals are finding troubles few and far between.
Sitting on the cusp of the Stanley Cup playoffs with an unassailable grip on the Eastern Conference’s top seed, a diverse lineup filled with camaraderie and dynamism is quite the enviable position.
One catch — the penalty kill, a major anchor for any successful playoff team — has been bad over the course of the year. As in 25th-in-the-NHL bad. That’s the worst among teams currently in the playoff picture. Not that it’s a secret, at this point.
At the deadline Caps general manager George McPhee did his part, acquiring penalty-kill specialist Eric Belanger from Minnesota. It was a serious move that bolstered a group with pieces in place to be a solid unit.
Boudreau has long looked for a way to weave his most valuable asset, an excess of skill and speed, into the shorthanded equation. That has led to some positive results — forward Alexander Semin’s one-man-band of a shorty against Pittsburgh in a 4-3 shootout win on Wednesday night is Exhibit A — but the experiment has been ongoing since last season and has yet to yield concrete results.
Still, Wednesday’s 4-for-5 performance is a big step in the right direction. Throughout the game, Boudreau tossed out a few different combinations of forwards, including different pairings of Belanger, Semin, Dave Steckel, Nicklas Backstrom, Jason Chimera, Matt Bradley and Tomas Fleischmann.
While Pittsburgh’s struggles on the man-advantage mirror those of the Caps’ penalty kill, Washington limited Sidney Crosby’s squad to 10 power-play shots. With physical play from defenseman Shaone Morrisonn (season-high nine hits) and timely stops from emerging go-to-goalie Jose Theodore, the night was a success for the penalty kill. And that’s becoming something of a trend.
“I thought we killed penalties great tonight,” said Boudreau. “We made one mistake and they end up with a 2-on-1 with the wrong guy [Crosby] having the puck. But the zone time in the last seven games has been cut down very, very significantly and that’s really important. And so that’s a good sign.”
Since a March 8 debacle against Dallas when the penalty kill was hit for two goals in two attempts during a 4-3 shootout loss, the Caps have yet to surrender more than one extra-man tally.
“I thought we did a good job,” said Belanger. “We gave up one goal, but they have some good players and they’re going to make plays. But we have to look at some of the positive things we did. I think we’re moving in the right direction.”
A good penalty kill can easily steer valuable momentum swings — especially in the playoffs — and the Caps are benefiting from the presence of a game-breaker like Semin on the shorthanded unit.
“(The penalty kill) was working hard,” said forward Mike Knuble. “We probably had them out there too much tonight. Semin’s goal there was as nice as you’re going to see all year. Some of our guys can just break games like that. All of the sudden you’re on your heels killing a penalty and he gets one. So that’s a big lift.”
