The Washington Capitals are unlike any other team in the NHL standings. For one, you don’t get too concerned when they drop the first two games out of their bye week break, like they did over the weekend, mostly because they’ve built a big enough cushion to afford for the occasional slipup. Plus, the schedule-maker did them no favors, sending the Capitals on the road for a pair of matinee games following a week off, eliminating two possible morning skates to get timing back.
That has a way of slowing down a powerhouse.
“You just feel like you want to do more with your hands, you forget how to handle the puck or shoot the puck,” explained Alex Ovechkin of the impact.
But it goes both ways.
The concern level isn’t high for this team facing consecutive losses, but there aren’t a lot of bouquets thrown the Capitals' direction when they reel off regular-season wins. It’s the consequence of years of regular-season success followed by playoff failure.
Rather than blindly celebrate their successes, you look for reasons to think this team is different from those in the past. There’s definitely a sense these Capitals are different, but there was last year, too.
Right now, there is one concrete difference that could end up paying dividends in the spring: the distribution of ice time.
Alex Ovechkin is on pace to finish this season under 20 minutes of ice time per game for the first time in his career. It’s not even going to be close. He’s currently averaging 18:13 of ice time per game, down over two minutes from last season and nearly three minutes from his career average.
The result is a drop in goal scoring. He has 27 goals right now, a total that puts him No. 7 overall after leading the league the past four seasons. He’s also trailing Brent Burns in shots on goal, which is notable because he’s owned that category since breaking into the league. Since his rookie season, Ovechkin owns nine of the top 11 shot totals turned in, with only Eric Staal (2008-09) and Jaromir Jagr (2005-06) eliminating an Ovechkin sweep in the top 10. Last year, he beat Burns by 45 shots.
The division of ice time impacts Nicklas Backstrom as well. He’s projected to finish under 19 minutes of ice time per game for the first time since his rookie year.
“We have a balance, we have depth. [We’re] rolling four lines,” Ovechkin said. “It doesn’t matter what the situation. You can see, all four lines can score. Right now, we have a solid group of guys here. We trust each other. It’s good.”
The difference is this team is no longer overly reliant on Ovechkin. The difference is that the third -- or even the fourth -- line could be the difference in a playoff series.
The top lines in the postseason tend to cancel each other out. If that happens to the Capitals this spring, they are completely comfortable letting their depth make up the difference. That’s how Pittsburgh won it all last year, a fact not lost on Capitals coach Barry Trotz.
“Last year it was the [Nick] Bonino and [Phil] Kessel line that did a lot of the damage for the Penguins,” Trotz said.
Kessel, for the record, won his first Stanley Cup while averaging 17:47 of ice time in the postseason. This year in Pittsburgh, his ice time has declined for the third consecutive season.
“You can play at a great pace through the four lines,” Trotz said. “I think we’ve been able to stretch our lines out a little bit and hopefully stay a little healthier.”
The benefits are plenty, and the buy-in appears to be there with the Capitals' stars. Now, the only thing to wait on is if there’s a payoff in the late spring.
Nine more takeaways from the weekend of hockey:
2. Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik, who has a concussion history, entered this season with just one fight on his card since the 2008-09 season (per hockeyfights.com). His fight against Steve Ott near the conclusion of Saturday’s shootout loss to the Red Wings was his second in less than a month.
What’s the deal?
“It’s pretty coincidental,” Orpik said. “I don’t go looking for it ... I’d rather be playing to be honest with you. Sometimes it happens.”
In this case, the Capitals were about to head to overtime where Orpik would have sat anyway, so he didn’t mind removing himself as an option for Trotz.
“There was like 30 seconds left, so might as well,” Orpik said. “I don’t think Steve Ott plays 3-on-3 either. That’s what we were laughing about after.”
3. In talking about the depth the Capitals have this season, Orpik highlighted the addition of Lars Eller, who has centered an effective third line. The Capitals control 55.6 percent of the even-strength shot attempts when Eller is on the ice. He’s the kind of strong two-way center who is great to have around in the postseason.
“Even when they weren’t scoring -- you can look at Lars Eller, he’s so good on the other side of the puck,” Orpik said. “It seems like every night it’s different lines contributing.”
GM Brian MacLellan gave up a pair of second-round picks to acquire Eller. Considering the expected asking price for a center like Martin Hanzal at the deadline, that’s going to end up being a steal.
4. The Buffalo Sabres, even with the loss to Chicago, have to be giving GM Tim Murray something to think about at the trade deadline. The Sabres are now just three points outside a playoff spot and can thank the play of Evander Kane for helping Buffalo win three of four.
Kane has seven goals in his last seven games, giving him 21 goals on the season to eclipse last year’s total in just 48 games.
Only Vladimir Tarasenko, Sidney Crosby, Auston Matthews and Michael Grabner have more than Kane’s 20 even-strength goals this season.
5. Speaking of Matthews, his backhanded goal while being sent to the ice might have been his most impressive of the season. He and Patrik Laine are making a serious bid for 40 goals, which would make them the first rookie duo to reach that total since Teemu Selanne and Eric Lindros did it in 1992-93.
6. Selanne scored 76 goals as a rookie, a number that is still mind-boggling. Perhaps even more impressive, his 52 even-strength goals as a rookie are the same total Ovechkin scored overall in his first season.
7. In an indication of just how much good, young talent the league has right now, Matthews’ highlight-reel goal was only the night’s best goal for a short time. Tampa Bay’s Jonathan Drouin single-handedly ended the game against Colorado with an overtime effort that may be the goal of the year. It had a little bit of everything. He stripped the puck. He won a battle in the corner. He showed patience by leaving the zone to set up a more organized attack. He stripped another puck. Then he beat the goalie.
The Lightning’s patience in Drouin is paying off this season.
Here is that incredible final shift by Jonathan Drouin in its entirety. #TBLightning pic.twitter.com/SVDa9kd5Ko
— Jonathan Arnholz (@JArnholz) February 20, 2017
8. Interesting thoughts from veteran Philadelphia Flyers beat writer Sam Carchidi, who wrote that it’s time to break up the Flyers. He pointed to the Flyers’ 8-14-4 record after their winning streak as evidence that this isn’t a team to take seriously as a playoff contender. It’s hard to argue. If GM Ron Hextall agrees, there will be some new defensemen on the rental market in Mark Streit, Nick Schultz and Michael Del Zotto. Streit is an interesting option -- still a capable puck-mover at his age and might be a nice boost for a team looking to strengthen its blue line. He’s a solid Plan B for teams that don’t want to pay the asking price for Kevin Shattenkirk.
9. The Detroit Red Wings' weekend is a reminder of just how hard it is to gain any ground in today’s NHL. They went out and beat two of the best teams in the league in sweeping the Penguins and Capitals. It was an impressive showing for Jeff Blashill’s group, one that continues to battle for its coach. The result? They only moved from 16th to 15th in the East, but with four more games played than No. 16 Carolina. It’s almost impossible to leapfrog as many teams as the Red Wings would have to in order to extend their playoff streak.
10. As for the Hurricanes, their playoff hopes are now all but dead. It’s disappointing because there is good young talent on that roster, but GM Ron Francis’ refusal to address the goaltending in the offseason is going to result in a step back this season. The Hurricanes have a .903 even-strength save percentage this season, No. 30 in the league. It’s impossible to win games that way.
Both Cam Ward and Eddie Lack are under contract for next season, but the Hurricanes can’t run this duo back in net in good conscience.