What is Wrong with The Capitals?
Source: Patrick Smith, Getty Images
2022 hasn’t been the Caps’ year so far. Since the New Year, the Washington Capitals have won just three out of their last 10 games, they are now sitting at 23-12-9 on the season, and have dropped to fourth in the Metropolitan. What is going on with the Capitals?
Bitten by the Injury Bug
Injuries have plagued the Capitals this season. The Caps have put a player on the injury report 25 times so far this season. With that, there have also been multiple Covid outbreaks throughout the team, with just a handful of players being able to stay off the Covid list this season. Whenever the team appears to be healthy again, another player finds themselves on the IR. This has been a never-ending cycle for the Caps. Of course, we still have a lot of hockey to play. The Caps are continuing to get back more players every game and keeping players off the injury report. But with a team as old as the Caps, and Covid being as infectious as ever, this will be a topic to keep an eye on as the playoffs are approaching.
Nonexistent Power Play
The power play has been abysmal for the Capitals this season. The Caps have the third-worst power play in the league, standing at a lowly 14.2%. To add more fuel to the fire, they have also let up a league-leading 8 short-handed goals (Statmuse). What makes their power play so bad? It’s predictable. When you have the great power play scorer in Alex Ovechkin, of course you want to get him the puck, but this makes the offense completely one-dimensional. This, combined with the constant injuries have made the power play for the Capitals almost nonexistent.
As discussed earlier, the Caps are continuing to get more and more players back, and with that, you need to use the weapons you have at your disposal. When you have weapons like Evgeny Kuznetsov and John Carlson on the ice, you need to use them. Let these players push the tempo, make plays, take their own shots. In doing so, this will open up the ice and get those trademarked one-timers that Ovi is famous for.
Poor Goalie Play
The Washington Capitals may or may not have a goalie problem, Peter Laviolette won’t answer that question for us. But the statistics point towards yes. The Capitals currently have a .900 save percentage, ranking them 19th in the league. Vitek Vanecek currently has a 2.47 GAA and a .912 save percentage, while Ilya Samsonov isn’t doing any better, allowing an average of 2.79 goals a game and boasting a .903 save percentage. The Capitals thought they might found an answer in Zach Fucale, posting a shut-out against the Detroit Red Wings in his NHL debut and starting back-to-back games with Samsonov and Vanecek being available. His dream-like start to his NHL career would come crashing down as he allowed 4 goals off just 16 shot attempts against the Boston Bruins, and he has since been sent back down to the Hershey Bears.
This now brings up the question of whether the Caps should trade for a veteran goalie. What the Caps need right now is consistency and bringing in a veteran presence in front of the net can bring that. Rumors have been milling around of bringing in Chicago’s Marc Andre-Fleury or Vancouver’s Jaroslav Halak, but the one that makes the most sense and will bring much-needed excitement to Capital One Arena would be the return of Braden Holtby. With Dallas likely out of the playoff race and having found their goalie of the future in Jake Oettinger, Holtby’s price tag is at an all-time low. While Holtby’s save percentage of .917 doesn’t jump off the page, what you’re trading for is consistency and chemistry, and Holtby brings that.