Washington Capitals: Match ratings from Weeks Eight and Nine

Another two weeks saw the shorthanded Washington Capitals put in their most impressive body of work so far this season.

After splitting four games in Week Seven, Week Eight saw the Washington Capitals have another quartet of matches on the schedule. The odds were not really in the team’s favor, as they had to play the week without the injured Evgeny Kuznetsov, T.J. Oshie or Brooks Orpik.

However, Braden Holtby returned this week and helped lead the team to four wins against the surprising Montreal Canadiens, the red-hot Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers on a back-to-back, in addition to a Thanksgiving Eve date with the Chicago Blackhawks.

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The Capitals followed that up with a much lighter week of work in Week Nine, but the winning streak continued. They finished up their road trip with a win in Brooklyn over the New York Islanders, then came home to defeat the New Jersey Devils.

With the Thanksgiving deadline I have been talking about now in the past, the Capitals sit in a familiar spot in first place in the Metropolitan Division. The next big milestone to keep in mind is the All-Star Game in January, which should provide a clear picture as to what teams are in control.

With that being said, let us take a look at Weeks Eight and Nine for Washington, with regards to both the team’s performance as well as entertainment value. By this point, some of the patterns of how the team has played have become apparent, and there were some fun games as well.

While I would like to branch out the scope to more teams, I am unfortunately only able to watch Washington Capitals games with any consistency, so these articles will only look at those games. Without further ado, let us look back at these last two weeks for Washington!

Game 20: 11/19/18 @ Montreal Canadiens

The first game of the week was by far the least comfortable win of the week for the Washington Capitals, as they completed their road trip with a come-from-behind overtime victory over Montreal, 5-4.

This was by no means a comprehensive performance by the road team, with the Canadiens dominating for a good chunk of the first period, as well as to start the second period. But the Capitals shut it down defensively when they needed to, and had good offense the rest of the way.

The story of the game from an entertainment perspective was undoubtedly the individual battle between Carey Price and Alex Ovechkin. The two superstars put on a show for a raucous Bell Centre crowd, with Price three times denying Ovechkin of a hat trick.

I am normally not a huge fan of these high-scoring, sloppy defensive games, but the Ovechkin-Price duel was must-watch. Perhaps not a performance head coach Todd Reirden will be proud of, but two points Washington will gladly take.

Performance: 6/10

Entertainment: 7/10

Game 21: 11/21/18 vs. Chicago Blackhawks

After completing the four-game road trip, the Washington Capitals returned home and controlled play from the start. Against a weaker opponent that had recently fired their head coach, the home team controlled from the onset, and captured this one 4-2.

The Capitals dominated early on, quickly jumping to a 2-0 lead, then extending that to 3-0. Unfortunately, they were not quite as strong the rest of the way, allowing the Blackhawks to come within one goal before putting the game away in the third period.

I can forgive that lapse after the early lead, however, especially since they did end up winning the game. With regards to the entertainment aspect, this was nothing more than an average mid-season game between two teams going in opposite directions.

Still, this was a fun pre-Thanksgiving game to continue Washington’s momentum into the break. This allowed for them to be in a playoff position entering the holiday weekend, a deadline that tends to yield an double-digit success rate when it comes to teams that remain in playoff position.

Performance: 6.5/10

Entertainment: 6/10

Game 22: 11/23/18 vs. Detroit Red Wings

The winning streak continued for the Washington Capitals coming out of the Thanksgiving holiday, as they knocked off the Red Wings in a come-from-behind effort, 3-1, before embarking on their New York road trip.

In what became a bit of a pattern for a while, the Capitals struggled mightily at the outset of the match, and in fact for most of the first period, as they were outshot and outscored in the initial frame. They responded by controlling the second period, before another slow start in the third.

However, they were able to battle through the post-Thanksgiving doldrums to control most of the latter part of the final frame, winning 3-1. It was not the best of performances, to say the least, but like they say, a win is a win is a win.

From an entertainment standpoint, it was a pretty one-sided game for the most part, and there really was not much drama towards the end of the game either. It was a sleepy game, as should have been expected in a matinee after Thanksgiving.

Performance: 4.5/10

Entertainment: 4/10

Game 23: 11/24/18 @ New York Rangers

With both teams playing in a different city fewer than 24 hours prior, this was, not surprisingly, a “scramble-y” sort of game, as Don Cherry would say. The Washington Capitals overcame another slow start and a 2-0 deficit to keep their winning streak going on the road.

Just as they were the night before against Detroit, the Capitals were utterly dominated in the first period, despite having the only power play opportunities in the session. However, Washington turned things around and controlled play for most of the rest of the game, and won 5-3.

Speaking of patterns, how about this “slow start” thing, huh? This is something to keep an eye on over the next few games for this team. Outside of that, it was a pretty solid road performance, as they allowed for their skill to outshine the home team.

While the performance may not have been that much better than the night before, the entertainment certainly was, as a rowdy Madison Square Garden crowd was into everything and helped elevate the game’s drama and intensity. Not a “match-of-the-year,” but fun nonetheless.

Performance: 6/10

Entertainment: 7/10

Game 25: 11/30/18 vs. New Jersey Devils

After returning home from New York, the Washington Capitals had a long break before taking on the Devils in their final game of the week. Those days off seemed to help, as Washington was the stronger team from the start, scoring less than four minutes in en route to a 6-3 win.

Now, before I get into this game, I have to address the Tom Wilson hit. Frankly, I think the outrage over it is completely overblown. Wilson was looking to forecheck and Brett Seney backed right into his path. There was not enough time to avoid a hit, unless he wanted to deck a teammate instead.

That was, at worst, a two minute interference minor. Ryan Reaves had a similar play just the night before without any outrage. There are far worse hits that go completely unnoticed, and the uproar over this is frankly endangering the players actually taking dangerous hits.

Now that I’ve shared what I’m sure will be a very popular opinion, let’s get back to the game! While the Capitals started strong, this time they got weaker as the game went along. New Jersey dominated in the second period, helped of course by the five minute power play from Wilson.

This game was all about the Washington first line (Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Tom Wilson and, later, Andre Burakovsky) and Braden Holtby. These five players single-handedly won the game for the Capitals, and the performance rating is reflective of that fact.

While the team performance was not entirely impressive, the game was certainly more entertaining than a Capitals-Devils game tends to be. That can mostly be attributed to sloppy defensive play from both teams, but my attention was still drawn to the game throughout.

Performance: 6.5/10

Entertainment: 6.5/10

Overall, watching the Washington Capitals over these last two weeks has been like watching a different team from the start of the season. The return of Tom Wilson has undoubtedly re-invigorated the team, as they look ready to defend their Stanley Cup championship.

None of the games over these last two weeks were “must-see,” but they were still quite watchable in the moment. The duds are happening much less frequently than they were earlier in the season.

The Capitals now take their seven-game winning streak into Week Ten, featuring three games against the Western Conference and an inter-divisional matchup, as part of a three game road trip. How will they fare? Check back in next week!