Washington Capitals: Match Ratings for the end of the Regular Season
For the fourth year in a row, the Washington Capitals are Metropolitan Division champions. Here is a review of the matches that led them there.
The Stanley Cup playoffs are about to start, and for the Washington Capitals, this is what the entire season has been leading up to. Their first challenge in their quest to defend their championship is the upstart Carolina Hurricanes.
Before we shift completely into playoff mode, however, it may be worthwhile to take one final look back at how the Caps finished the regular season. From a stats basis, it appears as if they have flipped that theoretical switch entering the playoffs (per RMNB).
More from Puck Prose Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024 This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings The NHL trade deadline was on February 25. Since then, the Washington Capitals have won seven of eight games, taken hold of the Metropolitan Division lead, and generally looked awesome. The last few weeks have been a dramatic shift from earlier in the season, when the Caps looked just sorta okay. Something has changed.
Now, this article was written on March 16th. Since then, the Capitals have continued to play well but lost a key player in Michal Kempny. That could end up being a big factor for Washington, given how important his contributions were with John Carlson last year.
Outside of the stats, similar patterns can be seen just using the eye test. That is what this article is about: going through game-by-game to analyze the performance of this team, as well as how entertaining the game was if that is what matters more to you.
As with previous editions of this series, I will assign every game a rating in performance and entertainment, spotlighting one game a week to discuss in more detail. With that in mind, let us take a look at the end of the season for the Washington Capitals!
Week 22: 3/1 – 3/7
Spotlight: Capitals @ Islanders (3/1)
19. 1. 106. Final. 3
Against by far the best team they played all week, the Washington Capitals put in an impressive performance, completely stifling the Islanders en route to a 3-1 victory at NYCB Live.
Despite falling down 1-0 early, the Caps controlled play the rest of the way, and scored three unanswered goals (including an empty-netter) in the third period to get the win. Along the way, they outshot New York 28-21, and had some good chances against Barry Trotz’s trap.
On the other hand, such a low-event game is hardly the most fun to watch. It was effective, but boring hockey – the kind that wins you games in the playoffs.
Performance: 7/10
Entertainment: 5/10
Other Games This Week:
3/3: Capitals @ Rangers (3-2 SO Win)
Performance: 8/10
Entertainment: 6.5/10
3/6: Capitals @ Flyers (5-3 Win)
Performance: 7.5/10
Entertainment: 5.5/10
Week 23: 3/8 – 3/15
Spotlight: Capitals @ Penguins (3/12)
5. 92. Final. 3. 19
Let me get the entertainment part of this game out of the way first: it was great. Like their other meetings this year, the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins played a physical, dramatic contest that kept us in it until the very end.
Performance-wise this was an odd one for Washington. The first 30 minutes were spectacular: the Caps carried play, prevented Pittsburgh from getting anything going, and had a 2-0 lead on the road against their arch-rivals.
Then, however, they took their foot off of the gas, which was just what the Pens needed. By the end of it, despite an overall tremendous performance, the Capitals left PPG Paints Arena empty-handed. Play a full sixty, and Washington has an impressive road win here.
Performance: 7.5/10
Entertainment: 8.5/10
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Other Games This Week:
3/8: Capitals vs. Devils (3-0 Win)
Performance: 6/10
Entertainment: 3.5/10
3/10: Capitals vs. Jets (3-1 Win)
Performance: 6.5/10
Entertainment: 6.5/10
3/14: Capitals @ Flyers (5-2 Win)
Performance: 8/10
Entertainment: 4/10
Week 24: 3/16 – 3/23
Spotlight: Capitals vs. Lightning (3/20)
Final. 4. 23. 3. 19
The choice for the spotlight was basically between two different Caps-Lightning games, so let me pick the more fun of the two: the Washington DC rematch that saw one of the best games around the NHL this season.
Despite being on the second half of a back-to-back, the Washington Capitals not only played like the better team – they played like a team that knows they can beat one of the greatest regular season teams of all time in Tampa Bay.
The result doesn’t reflect just how great a game this was for the Caps. Arguably their best performance of the season, which is what is most important entering the playoffs. Oh, and what a game it was to watch as well.
Performance: 9/10
Entertainment: 9.5/10
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Other Games This Week:
3/16: Capitals @ Lightning (6-3 Loss)
Performance: 7/10
Entertainment: 8/10
3/19: Capitals @ Devils (4-1 Win)
Performance: 7/10
Entertainment: 3/10
3/22: Capitals vs. Wild (2-1 Loss)
Performance: 2/10
Entertainment: 2/10
Week 25: 3/24 – 3/30
Spotlight: Capitals @ Lightning (3/30)
19. 3. 23. Final. 6
If you think my description of the previous Caps-Bolts game was too biased, I ask that you refer back to this one. The Washington Capitals once again completely dominated the best team in the league, this time on the road, en route to a dominant 6-3 victory.
The Capitals controlled play throughout and never trailed, putting together the most convincing win either team had over the other this year. All six of their goals were scored on Andrei Vasilevskiy, unlike in Tampa’s 6-3 win, where they scored two empty-net goals.
If Washington plays like this in the playoffs, there is nobody that can beat them. Nobody. They were so dominant that they even made a Caps-Lightning game fairly pedestrian entertainment-wise.
Performance: 10/10
Entertainment: 6.5/10
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Other Games This Week:
3/24: Capitals vs. Flyers (3-1 Win)
Performance: 6/10
Entertainment: 5/10
3/26: Capitals vs. Hurricanes (4-1 Win)
Performance: 7.5/10
Entertainment: 4.5/10
3/28: Capitals @ Hurricanes (3-2 Win)
Performance: 5.5/10
Entertainment: 6/10
A quick aside regarding the home-and-home with Carolina, Washington’s first-round opponents: the Hurricanes are a very good team offensively, but the Capitals shut them down at points. This series will be won or lost in the neutral zone – avoid turnovers, and their talent will carry them.
Week 26: 4/1 – 4/6
Games This Week:
4/1: Capitals @ Panthers (5-3 Loss)
Performance: 3.5/10
Entertainment: 4.5/10
4/4: Capitals vs. Canadiens (2-1 Win)
Performance: 5/10
Entertainment: 4/10
4/6: Capitals vs. Islanders (3-0 Loss)
Performance: 1.5/10
Entertainment: 1/10
No spotlight for this week, because none of the games were really worth talking about, as the scores show. Those low performance scores towards the end of the regular season are slightly concerning, but the Caps really did not have a ton to play for this week.
Overall, this was a fun year for the Washington Capitals, but now the real season begins. They have looked really good recently, and appear to be ready for the playoffs.
Next. Ranking Each Team's All-Time Starting Lineup. dark
The last thing to add is that given that the goal of this column all year long was to highlight games to re-watch before/during/after the playoffs, here is a list of my top-five ranked games in both performance and entertainment from the season. Thank you for following on the ride!
Performance:
- 3/30/19 @ Lightning (10/10)
- 10/3/18 vs. Boston (10/10)
- 3/20/19 vs. Lightning (9/10)
- 11/13/18 @ Wild (9/10)
- 2/14/19 @ Sharks (8/10)
Entertainment:
- 12/19/18 vs. Penguins (10/10)
- 3/20/19 vs. Lightning (9.5/10)
- 10/13/18 vs. Maple Leafs (9/10)
- 11/7/18 vs. Penguins (9/10)
- 3/12/19 @ Penguins (8.5/10)