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If not in big ways, then in the small things that separate Cup winners from losers. Here are 3 ways the Caps could be even better this upcoming season.
Shoot!
The Caps were 7th in the NHL last season in shots for per game, clocking in at 30.6, which is pretty good. But if you consistently watched the Caps play last season then you probably caught yourself yelling at the TV “SHOOT THE PUCK!” way too often. If there is one thing the Caps are guilty of, it’s being too fancy. Often, players found themselves 10-15 feet from the net, in the slot and elected to pass. No players were more guilty of this than Oshie and Kuznetsov, which is interesting considering they scored 26 and 20 goals respectively. How many more would they have had if they shot on more of their prime chances? But it isn’t just those 2; the whole team is guilty. There needs to be more of a killer instinct in the Caps shooters, they need to be selfish!
Something that could help improve the shot total, besides actually shooting, is getting defense a little more involved. Carlson is a perfect example; not only does he jump up in the play through the neutral zone but in the offensive zone too. Here is a perfect example.
After Carlson passes it to Wilson, he doesn’t just stay at the point like most defensemen do, he sprints into the open slot and gets the pass from Wilson for the goal. The only other Caps defensemen I see do this regularly are Orlov and Schmidt. And you don’t need to have the best shot to do this. Anyone shooting from that close creates a very good scoring chance and it’s something more defenders need to be doing.
Carlson also looks for every opportunity to get the puck on net. He was averaging 181 shots last season (if he had stayed healthy). The second best defenseman was Niskanen with 150, then Alzner with 75, while Orpik would have averaged 62 shots. That is your top 4 and the Alzner and Opik numbers simply aren’t enough (granted they didn’t get power play time). This is why it’s important to activate the defense more, on rushes and off the cycle. It also helps to give more ice time to players like Orlov (90 shots) and Schmidt (averaged 91 shots) who can move the puck up the ice and get more pucks on net, resulting in more scoring chances.
Break Out
Will giving more time to younger players and having them skate the puck out of the zone cause turnovers? Yes. Will it result it some goals against? Yes. But the Caps have a Vezina winner in net and should limit those goals against. The Caps are too talented and they should be able to create more goals with a smoother breakout with higher risk than the amount of goals they’ll let in.
Odd Man Up
This is kind of a part 2 to the break out; because with a better breakout you can create more odd man rushes. No one keeps track of odd man rushes but I’m sure if they did it would reveal that the Caps were one of the best teams at limiting them. But they were probably one of the worst at creating them. Again, the Caps have too skilled of a team to not create more when going through the neutral zone. The Cup winning Pittsburgh Penguins’ bread and butter was odd man rushes, no one was better. The Caps have arguably a more skilled group than Pittsburgh when you consider the Penguins had Conor Sheary and Bryan Rust in their top 6, and both are 4th line players. The Caps top 6 is full of top 6 talent that has speed and skill, which needs to be utilized more to create odd man rushes.
The Capitals looked poised to be a top team in the league like they were last season. But if they want to lift the Cup they need to speed up their game in transition and shoot the puck whenever they are given a chance. Additionally, they need to put players on the ice that can get the puck up the ice in order to increase their shot and scoring chance total, thus increasing their chances for the Cup.
By Luke Adomanis