Photo: @Capitals
On Sunday afternoon, the Capitals grabbed their first win of the round robin portion of the 2020 NHL Playoffs, earning the third seed in the Eastern Conference and a first round matchup against the sixth seeded New York Islanders. Following two underwhelming performances in the round robin, the Capitals’ top six forward group potted both goals in today’s matchup with the Bruins.
Let’s take a look at how the Caps stood up against the Bruins using advanced analytics:
Long story short here: Braden Holtby’s impressive performance was the difference in tonight’s matchup, much like Andrei Vasilevskiy was for the Tampa Bay Lightning against the Capitals in the first matchup of the round robin.
Boston owned essentially every facet of the game, but goaltending can sometimes spoil the party. Holtby posted an .889 high danger save percentage (8 saves on 9 shots), which was the difference maker here.
On top of that, Holtby had perfect marks in medium danger and low danger chances against.
The good news for the Capitals was that the top six forward group seemed to have woken up just in time for the start of the post-qualifying round playoffs. Tom Wilson and TJ Oshie potted goals for the Caps, and Ovechkin added 5 shots on goal in the win.
By Justin Trudel
Holtby is doing his part. Will be interesting to see how Barry attacks Caps defense.