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The Washington Capitals are one of the hottest teams in hockey right now. They have won four straight games, are 8-1-1 in their last 10, and are sitting at third place in the Metropolitan Division standings. But some of these wins have not been easy; Washington (9-4-2) has had to fight its way in the latter stages of a game.
“There’s gonna be ups and downs throughout the games. You got to control those moments”, said right wing Tom Wilson, “When you lose momentum, you gotta get it back as quickly as possible and when you have momentum, you gotta try and keep it as long as possible.”
“It’s one of those things where you control those moments, you take advantage of big moments in the game and capitalizing on those, you’ll be okay. But that being said, we can be a little sharper at times, but [we’re] finding ways to win games, so it’s a good thing.”
While it is great to see those gritty plays lead to gutsy wins, it simply is not sustainable over the course of an 82-game season. The Caps have spent way too much time in their own zone, averaging 43.6% of their time defending according to NHL EDGE.
“If we get out to a lead, we have to keep pushing forward. I think maybe we’re sitting back a little bit too much. You don’t want to give up the lead, so maybe you play a bit more conservative”, said Dylan Strome, “It’s kind of like a zone defense in the NFL [where] you kind of just sit back and it makes it easy for the other team to kind of get through you and you’re not giving up the big play, but you’re giving up little chances that kind of can lead to the big play.”
That increase in time spent in the defensive zone has led to an increase in shot blocks. The Capitals are third in the NHL with 18.31 blocks per game, which has been the big storyline in terms of defense. Meanwhile, during this four-game stretch, the Caps have been stopping 21.5 shots per game, which is the second-most in the league.
But while this style of play will not lead to success long-term, the Capitals are getting critical points and have gotten those puck bounces that were haunting them at the start of the season.
“At the end of the day, if you get the two points at the end of the night, I think that’s all that matters. We’ll take the wins as they come and I feel like we’re finding ways which is like a sign of a good team,” Strome said. “I think the full 60 minutes thing, I think it’ll come but I feel like we’ve had some full 60 minute games and we haven’t won, so I think it kind of goes both ways.”
The Caps will look to keep their foot on the gas for a full 60 minutes when they take on the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday, Nov. 22.
By Jacob Cheris