Question Time: Is Washington A One Man Band?
Despite last night's comfortable win over the Carolina Hurricanes, the Washington Capital's remaining games are purely for pride. This week's question talks about the Caps' failure to qualify for the playoffs:
"Alex Ovechkin has just notched up his 50th goal for the Washington Capitals this season- but they still seemed destined to miss the playoffs this year! Does this team have any other qualities apart from Ovi? Or are they just a one man band?"
The Washington Capitals' 2013/14 campaign is headed for an early bath. Although they beat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Tuesday, the Columbus Blue Jackets' win over Dallas and the Detroit Red Wings' overtime point in Pittsburgh hammered the nail in Washington's coffin. Columbus and Detroit advance to the playoffs, Washington to the golf course.
So the post-mortem into the Caps' season begins and 13/14 was a season of absolute polar opposites. Russian superstar Alex Ovechkin has reason to feel ripped off, he's just scored his 50th goal of the season and leads the NHL in regular season goals scored. With just a few games left, I doubt anyone will beat him.
While Ovechkin deserves to be challenging for Lord Stanley's Cup, he's not the only Capitals skater who can feel hard done by; linemate Nicklas Backstrom should be by his side. The Swedish Center has contributed 77 points so far, exactly the same as Ovechkin. Are the Washington Capitals a one man band? No. They're a duo, with some decent session players. The Simon and Garfunkel of hockey.
The Caps have a few good goal scorers on hand, and as a team have notched up 221 so far this season. That's the same as Columbus and more than the New York Rangers, both of whom have already sealed their places in the playoffs.
So while the Caps' goal scoring prowess isn't setting the league on fire, it's enough to advance. So why didn't they? The team might be 13th in the goal scoring table, but they're 24th the goals conceded table. Vancouver, who've been out the race for a while, have a tighter defence then Washington.
When it comes to identifying the Caps' qualities, it's safe to say the first offensive line is devastatingly strong, but that's it. No team fears Washington's D-men. Braden Holtby usually puts in a decent shift in front of net but the Caps have played four different goalies this season, each of whom have played at least 11 games apiece.
Is it a surprise that the Caps missed the playoffs? Not really, I don't think any seasoned Caps fan can be happy with this season. Most points have come from teams lower down the table. Despite embarrassing the Flyers early on, Cup contenders like Boston and Pittsburgh see a trip to the Verizon Center as a guaranteed two points. That's pretty much the kicker.
"Alex Ovechkin has just notched up his 50th goal for the Washington Capitals this season- but they still seemed destined to miss the playoffs this year! Does this team have any other qualities apart from Ovi? Or are they just a one man band?"
The Washington Capitals' 2013/14 campaign is headed for an early bath. Although they beat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Tuesday, the Columbus Blue Jackets' win over Dallas and the Detroit Red Wings' overtime point in Pittsburgh hammered the nail in Washington's coffin. Columbus and Detroit advance to the playoffs, Washington to the golf course.
So the post-mortem into the Caps' season begins and 13/14 was a season of absolute polar opposites. Russian superstar Alex Ovechkin has reason to feel ripped off, he's just scored his 50th goal of the season and leads the NHL in regular season goals scored. With just a few games left, I doubt anyone will beat him.
While Ovechkin deserves to be challenging for Lord Stanley's Cup, he's not the only Capitals skater who can feel hard done by; linemate Nicklas Backstrom should be by his side. The Swedish Center has contributed 77 points so far, exactly the same as Ovechkin. Are the Washington Capitals a one man band? No. They're a duo, with some decent session players. The Simon and Garfunkel of hockey.
The Caps have a few good goal scorers on hand, and as a team have notched up 221 so far this season. That's the same as Columbus and more than the New York Rangers, both of whom have already sealed their places in the playoffs.
So while the Caps' goal scoring prowess isn't setting the league on fire, it's enough to advance. So why didn't they? The team might be 13th in the goal scoring table, but they're 24th the goals conceded table. Vancouver, who've been out the race for a while, have a tighter defence then Washington.
When it comes to identifying the Caps' qualities, it's safe to say the first offensive line is devastatingly strong, but that's it. No team fears Washington's D-men. Braden Holtby usually puts in a decent shift in front of net but the Caps have played four different goalies this season, each of whom have played at least 11 games apiece.
Is it a surprise that the Caps missed the playoffs? Not really, I don't think any seasoned Caps fan can be happy with this season. Most points have come from teams lower down the table. Despite embarrassing the Flyers early on, Cup contenders like Boston and Pittsburgh see a trip to the Verizon Center as a guaranteed two points. That's pretty much the kicker.
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