Alexei Protas posted a 5v5 Expected goals for % (xGF%) of 83% in just 11 minutes of ice time. (Caps Outsider)
In their 5-2 regulation loss to the Boston Bruins the Washington Capitals looked, in the words of Peter Laviolette, “Disjointed,” and “Disconnected.”
How would Lavi describe the caps performance tonight?
Disjointed
Disconnected pic.twitter.com/CrhYyQZmkT— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) October 13, 2022
I’ll add one more: Sloppy. There’s a lot that went wrong last night, from the power play unit going 0/4 to a lack of defensive effort. The Bruins were just the better, more in tune hockey team.
The Caps jumped out to a great start, keeping the puck in their offensive zone, completing crisp passes on a couple of plays to create good chances. Unfortunately, it was all for not after a lucky rebound landed right on the stick of Patrice Bergeron, giving the Bruins the early momentum, which snowballed from there.
On the next goal, David Pastrnak dog-walks the defense of Dylan Strome, Alexei Protas, and Martin Fehervary for a goal that you just have to chalk up to a lucky bounce off the inside of Strome’s skate.
But when he’s all alone in no man’s land, someone needs to lay a shoulder into his chest. Looking right at you, Marty.
The Capitals defense acted as a doormat, welcoming the Boston Bruins into their zone, seemingly, whenever they wanted. Entries need to be more difficult, stifle the offense a little, lay a body on someone. Yes, the Caps led on the scoresheet in terms of hits, but it’s not like they had much to show for it.
The third goal is just another certified John Carlson moment, completely whiffing on a deflection attempt while the puck flew through his legs. To be fair to him though, 4 vs 2.5 skaters on a rush doesn’t exactly give you the best chance of success.
Through a single game, the most volatile line seems to be the most successful one. If we break out good ol’ advanced analytics (or anal tics as some may call them) the Protas/Strome/Anthony Mantha line had one hell of a game. Not only putting up points, but Protas posted a 5v5 Expected goals for % (xGF%) of 83% in just 11 minutes of ice time.
This game was a lot closer than the final score would suggest, if Protas’ tip in front of the net goes in we’re looking at a 3-3 OT hockey game where anything can happen. This team is going to have to age like a fine wine throughout the season, Laviolette needs to allow all the flavors (not just the old, successful ones) to come out and form one cohesive, unmistakable flavor. Fortunately for this team there are another 81 games to right the ship before the playoffs roll around, because they’ll be here sooner than you think.
We’ll see how they respond tonight, as the Capitals are slated to face off against Ilya Samsonov and the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight at 7pm.
