Despite the Caps’ offensive struggles, Tom Wilson has stepped up recently with a team-best of eight goals, tied with Dylan Strome (Caps Outsider)
After suffering their fourth shutout of the season on Monday, a 6-0 beating by the Arizona Coyotes, the Capitals are on pace for their worst season of getting blanked.
While this season is only 22 games old – which puts the Caps on pace for being shut out 15 times – there is plenty of time to turn around the offense. But with Nicklas Backstrom out, Evgeny Kuznetsov benched, T.J. Oshie injured, and Alex Ovechkin scoring goals at the slowest pace of his career, it’s plausible that there are more lackluster games on the horizon.
The team’s worst record in a season for being shut out is 12, back in the abysmal 1974-75 season. While this year’s team isn’t nearly as bad as that one, their second worst season was 2010-11, with 11 shutouts,. That team finished in first place in the Southeast Division with a 48-23-11 record. So, being shut out doesn’t necessarily mean the team will finish with a bad record.
Why does this matter? A loss is a loss, no matter the margin of victory. As shown with the 2010-11 season, the team, overall, can even be good and still fall victim to too many goose eggs. There are two reasons this matters:
- It deflates the team, fanbase and reporting when there’s not even a single positive offensive moment to note after a game
- It’s yet another game that the league’s all-time best goal scorer, Ovechkin, misses out on an opportunity to close in on Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record
Even though the Caps have a record of 12-8-2, they’ve got a -13 goal differential and also have four other one-goal performances (all losses) on top of the four shutouts. They’re 12-0-2 when scoring two goals or more.
Here are the number of shutouts per season:
| Season | Total shut outs |
|---|---|
| 1974-75 | 12 |
| 2010-11 | 11 |
| 1998-99 | 11 |
| 1996-97 | 9 |
| 1975-76 | 9 |
| 2013-14 | 8 |
| 1997-98 | 7 |
| 2007-08 | 6 |
| 2006-07 | 6 |
| 2001-02 | 6 |
| 1977-78 | 6 |
| 1976-77 | 6 |
| 2018-19 | 5 |
| 2015-16 | 5 |
| 2011-12 | 5 |
| 2003-04 | 5 |
| 2002-03 | 5 |
| 2000-01 | 5 |
| 1995-96 | 5 |
| 1993-94 | 5 |
| 1979-80 | 5 |
| 2023-24 | 4 |
| 2017-18 | 4 |
| 2016-17 | 4 |
| 2014-15 | 4 |
| 2005-06 | 4 |
| 1999-00 | 4 |
| 2020-21 | 3 |
| 2008-09 | 3 |
| 1994-95 | 3 |
| 1992-93 | 3 |
| 1985-86 | 3 |
| 1981-82 | 3 |
| 1978-79 | 3 |
| 2022-23 | 2 |
| 2019-20 | 2 |
| 1989-90 | 2 |
| 1987-88 | 2 |
| 1984-85 | 2 |
| 1983-84 | 2 |
| 1980-81 | 2 |
| 2021-22 | 1 |
| 2012-13 | 1 |
| 2009-10 | 1 |
| 1988-89 | 1 |
