Capitals at Blackhawks Preview & Game Thread

  

 

Washington Capitals (33-17-7) @ Chicago Blackhawks (24-26-8)

7:30PM Central

RADIO: WGN 720

 

PROJECTED GOALIES:

Chicago:

Anton Forsberg (5-11-3, 3.06 GAA, .907 Save%)

Washington:

Braden Holtby (28-10-4, 2.82 GAA, .913 Save%)

 

 

LINES/PAIRINGS:

Chicago:

Saad-Toews-Wingels

Bouma-Schmaltz -Kane

Sharp-Hartman-DeBrincat

Hinostroza-Kampf-Jurco

Keith-Oesterle

Kempny-Seabrook

Dahlstrom-Gustafsson

Washington:

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Wilson

Vrana-Kuznetsov-Oshie

Connolly-Eller-Burakovsky

Stephenson-Beagle-Smith-Pelly

Djoos-Carlson

Orlov-Niskanen

Orpik-Chorney

 

 

STATISTICAL COMPARISIONS:

Power Play:

Chicago 15.9% (29th)

Washington 21.1% (T-10th)

Penalty Kill:

Chicago 82.7% (7th)

Washington 80.0% (T-17th)

Corsi FOR % (5-on-5):

Chicago 53.6% (2nd)

Washington 47.8% (25th)

Faceoffs:

Chicago 49.6% (T-18th)

Washington 50.2% (T-15th)

 

 

SUMMARY:

After an extremely tough loss against the Anaheim Ducks Thursday night, the Blackhawks are still looking to end their eight-game losing streak. They have yet to win a game this month, and sadly have a zero percent chance of making the playoffs. With that being said, their game against Anaheim was one of the better games they had played all season.

From just an entertainment level, the game was a joy to watch. It was filled with great energy and physicality, two things the Hawks have been lacking for much of this season. The game even featured some long scoring draughts coming to an end. Duncan Keith finally scored his first goal this season, and Brandon Saad scored his first goal since early January. Even if it was provoked by the usual antics of the infamous Josh Manson, Ryan Kesler, and Nick Ritchie, it was refreshing to see the Blackhawks play a little pissed off, and it led to a better overall game. Still, the storyline remained the same; a few blatant turnovers by the defense, and lack of finish from the offense, led to the demise of the Hawks once again.

After the game, I started to do some research into advanced statistics, looking for any explanations other than, “they suck,” as to why the Blackhawks have been so dreadful this season. What I found is they aren’t as bad, statistically, as what it seems.

Here are some of the more surprising stats I found:

-The Blackhawks lead the NHL in losses when outshooting their opponent, with 21, 6 more than the next highest team.

-The Blackhawks lead the league in even strength offensive zone starts, at 57.1%.

-As shown above, the Blackhawks are second in the league in even strength corsi for.

-The Blackhawks have FIVE players in the top 50 of corsi for percentage. Saad is 1st with 59.3%, Jonathan Toews is 3rd with 57.8%, Keith is 27th with 54%, Patrick Kane is 34th with 53.5%, and Brent Seabrook is 42nd with 53%.

I understand that advanced stats are not the end all be all, and that this Blackhawks roster has definite holes. But I have two major first impressions after some of my research are this. First, maybe the Blackhawks are just snake-bitten this season. With their core players leading the Hawks to extremely high shot totals and possession numbers, maybe they just have been more unlucky than bad when it comes to scoring, and the history of their core players supports that theory.

Secondly, I think these stats prove how bad the defense has been this season. While consistently controlling the puck, and having more shots on net, the Hawks are still losing a large majority of their games. Sure, not having Corey Crawford is hurting this team, allowing for more bad goals.. But, think about how many bad turnovers this team commits. The game against Anaheim is proof, they control the puck for long stretches, a defenseman makes a horrible turnover, and it ends up in the back of the net. These turnovers don’t lead to large shot totals for opponents, they lead to goals. I will be doing a more in-depth piece within the next week, expanding more on my findings, but I figured it would be some good food for thought before tonight’s game.

Speaking of tonight’s game, this doesn’t look like a great opportunity for the Hawks to end their losing streak. The Washington Capitals come to Chicago after a dominating 5-2 over the Minnesota Wild and feature a stacked roster top to bottom. They have two players, Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov, in the top 25 in scoring, and their number one defenseman, John Carlson, is fourth in points among defenseman, and top ten in the league in minutes per game. In their only meeting of the season, the Caps embarrassed the Hawks 6-2 in D.C., one of the more memorable losses the Hawks have had all season.

I don’t see the losing streak ending tonight, but I have been wrong before. At minimum, hopefully the game is entertaining, they owe us that much right?

We’ll recap tonight or tomorrow AM. Join the conversation below!

 

Follow: @CoachMajewski

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Center Ice Forums Capitals at Blackhawks Preview & Game Thread

Viewing 20 posts - 1 through 20 (of 21 total)
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    Posts
  • #5181
    John Jaeckel
    Participant

      Washington Capitals (33-17-7) @ Chicago Blackhawks (24-26-8) 7:30PM Central RADIO: WGN 720   PROJECTED GOALIES: Chicago: Anton Forsberg (5
    [To continue reading full article, click here: Capitals at Blackhawks Preview & Game Thread]

    #5182
    John Jaeckel
    Participant

    Let’s talk some hockey

    #5183
    Chico Maki
    Participant

    Wow…that was a gift for Toews. Holtby didn’t look ready. 

    I’d like to see the Hawk Dmen be harder on the puck in this game.

     

    #5184
    Chico Maki
    Participant

    Is Dahlstrom really a prospect for next year?  Or is he playing to give other GMs a look? Maybe im wrong but he hasnt impressed me.

     

    #5185

    Breakouts looking a little bit better tonight

    #5186

    [quote quote=5184]Is Dahlstrom really a prospect for next year? Or is he playing to give other GMs a look? Maybe im wrong but he hasnt impressed me.

    [/quote] Skates stuck in the mud sometimes

    #5187
    John Jaeckel
    Participant

    I’m not sold on Dahlstrom either

    #5188
    hawkeytalk
    Participant

    Vinnie with a Hossa-like effort on the baxkcheck, and the announcers say nothing about it. He just sprinted back and picked their pocket, and we had possession again. Need more of that all around.

    #5189
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    So far so good!

    Let’s see a whole game of this effort

    #5191
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Too timid. Leaves too much space. (Dahlstrom)

     

    #5192
    Kaners Bald Spot
    Participant

    I agree with the premise that the Hawks this season have been more unlucky than bad. Maybe we see that trend reverse itself over the last third of the season, and even though they don’t make the playoffs, they have decent ground to build on for next season. Who knows, maybe they get lucky and grab a top 3 pick as well.

    #5193
    Chico Maki
    Participant

    [quote quote=5187]I’m not sold on Dahlstrom either

    [/quote]

    Frankly, I’d rather have Franson back from Rockford, than Dahlstrom.

    At least Franson was useful on the PP.

     

    #5196
    Matthew Paulish
    Participant

    Why did the ref blow the play dead when 64 had the puck on the delayed penalty ?? Would have been a 2 on 0 infeont !!??

    #5197
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    HEY HEY!

    Kane and Toews. When was the last time that worked?

    #5198
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Caps need a timeout

    #5199
    Chico Maki
    Participant

    6-1.  Who are these guys?

    Don’t they understand they’re supposed to tank?

     

    #5200
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    [quote quote=5199]6-1. Who are these guys? Don’t they understand they’re supposed to tank?

    [/quote]

    This game is sweet sweet medicine

    #5201
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    that is the fastest I’ve seen Debrincat skate.

     

    Is the whole team juicing now? haha.. where did this come from?

    #5202
    Tim M.
    Participant

    Hartman showed he’s got a good set of wheels. Too bad he’s only used them in about 10 games all year.

    #5204
    hawkeytalk
    Participant

    [quote quote=5202]Hartman showed he’s got a good set of wheels. Too bad he’s only used them in about 10 games all year.

    [/quote]

    That is what kills me with this team. They have a very talented forward group pretty much across the board – why do guys have long stretches of games where some guys, or the team, are completely invisible? Maybe it’s because we all watch so closely that cold spells feel longer, but the lack of consistency from everyone is kind of mind boggling. Makes me think there is a lack of motivation and leadership lately to simply keep the pedal on the metal on a game to game basis.

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