Washington Capitals Superstar Alex Ovechkin delighted hockey fans recently by becoming the eighth player in the National Hockey League (NHL) to score 700 career goals. It is even said that Ovechkin could break Wayne Gretzky’s record with 894 career goals.
[Can Ovechkin beat Gretzky’s career goals record?]
But all the excitement around Ovechkin hid a troubling fact: the Washington Capitals aren’t playing very well.
The Caps started the 2019-2020 season quickly. On December 27, their record was a league record of 27-7-5 (27 wins, seven losses and five overtime losses). Since then, however, the Washington record has been a 13-12-1 means. (Check out today’s sports section to see how the Caps evolved last night against the Philadelphia Flyers.)
There are several reasons for the not so great Caps game. Their main goalkeeper, Braden Holtby, was not pointed between the pipes. This season Holtby only stopped 89.8% of the Caps’ net shots. Three years ago, he stopped 92.5% of the shots.
This may not seem like a big deal, but do the math. An NHL goalkeeper can see 100 shots on goal every three to four games. If he stops only 90 of those shots instead of 92 or 93 of the shots, it’s a difference of two or three goals every three or four games. It could be the difference between winning or losing a few close games.
Of course, it’s not always the goalkeeper’s fault. The defense of the Caps was sometimes sloppy. Maybe that’s why they traded for the San Jose Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon. It could help strengthen Washington’s blue line.
[In the NHL, sometimes the best offense is a good defenseman]
Finally, the NHL regular season is long: 82 games spread over six months. Even the most talented teams have times when they are not playing their best hockey. Some fans may think that the Caps will “activate” it for the NHL playoffs.
I’m not so sure. As children in sports know, games and all practices involve developing good habits. The players, pros at the playgrounds, try to get into the habit of always jostling each other, always doing their best, always focusing on the game, so when they are in a big game, they have nothing to do differently.
It’s the same thing outside of sport. Good study habits – doing homework every night, paying attention, reading instead of playing video games – help children become good students and pass tests well.
It’s time for the Caps to return to the good habits – jostling, putting strong controls on their opponents and playing head-up defense – that they showed earlier in the season.
If they don’t, Washington players may find that when the playoffs take place, they’re used to losing.
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