Despite the close calls and sloppy plays, the Washington Capitals have to be happy with their last four games, especially since a win is a win no matter what.
After a sluggish 2-2-2 start, Washington has come out and played its own kind of hockey. There have been 15 goals for the Caps, pucks have been flying free and Alex Ovechkin has been their top performer. If they can skate by with these tight wins for now, they will buy the time to improve on the weak parts of their game.
Wins against San Jose, Atlanta, Nashville and the New York Islanders, while not impressive, are the ones that will count come playoff time. If only a game or two separates the Caps from a playoff berth and a long summer, it will be important that they won their early games.
A key to all of their victories has been their penalty kill. A big problem for the team last year was their inability to stop the power play. That has not been the case this year. As a team, Washington is 23 for 25 on the penalty kill during a victory and 39 for 47 overall. It is good enough for sixth in the Eastern Conference and will be key, seeing as penalties were the major reason for their failure against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the playoffs.
Despite their success in that facet of the game, it is not good enough for Head Coach Bruce Boudreau. He believes any more than three penalties in a game is unacceptable. It is for a good reason too, since most of their short-handed situations pull their best players off of the ice.
The most impressing part of the four-game winning streak is how they have won despite injuries. Washington experienced a swoon last year when winger Alexander Semin was kept out of the lineup with a back injury. Even though he is just as important to the team this year, they have been able to put the pieces together without his play-making abilities.
Another major injury was to goalie Jose Theodore. Many believed Semyon Varlamov would run away with the starting job after his stellar postseason, but he has struggled early and Theodore had been a wall in net. When the young rookie was looked at too fill in, he did a fantastic job posting three straight wins. That said, it was still a welcome relief to see Theodore back in net on Saturday. He was a difference maker posting a 93 save percentage against the Islanders.
Their last three games of October will show whether or not these wins and statistics are just adorations, or the real Caps team. Washington returns home to face the red hot 5-2-1 Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday, followed by another trip to Atlanta and a home game against the Islanders. The last two games should be easy wins and the last is a must-win. Philly is the kind of team that the Caps have been unable to beat and if they can win on Tuesday it will show they have turned a corner as a team.
The Capitals would strugge to win if Ovechkin, Semin and Mike Green are shut down by a strong defense. It was evident against the New York Rangers in the first round last year. One of the big things the Capitals front office worked on fixing during the offseason was the traffic in front of the net. As a result, they added perennial net crasher Mike Knuble.
Knuble may be the missing piece that could tie a young team together. He has already stepped up several times with clutch goals when the Caps need them most. His energy is perhaps the most important part of the team. They lacked that scrappy player that would energize the team through big hits and less than pretty plays last year. Now they have that and while Ovechkin is still the star, all of the pressure is not on him to pick the team up when it is down.
If Washington can keep up their penalty kill and can get the much-needed contributions from role players, they will go far this year. It is still early to proclaim that, but it is the recipe for success for almost every team in the NHL. The strategy won the Penguins their Cup last year, with a good PK and contributions from players like Hall Gill, Petr Sykora and Sergei Gonchar.
It is a long season and Washington is not even a quarter of the way through it yet. Sloppiness can be tolerated for right now as long as the team is winning. The key word there is now, their problems must be fixed as the season continues. With the pieces they have at their disposal though, Washington should have no problem doing that.
You can reach this columnist at atomlinson@theeagleonline.com.
