Losing is the worst, let’s stop doing it at two in a row, shall we?
The Numbers
Team Breakdown
| Florida Panthers | Washington Capitals | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 13-11-4 (5th Atlantic) | 19-5-2 (1st Metropolitan) |
| GF/60 (5v5) | 2.0 | 2.4 |
| GA/60 (5v5) | 2.0 | 1.8 |
| CF/60 (5v5) | 46.6 | 55.5 |
| CA/60 (5v5) | 52.9 | 51.1 |
| PDO (5v5) | 100.9 | 101.2 |
| Power Play | 19.35% - 18 for 93 | 25.3% - 21 for 83 |
| Penalty Kill | 79.78 - 71 for 89 | 84.06% - 58 for 69 |
Individual Leaders
| Florida Panthers | Washington Capitals | |
|---|---|---|
| Points | Jaromir Jagr - 20 | Evgeny Kuznetsov - 27 |
| Goals | Jaromir Jagr & Vincent Trocheck - 8 | Alex Ovechkin - 13 |
| Assists | Jonathan Huberdeau, Jaromir Jagr, & Jussi Jokinen - 12 | Evgeny Kuznetsov - 19 |
| PP/60 (5v5) | Connor Brickley - 1.84 | Evgeny Kuznestov - 2.02 |
| iCorsi/60 (5v5) | Brandon Pirri - 16.84 | Alex Ovechkin - 22.74 |
| CF% rel (5v5) | Aaron Ekblad - +11.5% | Nicklas Backstrom - +10.26% |
| SCF% rel (5v5) | Aaron Ekblad - +12.5% | Stanislav Galiev - +16.16% |
| PenD (5v5) | Jonathan Huberdeau - +5 | Marcus Johansson - +6 |
Goalie Matchup
| Al Montoya | Phillip Grubauer | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 3-1-1 | 2-1-1 |
| AdjSv% (5v5) | 92.69% | 91.23% |
| GAA | 2.09 | 2.70 |
* – Stats are courtesy of War-on-Ice.com, Puckalytics.com and Hockey-Reference.com
Projected Lineups
Florida Panthers
| #11 Jonathan Huberdeau | #16 Aleksander Barkov | #68 Jaromir Jagr |
| #73 Brandon Pirri | #21 Vincent Trocheck | #18 Reilly Smith |
| #36 Jussi Jokien | #17 Derek MacKenzie | #48 Logan Shaw |
| #86 Connor Brickley | #63 Dave Bolland | #42 Quinton Howden |
| #7 Dmitry Kulikov | #44 Erik Gudbranson |
| #51 Brian Campbell | #33 Willie Mitchell |
| #5 Aaron Ekblad | #3 Stephen Kampfer |
| #35 Al Montoya |
| #1 Roberto Luongo |
Washington Capitals
| #8 Alex Ovechkin | #19 Nicklas Backstrom | #77 T.J. Oshie |
| #90 Marcus Johansson | #92 Evgeny Kuznetsov | #14 Justin Williams |
| #25 Jason Chimera | #83 Jay Beagle | #43 Tom Wilson |
| #21 Brooks Laich | #46 Michael Latta | #67 Chris Brown |
| #88 Nate Schmidt | #74 John Carlson |
| #27 Karl Alzner | #2 Matt Niskanen |
| #4 Taylor Chorney | #9 Dmitry Orlov |
| #31 Phillip Grubauer |
| #70 Braden Holtby |
The Rundown
The strangest thing about these two losses may be that Florida’s been playing objectively better than they did on their five game winning streak. They’ve just gone back to being the Florida of old: a reasonably competent team who cannot get a goal to save their lives and keep giving up dumb ones. Erik Gudbranson in particular has seen a real transformation since being paired with Dmitry Kulikov — rather than being a sub-40% Corsi player, Gudbranson has been over 50% since Kulikov’s return to the lineup, lending further credence to my theory that Kulikov is perhaps some sort of a wizard.
As has mostly been the story for Florida this season, the top six and the ex-CHL defensemen have been strong lately and everyone else has been a bit of a concern. Against the Senators, Gallant nearly stopped playing Bolland, an odd move from a coach who’s generally overplayed our pal Dave. Bolland didn’t see any ice time after 14:07 in the third and his total ice time clocked in more than a full minute under Brickley and Howden.
I like this move from Gallant — his in-game adaptations have been severely lacking over the course of his tenure and this is a positive sign towards him figuring out how to make his lineup click. Hint: it doesn’t involve rolling four lines or overplaying the vets (Jagr excepted, Jagr is the exception to everything and also you can’t overplay him). In particular, the PK needs to get it together right now because Alex Ovechkin is coming to town.
You don’t need me to tell you how dangerous the Capitals can be offensively, but here’s the good news: the last time these teams met, Florida took Washington to overtime without Barkov or Jagr. If the Panthers stay on their game, stay disciplined, and dictate the matchups, everything’s going to be fine. They can compete, they just need to do that. (I know, “just,” like it’s so simple, right?)
Closing Thoughts
#CatsForACause is still going strong. I know there are a lot of big pledges out there, but every little bit really does count. I’ve pledged things like 27 cents for each Bjugstad goal this season and 11 cents for each Huberdeau assist — small amounts that will add up. RAINN is a cause that’s near and very dear to my heart and I’m so glad to be a part of raising money so they can continue doing what they do. Just $10 pays for a survivor’s call to RAINN’s hotline where they can discover resources and begin healing. That’s huge.
I was hoping to get to talk about Nick Bjugstad vs Nick Backstrom or about Bjugstad and Schmidt, but I can’t do that because of Bjugstad’s mysterious injury. Instead, I leave you with one of my favorite pictures of all time:
