Capitals` 2013-2014 Season in Review
It’s turned out to be a disappointing season for the Washington Capitals. After losing the majority of their games in the past few weeks, they have all but been eliminated from playoff contention. Statistical wise, it was a success, but stats as we all know mean nothing at the end of the season when you’re watching the playoffs from home. In a year that featured it’s fair share of ups and downs, I’ll examine every phase of the Capitals, delivering the good and bad about each area of their game and play as a team.
Offense:
Offense was once again the strength of the Caps. Alex Ovechkin had a another stupendous year offensively, and is set to become the season leader in goals scored. His ability to snipe from the point and low slot areas were matched by none save for his great rival, Sydney Crosby. With 50 goals on the table, it’s clear Ovechkin was the trumpcard of the Capital offense. Nicklas Backstrom is most likely to finish third in the league in assists with a current 60, and there’s time for more. Joel Ward has had an impressive season himself, racking up what will be a career high in goals at 23, if he does not score any in the remaining games. The only other notable offensive performance is that of Troy Brouwer, with the same number of goals as Ward. The rest of the team has underperformed, considering the Capitals will finish with one of the worst +/- ratings in the league at the end of the season., including the need for youth. B
Defense
This will end up being the story of Washington’s season. Their defense featured only a few that were willing to defend in their zone, those notably Orlov, Alzner, Carlson, and Erskine. The wings and centers became lazy and often gave up on shifts once the puck entered their zone. Of course, the fact that their line changing was disgustingly unorganized did not help either, many of their opponents scored on odd man rushes and breakaways. Like it or not, Ovechkin may go down as the scapegoat, seeing that while he may have scored the most goals out of anyone, but will more than likely finish the season with the worst +/- rating at a staggering -34. Mike Green has been through his time here seen as an offensive defenseman, and that has proven true but simultaneously detrimental to the Capitals’ success defensively. Overall, their defense featured a reserving amount of enthusiastic play, which has proven to be costly. C-
Goaltending
Before we assume that we have some of the worst netminders in the league, we should refer to the text above. The vast majority of goals given up by the collective effort of Halak, Holtby, and the recently released, Michal Neuvirth were not their fault. At many times we saw impressive desperation saves and breakaway stuffs, but given the defensive woes, the goalies could not stop everything. Holtby at the beginning of the season was a strong candidate for Team Canada, but performed poorly even with defensive help early on. Neuvirth came in when Holtby was deemed unreliable at the given time, but he too struggled. Near the end of the season, the Caps signed Halak in hopes of a increase in save percentage. He too has not preformed to par. Do not think that these goaltenders were bad despite having the habit of giving up easy goals at times, as mentioned, the men in front of them did not help much in providing defensive aid. B-
Special Teams:
Their strongest point save for the offense. The Caps will likely finish with the second-best power play besides the Penguins. Each time they took the PP draw, you couldn’t help but have a string feeling that they were going to score. Ovechkin hammered home many of his goals in this phase of their game, and Backstrom picked up the majority of his assists this way. Their PK was solid too, and they’ll probably end up finishing 18th in that category. All in all, Special Teams was a strong point of the team, though often they could not deliver when given man advantages during clutch situations. B+
Bottom Line:
While they’ve shown promise offensively for the future, defense remains a concerning mystery going forward. The goaltending carousel stays open, and it’s likely they’ll draft a goalie early in the draft. During the final stretch, the Caps simply could not capitalize on their chances (no pun intended). Inconsistency will continue to hurt this team for awhile if they cannot improve in all stages of the game. On paper, this is a playoff team, but their inability to perform well on the ice has left them watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs from home. Stock: -1
