"Of those eight losses, seven were by a single goal, excluding empty netters. So the Caps are close to having a much more flattering record, which provides some solace. But dive a little deeper into those losses and you'll see a common thread: absolutely abysmal special teams. In their eight losses on the campaign, the Caps have managed just one goal in 26 opportunities with the extra man, a shockingly woeful 3.8% success rate,"
""Kind of the story of our season so far. Great five-on-five, I thought, for the most part. ... We're a great team at five-on-five right now. Our special teams isn't good. We have to find a way to be better. There's no way around it. Like Carbs said the other day, it's cost us games, and another one tonight.""
""I don't want to talk too much about it. It's just - it's not good enough. We've got to fix it quickly. It's costing us games.""
Through 15 games the Washington Capitals are 7-7-1 and have lost eight games, seven by a single goal excluding empty-netters. The team has excelled five-on-five but suffered on special teams. In those eight losses the power play produced one goal on 26 chances (3.8%) while the penalty kill succeeded on just 19 of 29 attempts (65.5%). The Capitals allowed as many power-play goals as they scored in those defeats. Applying a league-average 20.9% power-play rate in those games increases goals-for to 5.4; applying league-average penalty-kill reduces goals-against to six.
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