Courtesy: Bleacher Report
With 2014 right around the corner, everyone is looking to make a list of New Year’s resolutions to bring about a new and better version of themselves for the upcoming year. The same should be said about professional sports organizations and the Washington Capitals have plenty of issues looming that must be corrected if they hope to raise Lord Stanley’s Cup in June.
I’ve compiled a list of resolutions that I believe the Capitals across the board must address and deliver a skinny on what exactly must happen in order for the resolution to come to fruition:
1. “I, George McPhee, will deal Michal Neuvirth to a team where he can be used and no longer play a balancing act with three goaltenders all capable of starting at the NHL level. ”
Philipp Grubauer has come up from AHL Hershey and been a dynamic addition to the lineup. The 22-year-old took over for Neuvirth after he suffered a freak lower-body injury when making his way out of the tunnel for a start against the Montreal Canadiens Nov. 29, and has since made Adam Oates’ decision on who to start between the pipes that much more difficult. While Neuvirth is a capable goaltender as is Braden Holtby, Neuvirth may have lost his job due to injury as the backup goaltender. Fair? Maybe not, but there’s no reason Washington should be toying with three netminders at this level. It is a good problem to have too many goalies, but given the struggles defensively of this team, he can be packaged with a player and/or a draft pick to further bolster this roster’s biggest weakness.
2. “Puck-watching will go to the wayside as our forwards and defenseman must play better on 50-50 pucks and in our own zone.” — Adam Oates
It’s not that the Capitals lack effort all the time it’s just sometimes they get beat to pucks they probably shouldn’t and don’t play aggressive enough along the walls. It seems like the problem of this team is still that they try to make the big play far too often as opposed to the right play that should be made and it costs them dearly in their own zone. Sure, defenseman have gone in and out of the lineup like children at Hershey’s Chocolate World, but there is no excuse for allowing as many shots toward the goalie as they have. In 40 games this season, they’ve allowed 30 or more shots 33 times. Whenever that many chances are facing your goaltender, your asking him to pick up a lot of slack that he may not be able to shoulder every night.
3. “We will possess the puck and find ways to create opportunities all over the ice while preventing so many in our own end.” — Alexander Ovechkin
Far too often the Capitals find themselves going down the ice and looking for that one perfect play. Whether it’s Ovechkin skating through defenders and trying the curl-and-drag up the left-side boards to penetrate the slot and shoot, Washington simply isn’t establishing themselves enough as an offensive presence outside of the man-advantage situations where they are 2nd in the NHL with a 25.2 percentage. Sometimes, guys like Ovechkin are too trigger happy and take one bad shot and it’s time to skate backwards, or guys like Marcus Johansson or Nicklas Backstrom look to pass when they should either shoot more or wait until their pass recipient is expecting to touch the puck. If the Capitals can’t control the clock more, that will lead to more opportunities for opponents and put them in a come-from-behind mode more often than they’d like to be in.
4. “We have to be better in the neutral zone and avoid making mistakes like a young team even though we are not.” — Brooks Laich
Simple mistakes like keeping the head up when making passes across the ice or playing with a stick on the ground to try and poke the puck away from opponents, Washington seems to forget the basics more than anything and high-effort players like Eric Fehr will be the first to tell you. Being fundamentally sound is the key for any hockey team to become a perennial contender year in and year out and Washington has enough veteran leadership on this club where the little things should not go to the wayside.
5. “Even though we’ll take all of the points we can get, we must be better in regulation, 5-on-5 and avoid relying so much on overtime and shootout victories.” — Jason Chimera
Just 10 of the team’s 20 wins have come in regulation and eight have come by way of the shootout. When the postseason comes around, Washington won’t have the luxury of gimmick hockey to bail them out of games they either shouldn’t win or that they gave away. At roughly the midway point of the season, the Capitals can be happy that they are in second place in the Metropolitan Division, but they are a far cry away from the caliber of team that first place Pittsburgh is or at least at this stage of the season. So how does a team improve in regulation? While it’s easier said than done, never get complacent. If an early lead is built, keep adding to it until the margin is comfortable enough to spread out ice time across all of the lines. For a team that has never won a Stanley Cup Championship, the Capitals have found a way to make the playoffs, but never quite get over the hump. The window of opportunity may not be closing just yet, but it’s hard to win any given day in this league period.
