Between Two Posts: Unpacking the Capitals' 4-1 Win Over The Predators

Saturday's game between the Washington Capitals and the Nashville Predators is the sort of game I've been mentioning a bunch in recent deep dives. On the one hand, the Capitals have looked sluggish in recent games, and have struggled to gain momentum throughout an entire game.

On the other hand, they're still picking up points.

Ethen Frank tallied his first goal in the NHL, Alex Ovechkin got a step closer to the record and Logan Thompson had an incredible game. But in the end, there are a few things to be concerned about coming out of this one.

Let's grab a big coffee and dig into the weeds of this game before football starts.

Logan Thompson Is A Machine

I'm going to start this section out by saying that you need to just watch the above video to get an idea of why

Washington can thank Logan Thompson for being the dominant presence in the crease that he's been this season. After the Vancouver game, I mentioned that the Caps owe him a steak dinner but now we're well past that — they owe him a paid vacation somewhere nice now.

Somewhere in all the success, the Capitals have had this season and all the talk of goal records being broken, it's been easy to miss how much the Capitals have to thank Logan Thompson (and the now-injured Charlie Lindgren) for their success.

League-wide, the focus has been on goalies like Connor Hellebuyck or Jacob Markstrom. Not taking away from the incredible season they're both having, but quietly in D.C., Thompson is putting up impressive numbers.

He is currently tied for fourth in the league with 18 wins and sits near the top in save percentage (.919) to boot.

One could point out that he has played in tandem with Lindgren while Hellebuyck and others have played more games, and that's a fair point, but based on his play this season and the numbers he puts up in his starts, I am confident that the Capitals wouldn't be in a different position in the standings if LT had played 30 or more games so far this season.

What's the point? Thompson is a machine.

Frank Scores His First, Ovechkin Makes More History With 873

It's obvious that Ethen Frank is not one to waste time. The day after getting his first point in his NHL debut, Frank scored the game-winning goal for Washington.

There's that speed of his again. Taking a long pass from Matt Roy and turning on the jets to beat Juuse Saros is a thing of beauty. It's a huge positive for this Capitals team right now, especially since they're struggling big-time to generate any kind of momentum on offense at 5-on-5.

Of course, the big man himself Alex Ovechkin wasn't going to be held off the board; he blocked a shot and potted an empty-net goal (which, if I'm to believe the internet, is easy to do) for No. 873. He also became only the second player in NHL history to score at least 20 goals in 20 consecutive seasons. The only other player who accomplished this was a little-known skater named... Gordie Howe.

At risk of sounding like I'm ignoring the other two guys who scored, Tom Wilson fired home a shot fro the bumper position on the power play in the second period. Later in the game, after Frank's goal, Andrew Mangiapane capitalized on a nice feed from Brandon Duhaime to give the Capitals some breathing room late in the game.

While Washington managed to string together some offensive momentum in that third period, there's a catch...

The Capitals Are Still Struggling Offensively

Whether it's fatigue or something else, Washington was certainly struggling out of the gate last night, and offense at 5-on-5 continues to be an issue.

This game was just more of the same that the Capitals have been going through with. Getting outshot 33 to 16 and playing another brutal second period is bad enough, and the advance stats aren't entirely kind to Washington in regards to possession and shot attempts.

Above are the advanced stats for last night's game at 5-on-5. Corsi (all shot attempts) and Fenwick (all shot attempts except blocked shots) heavily favor Nashville.

Now, credit to the Washington defense. Out of 76 shots the Predators fired toward Thompson, only 33 found their way through and 28 were blocked. Ovechkin himself had two shot blocks.

The disparity between the 33 shots on goal and the 76 shot attempts means that the Washington defense was not making it easy for Nashville's shooters to get pucks on Thompson, whether it's because of blocking shots, deflections or simply getting in shooting lanes.

But also, the Capitals allowed 76 shot attempts compared to their 45. That's not ideal. Generally speaking, Corsi is pretty indicative of how much a team has possession of the puck, and this just confirms what we all saw on Saturday.

I'm still not panicking. The Capitals have only recently fallen into this rut, and the advanced stats have been much kinder to them earlier in the season. But I am starting to get concerned. This Capitals team is better than this. They have shown us this all season, or at least until recent weeks.

It's Duck Season! (in my best Daffy Duck voice)

The Capitals get a couple of days off before hosting the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.

It's the same Anaheim team that was just shut out by the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, in a game Cutter Gauthier wants to forget quickly. While they aren't falling apart like they were last season, the Ducks are still very much a team rebuilding and finding their identity with some very young talents like Troy Terry, Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish.

Sometimes, these younger squads are the most dangerous. But this is another game that gives the Capitals a chance to climb out of their slump and generate some offence. Otherwise, it could end up being another trap game that Washington falls into.