No team in the NHL has participated in more shootouts this season than the Washington Capitals. Through five games, the club has gone to the skills competition three times, posting a 1-2-0 record. This is a continuation of a trend from last season that saw the Caps participate in the shootout an NHL-leading 21 times; they managed a 10-11 record.
All this is in contrast to Edmonton, a team which went to just seven shootouts last year and has one in the books this season.
But with Washington one of the league leaders in the category, it’s a good time to look at how the individuals on the Oilers’ roster have done over their careers. Because the samples tend to be small, I’ve compiled each player’s stats from their career NHL work and their work in the AHL in the skills competition:
Players with more than 10 attempts are in the top half of the chart; players with less than 10 attempts in the bottom half of the chart.
The NHL average for the shootout is roughly one-of-three, so the Oilers have two excellent options who based on history should probably be shooting every night: Matt Hendricks and Jordan Eberle. After that, it’s really a coin toss with a whole bunch of less than compelling shooters. One who might be worth trying: Justin Schultz, who showed really well in a short span of AHL attempts. Another who might be worth a shot: Nail Yakupov, who has yet to take his first shootout attempt in the NHL.
The Oilers goalies are both around the average mark on their careers once we include AHL statistics; Ben Scrivens has turned aside 67.1 percent of the shots he’s faced while Viktor Fasth has stopped 65.8 percent.
As for tonight’s game, the lineup is unchanged from Monday’s win over Tampa Bay:
Of the coaches’ press conferences, the best line probably came from Barry Trotz, who was asked how Alex Ovechkin could top 50 goals last season while going minus-35. Originally he refused to answer (“I don’t know, I wasn’t here. I have no idea.”) but when pressed he offered up the following gem from legendary goaltender Dominik Hasek:
You know, sometimes it just happens. Sometimes, you’re pushing… Dominik Hasek said this to [current Capitals goalie coach] Mitch Korn one time: ‘The top players start every year minus-10.’ Just because they’re on late in games, those type of things, and you end up trying to create that offence, you’re the sixth guy offensively. Dominik Hasek used to say you’re minus-10; how he got the other 25 I’m not quite sure.
I’d add that playing a lot on the power play (where only minuses can be collected) and generally not playing shorthanded (where only pluses can be collected) is part of the equation, too. Either way, it’s a good reminder of yet another reason to distrust the NHL’s most unloved statistic.
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