After crushing the Islanders 6-2 the other night, the Capitals are now the NHL leader in two important categories, Power Play
Percentage and Penalty Killing Percentage. The league average for scoring when you are in
the power play advantage is 18%, which Washington is leading at 28%. Looking
the other way, DC leads the NHL in preventing opponents from scoring on
the advantage at 8%, with the same 18% league average.
Controlling these key moments in the game correlates into
victories, as the top ten power play % teams and 8 of the top 10 penalty
killing teams currently have winning records. Only once in the past 8 seasons
has a team even finished in the top three in both categories at the end of the
year, and that team had the best record in the league and made the Cup Finals.
Then why are the Caps only 8-7? Well, when playing at even
numbers, they are below average. Washington has outscored opponents for the
season 50-42, but when at even strength they are being outscored 37-33. They
are the only team in the NHL with that oddity.