CAPITALS 101

Since Dec. 13, 2011, Capitals 101 has been covering each game of the Washington Capitals for Sports Media 101.

Frequent readers know that one of the staples of my coverage is the pre-game "Players to Watch" that are included in the preview article. (Example)

During the dog days of summer, writing material is sometimes difficult to generate. That's why today was the perfect opportunity to go through every pregame article that Capitals 101 has published and decipher just how successful the picks for "Players to Watch" were for this season.

Here's what I came up with, and keep in mind PTW (otherwise known as "Player(s) to Watch") weren't chosen for every game this season. Let's see just how 'good' I am at predicting who will produce points in a certain game.

48 total games

Combined Stats

At least one PTW recorded at least a point in 38 games- 79% success rate

Both PTW recorded at least a point in 17 games- 35% success rate

Six times one of the PTW scored the game-winning goal.

The PTW that registered more points than his counterpart went 23-3-5. (as expected)

Caps "Players to Watch"

24 PTW recorded at least one point- 50% success rate (Hey, that ain't bad!)

Washington went 14-6-4 in those games. In the 24 games in which the PTW didn't register a point, the Caps went 9-14-1.

19 PTW recorded at least one goal- 40% success rate

Washington went 12-4-3 in those games.

9 PTW registered a multi-point game- 19% success rate

Washington went 6-0-3 in those games.

2 PTW scored a game-winning goal.

Streaks

3 game goal streak from 12/20-12/26 (Ovechkin, Chimera, Ovechkin)

3 game goal streak from 12/30-1/3 (Backstrom, Ovechkin, Ovechkin)

6 of 7 PTW scored a goal from 12/20-1/3

6 of 9 PTW recorded a point from 2/12-2/28

Notable Picks

Nicklas Backstrom on 12/30: Game-winning goal and one assist in 3-1 win over Buffalo.

Alex Ovechkin on 12/31 and 1/3: Two goals in a 4-2 win over Columbus. One goal and one assist in a 3-1 win over Calgary.

Troy Brouwer on 2/28: Two goals in a 3-2 overtime win over the New York Islanders.

Alex Ovechkin on 3/8: Game-winning overtime goal in 3-2 win over Tampa Bay.

Marcus Johansson on 3/29: One goal and one assist in 3-2 shootout victory over Montreal.

Opponents "Players to Watch" (48 total games)

31 PTW recorded at least one point- 65% success rate

Opponents went 19-8-4 in those games.

20 PTW recorded at least one goal- 42% success rate

Opponents went 13-3-4 in those games.

12 PTW registered a multi-point game- 25% success rate

Opponents went 9-0-3 in those games.

4 PTW scored a game-winning goal.

Streaks

10 game point streak from 12/17-1/9

7 game point streak from 2/9-2/22

Never went more than 2 games in a row without picking a correct point-scorer

Notable Picks

Patrick Marleau on 1/7: Game-winning goal and two assists in 5-2 win.

Evgeni Malkin on 1/22: Game-winning overtime goal and two assists in 4-3 win.

Eric Staal on 2/20: Two goals and one assist in 5-0 win.

Erik Karlsson on 2/22: One goal and two assists in 5-2 win.

Teddy Purcell on 3/8: One goal and one assist in 3-2 overtime loss.

John Tavares on 3/13: Two goals and one assist in 5-4 overtime loss.

Drew Stafford on 3/27: Two goals, including the game-winner in 5-1 win.

I'm not so bad at this whole 'predicting who will record a point" thing, right?

Obviously, the success rate was higher for opponents because I was getting to draw from different pools each night. These results definitely give some motivation to perform at a better level next season.

Hope everyone is having a great summer.

Is it October yet?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: Alex Ovechkin, Hockey, Marcus Johansson, NHL, Nicklas Backstrom, Troy Brouwer, Washington, Washington Capitals

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