📸 : RMNB
The Washington Capitals didn’t light up the scoreboard but still managed to secure a big two points at home against the Los Angeles Kings. The Caps took down one of the NHL’s top road-warring teams by a 2-1 final.
More of the same good five-on-five play, but they walked a thin line on special teams again. Luckily, their goaltender was up for the task.
- The first period was by far Washington’s best at five-on-five, as they created eight high-danger chances in the frame alone. I was worried that not converting on more of those big opportunities would haunt them at the end of the game, and it almost did. The team really needs a goal-scoring boost from somewhere. They rode out of the rest of the game pretty evenly with the Kings, with their weakest bouts of play coming in the second period. LA left up 13-4 in five-on-five scoring chances during the second.
- Charlie Lindgren was absolutely phenomenal after a few not-so-great starts. He made 30 stops on 31 shots faced and was particularly brilliant on the penalty kill, where he faced six shots. Per MoneyPuck, Lindgren saved 2.69 more goals than expected, while LA’s Darcy Kuemper saved 1.32 more than expected. Good game from both parts of the former netminding partnership in DC.
- Alex Ovechkin scored the game-winning goal, the 903rd of his legendary career. Through this recent cold spell, Ovechkin has been one of the team’s only constants, recording eight points (4g, 4a) in the last seven games. He is now second on the team in goals (6), behind just Tom Wilson (9).
Capitals defensemen have combined for 13 goals this season, which is the second-highest total in the NHL (Columbus: 14g).
— Capitals PR (@CapitalsPR) November 18, 2025
- While Ovechkin’s line did score the game-deciding marker, they struggled mightily to control play at five-on-five, which is concerning because he still didn’t start a single shift in the defensive zone. With Ovi over the boards, the Caps saw heavily negative differentials in shot attempts (-13), shots on goal (-11), scoring chances (-9), and high-danger chances (-6). The Capitals need to be dominating those minutes to make the intense sheltering worthwhile. They didn’t do so against the Kings but escaped nonetheless.
- Matt Roy was tremendous against his former team, scoring his first goal of the season and skating 22:46 of ice time. With him on the ice five-on-five, the Caps finished up 25-11 in shot attempts, 16-7 in scoring chances, 9-3 in high-danger chances, and most importantly, 2-0 in goals.
- Spencer Carbery’s experiment of placing Nic Dowd between Ryan Leonard and Anthony Beauvillier also worked out. The Kings did not create a single high-danger chance with that group on the ice, and the Capitals owned 64.5 percent of the expected goals.
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