Washington Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen sat at his stall, smiling in complete satisfaction. A small group of reporters gathered around him, and no one was sure what exactly to say to the 30-year-old defenseman.
Niskanen began to laugh during the awkward silence.
“What do you got for me?” he asked.
Recently, when it’s come to Niskanen and the Capitals, it’s not a question if they will win, but more of a question of by how much. Following a 5-0 win against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Capitals have scored at least five goals in nine-straight home games. They are the first team to accomplish such a feat since the Calgary Flames did so from March 3 to April 1 in 1990.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Niskanen said. “We got it goin’. And throughout the lineup, too. It seems like it’s been different guys a lot. Different lines, sometimes it’s the [defensemen] chipping in. I think we just got a lot of confidence right now. Obviously, things are going well, and I like our team. I think we’ve got some good depth up and down the lineup.”
Looking at the stat sheet every night has become repetitious. Essentially, each player in the Capitals lineup records a point seemingly every night. Nicklas Backstrom has 24 points in his last 17 games. Alexander Ovechkin has 27 points in his last 24 games. Justin Williams has 20 points in his last 21 games. Evgeny Kuznetsov has 24 in his last 18. Lars Eller has 11 in his last 14. Brett Connolly has six in his last four games. Even Niskanen has 13 in his last 12 games.
It would almost be understandable for the Caps to lack interest in these home games. This season, the Capitals have posted a 22-5-1 record at home, tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins for the most home wins. In this recent stretch of nine-straight games with at least five goals, Washington is outscoring opponents 48-11. During this stretch, they’ve shut out opponents five times.
According to Sportsnet Stats, the Capitals have a +50 goal differential since Dec. 31. The teams ranked second through fifth in goal differential in that same time frame are only a combined +49.
It’s tough to dispute that the #Caps have been the NHL’s most dominant team since December 31 pic.twitter.com/nBZwRznbVh
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) February 8, 2017
But if you ask Niskanen, these types of wins are more and more difficult to achieve.
“The games aren’t locked up from the start,” Niskanen said. “You have to play well for a period of time to kind of get to that point where it feels like, okay, now we’re coasting in to the finish line. Going in the third [against Carolina], it wasn’t locked up, the game wasn’t over. But, I think, overall, everybody’s happy with the way we’ve been playing.”
Washington’s next game comes on Thursday, at home, against the Detroit Red Wings.
• Tommy Chalk can be reached at tchalk@washingtontimes.com.
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