{"id":284641,"date":"2025-11-11T04:54:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T04:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/284641\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T04:54:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T04:54:09","slug":"the-capitals-are-better-analytically-this-season-than-they-were-during-the-2024-25-campaign-but-arent-winning-games-it-really-tests-us-as-coaches-to-stay-with-our-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/284641\/","title":{"rendered":"The Capitals are better analytically this season than they were during the 2024-25 campaign, but aren\u2019t winning games: \u2018It really tests us as coaches to stay with our process\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Washington Capitals are just 7-7-1 to start the 2025-26 season. After running roughshod over the rest of the NHL to a 51-22-9 record last season, the Capitals, with a relatively unchanged roster, currently sit in nearly the exact opposite spot 15 games into their campaign \u2014 three points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n

At this same stage of the season a year ago, the Capitals were 10-4-1 and five points ahead of the teams vying for the East\u2019s wild card spots. Although their position in the standings has been reversed, the club is actually performing better analytically at five-on-five this season than they did during their strong start to the 2024-25 season.<\/p>\n

Year
\nRecord
\nCF%
\nxGF%
\nSCF%
\nHDCF%<\/p>\n

2024-25
\n10-4-1
\n50.7
\n55.1
\n54.5
\n55.8<\/p>\n

2025-26
\n7-7-1
\n55.4 (+4.7)
\n58.0 (+2.9)
\n57.5 (+3.0)
\n59.1 (+3.3)<\/p>\n

Head coach Spencer Carbery spoke about the mental hurdles of balancing his team\u2019s performance process-wise with their inability to finish and secure standings points after practice on Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it\u2019s really challenging because, as you know, in this business, there\u2019s not a lot of moral victories, and when you don\u2019t get two points, it really doesn\u2019t matter how it looked,\u201d Carbery said<\/a>. \u201cYou have an L in the column that matters the most. It really tests us as coaches to really stay with our process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among all teams in the league five-on-five, the Capitals rank third in shot attempt percentage, second in expected goals for percentage, second in scoring chance for percentage, and third in high danger chance for percentage. However, their .500 point percentage ranks just tied for 22nd in the NHL with six other teams.<\/p>\n

The two largest issues remain incredibly clear to the team\u2019s coaching staff and all outside observers: the Capitals have not been able to finish their chances, and they are struggling on special teams worse than any other team in the league.<\/p>\n

As of November 9, the Capitals have scored 10.1 fewer goals than expected, which is the 29th best conversion rate in the league. In layperson\u2019s terms, they\u2019re getting great looks in dangerous areas on the ice, but have just been unable to put the puck in the back of the net.<\/p>\n

In tandem with those shooting woes comes their inability to create chances while up a man and prevent chances while down a man. Heading into Tuesday night\u2019s game against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Capitals have the fifth-worst power play and the sixth-worst penalty kill in the NHL.<\/p>\n

The Capitals have converted on just seven of their 47 chances with a man advantage and have allowed two shorthanded goals against. On the flip side, they have allowed 13 power-play goals on 46 opposing power-play attempts and have yet to score a shorthanded goal of their own.<\/p>\n

While the season is still young, Carbery is choosing to remain positive about the things his team is doing well, while simultaneously hoping their luck turns around with the factors limiting their success in the standings.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver time, things will shift, and hopefully, pucks will start to go in, and we\u2019ll be rewarded, and we\u2019ll get a few bounces, and special teams will flip and even itself out, and our shooting percentage will even itself out,\u201d Carbery said. \u201cThen you would hope that the wins and the points in the standings column come.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it is trying because guys want results, and you want to win hockey games. And when you don\u2019t, guys are not happy with the way things are going, staff and players included. So it\u2019s on us as coaches to point out the things that we continue to be strong at five-on-five and reiterate those and continue to do those things. And maybe take them to even another level and continue to work and be hungry to turn our tides of luck. But yeah, we\u2019re trying to stay positive as we go through.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Capitals do not have an easy schedule for the rest of November, as nine of the 11 teams they face off against were playoff teams last year.<\/p>\n

To turn things around, they\u2019ll need to start with wins on the road against the Hurricanes and Florida Panthers this week. They have not beaten the Hurricanes on the road since December 17, 2023, losing in five straight outings at Lenovo Center. Similarly, the Capitals have lost six of their last seven against the Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Washington Capitals are just 7-7-1 to start the 2025-26 season. After running roughshod over the rest of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-284641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}