Puck possession - as we saw with the Red Wings this season - is a good strategy to implement. If the puck is in the other end, the goaltender gets a breather and fewer shots on goal.
As you saw in some of the analytic work done and reported on in the blogosphere and Japers’, our defense is developing nicely and with an up tempo style of play. All players are involved and the pace of play is best suited for a young team with an attacking mentality.
I remember back earlier in the decade, when the Caps had what was considered to be one of the best checking lines in the league: Konwalchuk-Halpern-Dahlen and then Konowalchuk-Halpern-Grier.
Those two lines went up against the best attacking lines the opponents had. We’re they great defensive forwards? Other than Grier, not really. They were all above average to be sure. What the excelled in was cycling the puck in the attacking zone, skating and keeping the puck 190 feet away from Olie Kolzig. That’s not checking the opponent, that’s attacking. And it is an excellent way to keep the puck out of your net.
What’s amazing is that the Caps have all of these speedy forwards, but mixed in are the muckers who can play in the corners: Kozlov, Clark, Bradley, Laich, Gordon.
I’ll say it again, this is the deepest Caps team I have seen since I’ve lived here (1985). There’s no excuse now…this is a team that can win, not only in the regular season, but also in April and May (and perhaps June!)