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NHL Extra: Breaking down Capitals vs. Blackhawks

Mike Knuble, Niklas Hjalmarsson

Washington Capitals’ Mike Knuble, right, controls the puck past Chicago Blackhawks’ Niklas Hjalmarsson during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Chicago, Sunday, March 14, 2010. The Capitals won 4-3 in overtime. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

AP

Looking for the numbers breakdown for how these two teams stack up? Look no further as we’ve got you covered as the Capitals take on the Blackhawks from Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. at 12:30 p.m. ET.

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CSN Chicago’s Tracey Meyers tells us about how every point is crucial for both teams.

Team scoring

Washington’s offense this season, as you may have heard, is struggling a bit. The Caps average 2.64 goals per game putting them 22nd overall in the league. Their 185 goals scored this year also puts them 22nd in the NHL. Alex Ovechkin, by far, is the team’s top offense producer scoring 28 goals with 45 assists and 73 points overall.

Chicago’s offense has been awesome this year scoring 223 goals so far this year, good for third best in the league. Their 3.21 goals per game is good for a tie for second in the NHL. Jonathan Toews is the team’s leading scorer with 68 points, but Patrick Sharp is their big goal scorer leading the team with 34 on the season. Sharp is second on the team in points with 63.

Goaltending

Braden Holtby is today’s starter for Washington and the 21 year-old rookie has been great so far this year filling in for injured Semyon Varlamov. Holtby is 7-2-2 with a 1.84 goals against average and a .934 save percentage. He hasn’t seen as much work as today’s backup Michal Neuvirth, but he’s been outstanding in the games he’s played and he’s been hot of late.

Chicago is led by Corey Crawford in goal and the rookie has been great. He’s 26-13-4 this season with a 2.26 goals against average and a .917 save percentage. With the job Crawford’s done in goal this year, he’s made free agent pickup and backup goalie Marty Turco virtually irrelevant.

Special teams

Washington enters today with a miserable power play. Scoring at just 16.2% of the time, the Caps are 23rd in the NHL with the extra man. Making up for that, their penalty kill is third overall in the NHL killing penalties at an 85.8% clip. They’ll need to be that good because Chicago’s power play is good.

The Blackhawks power play is second best in the league scoring 23.6% of the time. Scoring on virtually one out of every four chances is outstanding and with the likes of Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Kane out there it makes sense. On the PK, Chicago’s a bit worse. Chicago’s kill is 25th in the league killing just 75.8% of the penalties they face. Luckily for them the Caps power play is as bad as its been.

Streaks and standings

Washington enters the game with a seven game winning streak and sitting atop the Southeast Division by three points over Tampa Bay. The Capitals are sitting in the number two seed in the Eastern Conference and trail the Flyers for the top spot by three points. The Caps are also ahead of the Bruins by three points for second.

Chicago comes into this game having dropped their last two games. Previous to that, however, they were winners of eight in a row. Chicago sits in second place in the Central Division with 81 points and trails Detroit by nine. The Blackhawks are in a four-way tie for fifth place in the Western Conference with Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Calgary. Even the shortest of losing streaks can sink you down the standings out West.

Injuries

There’s one key injury in today’s game as Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom will not play as he’s dealing with a broken thumb. Slotting into the center spot alongside Alex Ovechkin is Marcus Johansson.

NHL Extra

If you’d like to ask James and I questions and get our thoughts on today’s game, you can join us for NHL Extra online and follow along with the action that way. To join us for NHL Extra click here. We’ll be kicking things off at 12:30 p.m.