Seven games into the season is but a small slice, but for the Washington Capitals it is a disturbing start. Their 3-3-1 record is not a disaster – yet – but how they got there makes for early rumblings of one that might come. And it boils down to this: production. Those lovely numbers describing shot attempts and shots on goal, are informative, but performance – goals scored, wins, and losses – matter.
The performance of the Capitals has been inconsistent, which is not surprising given the roster changes made over the summer, but what is perhaps most disturbing about it is how much the Caps have relied in the early going on their top two lines of forwards and, to no small extent, goal scoring by Alex Ovechkin to carve out wins.