Caps have already fixed a postseason weakness: Depth scoring originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Capitals are in a tight series with the Boston Bruins and head into Game 3 tied 1-1 with both games going to overtime. It doesn't get any tighter than that. If this series continues to remain so close, any aspect can tip the balance of the series in favor of one team or the other and the good news for Washington is that it appears to have already addressed one of its biggest weaknesses from the past two early postseason flameouts: depth scoring.
In 2019, the Caps scored 20 goals in seven games. Fourteen of those 20 goals came from the top six. The bottom six and the defense contributed only six goals and, of those six, one was an empty netter. Things were worse in 2020 as Washington scored only eight goals in five games and zero from outside the top six. There were only three Caps players who scored at all in that series as the team got literally zero-depth scoring. None.
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Through two games in the 2021 postseason, the Caps have scored six times and four of those goals have come from outside the top six.
"I think it's huge for us to contribute offensively," Garnet Hathaway, who had two goals in Monday's loss, said of his line. "I know we're capable of it. You can go back to the regular season and see how we played. We take a lot of D-zone starts, but I think we contribute."
The Conor Sheary, Lars Eller, Michael Raffl line has not scored, but they have been tasked with matching up against Boston's top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak so their role is more of a defensive one. Washington's fourth line, however, has scored three goals in just two games including Nic Dowd's overtime winner in Game 1 and with Hathaway's performance in Game 2.
“That line has been solid," head coach Peter Laviolette said. "We haven’t touched that line the entire year. I think they play a really good game, they are hard to play against and they are capable of chipping in offense just with their hard work, their speed, their tenacity."
For the Caps to know they can get goals from their fourth line and from the defense, which has produced one goal in the series to this point but has been productive all season long, takes some of the pressure off of top players like Nicklas Backstrom (0 points) and John Carlson (1 point) who are off to a slow start.
"It is nice when you get contributions from a line that usually starts in the defensive zone and takes on tough opponents," Laviolette said.
The Caps must continue to get goals from throughout its lineup, but it is clear already the Caps' depth players are going to play a more significant role in this series than they have in either of the past two postseasons.
Said Hathaway: "We want it to be a long run so we're going to do our best to help out."
