Shooting Star

Caps center Evgeny Kuznetsov is known more for his passing prowess than for his goal-scoring ability, but he has shown over the years that he has plus shot and is more than capable at lighting the lamp himself. Through his first four-plus seasons in the league, Kuznetsov scored 80 goals, with 19 of them coming on the power play. He recorded a career high seven power-play goals for Washington last season, and all four of his early season goals in 2018-19 have come while the Caps enjoyed the man advantage.

At one point last season, Kuznetsov went 41 straight games (from Nov. 24, 2017 through Feb. 27, 2018) without scoring on the power play, but he also had just 19 shots on net on the power play during that span. Over his last 37 games - including the final eight games of the '17-18 regular season and the entirety of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs - Kuznetsov has scored 10 power-play goals.
One of the main reasons for that significant surge in scoring is a simple one: he is shooting the puck more. Kuznetsov has taken 38 shots with the extra man in those 37 games, and he is clicking at a 26.3% rate on those shots.
"I think it just happens on the ice," says Kuznetsov of his recent uptick in power-play scoring. "I feel like sometimes I have a pretty good chance to shoot the puck close to the net. It just happens so quick.
"Sometimes I'm not even focusing on shooting the puck more than passing the puck so if I have a chance right now, I can shoot. But I don't think that's the key point for our power play. I feel like we have a couple of other guys who can shoot better than me, and we just have to execute the play and set that play up for them."
Washington's power play has been a lethal weapon for several seasons now, and the Caps have been continually able to populate their extra-man unit with skilled and creative players who know and embrace their individual roles on the power play. During last spring's playoffs and in the early part of this season, that group creativity has come to the fore, as the Caps have shown slightly different looks and wrinkles within the structure of their typical man-advantage outfit.
Part of that creativity involves Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom - also much better known for his premier playmaking ability - to call their own number from time to time, opting to shoot instead of pass. In doing so, they ultimately keep opposing goaltenders and penalty killers honest, expanding the Caps' extra-man scoring threats beyond the trio of Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson and T.J. Oshie.
"It started for us really last year in the playoffs where we started to show some different looks," says Caps coach Todd Reirden. "It involves shooting from some different guys, particularly in that half-wall situation, whether it's Backstrom or Kuznetsov.
"But for us, it's about being unpredictable. It's about some of Kuzy's best attributes, which involve deception - the false information that he gives defenders and the goaltender. He is able to read those things and convert on holes that open up in front of him, whether that's a pass or a shot."
While the Caps are a man to the good, there are trigger points that all five skaters look for in terms of how the opposition's penalty killing outfit chooses to cover, and whether they opt to shade towards Oshie, Carlson or Ovechkin in an effort to neutralize that particular threat.
For Washington, it's all about the reads. Players have to read and recognize the situation, and then they alter their location on the ice to exploit the resulting weak spot in the opponent's coverage. The players read and react off the coverage, but also off each other. In the early going of the 2018-19 season, the reads have been right and the reaction has been strong. The Caps are 7-for-19 with the extra man through five games, and their 36.8% success rate ranks fourth in the league.
"We're trying to be unpredictable," Reirden reiterates. "You've seen already this year a number of different ways we've scored on the power play, as was the case last year and in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Everyone knows that we have those five players on the ice, but they don't always know where they're going to be now, and that has made us unpredictable and has allowed some of our players to be a little more creative in different situations."
For Kuznetsov, it's about being creative and also assertive. As we've seen a few times already this season, his shot is a weapon and it's one the Caps can and should make better use of, particularly on the power play.
"I honestly think it's just him," says Oshie. "I think he just decided to start trying to score instead of trying to set guys up. Systematically, nothing has changed on our power play. Everything is the same. We have a couple of wrinkles here and there depending on what team we play, but everything is the same so it has to be just his mindset.
"Unlike the rest of us, Kuzy has the privilege of being able to choose if he wants to be the setup guy, or if he wants to be the goal scorer. Lately, it seems like he has been going towards the goals, which is nice."
And the Caps have that going for them, which is also nice.