First, a scheduling note – if you’re not able to make it to the game tomorrow night, be sure to swing by Comcast Sportsnet’s Capitals page and join me and your fellow Caps fans for a little game night chat. Bring your comments, your questions, your Nylander-related snark and your observations about the game to join in the fun. Festivities start at 6:45, hope to see you all there!

And now…on to the numbers:

0:28 – time separating Ovechkin’s first goal of the night from his second in the middle frame

0 – number of Sharks finishing the night with a positive +/-

11:56 – TOI for Matt Bradley
4 – shots on goal, shots attempted and shots that missed for Bradley
20:02 – TOI for Joe Thornton
1 – shots on goal, shots attempted and shots that missed for Thornton

27:59 – ice time for Mike Green
27:15 – ice time for Dan Boyle
1 – number of Team Canada Associate Directors at Verizon Center last night

43% – Brooks Laich’s faceoff percentage for the game
2 – number of games, including last night, in which Laich’s faceoff % has been below 50% (40% vs Toronto)

9 – first period goals for the Caps this season, including last night
2 – first period goals for their opponents this season

1 – goals for Alexander Semin
6 – goals on the season for Semin
2 – goals for Alex Ovechkin
7 – goals on the season for Ovechkin
15:34 – total time Semin had the team goal-scoring lead

2 – PPG for Semin
0 – PPG for Ovechkin and Green combined
37 – PPG for Ovechkin and Green combined last season

324 – black eyes for Tom Poti during his tenure as a Cap (possibly rounded up)

13 – hits for the Sharks
4 – hits for SJ’s Scott Nichol
15 – blocked shots for the Sharks
5 – blocked shots by Rob Blake

17 – shots on goal and shots blocked/missed for Ovechkin

5 – penalties for San Jose in the first period
0 – penalties for San Jose in the remaining 40 minutes

3 – penalties for the Caps
2 – games in which the Caps have had fewer than 4 penalties
2-0 – Caps’ record when taking fewer than 4 penalties
0 – power play goals allowed when taking fewer than 4 penalties

Game #6 in the books – how did it look?

6 – Washington shots in the 1st period
2 – Washington goals in the 1st period
.666 – Brodeur’s save percentage in the 1st (creepy…)

5 – minors taken by the Caps
4 – minors taken by the Caps when leading by one or tied
3 – Caps with at least a point
6 – Caps with at least 2 PIMs

18 – blocked shots by the Devils
4 – blocked shots by NJ’s Paul Martin
8 – blocked shots by the Caps
2 – blocked shots apiece for Poti, Knuble and Green

3 – shots on goal for Eric Fehr
3 – shots on goal for Milan Jurcina
3 – shots on goal by the entire second line (one apiece, one in each period)

1:07 – 5-on-3 advantage for the Caps
2:55 – total 5-on-3 time for the Caps this season
0 – goals scored with a 2 man advantage

29 – hits by the Caps
10 – Caps with at least 2 hits

16 – Washington giveaways
16 – Washington takeaways

5:43 – TOI for Andrew Peters (lowest on either team)
30:31 – TOI for Mike Green (highest on either team)

1 – goals for birthday boy Mike Green
5 – Caps who have gotten a goal on their birthday (Green 10/12/09 NJ; Backstrom 11/23/07 Phi; Morrisonn 12/23/08 NYR; Clark 3/8/06 Pit; Semin 3/3/09 Car)

Oh, man. I almost don’t want to do this one, but…here we go:

12:16 – total power play time for the Caps
10 – shots on goal with the extra man for the Caps
1 – power play goals for the Caps

3 – shots on goal with the extra man for the Rangers
1 – power play goals for the Rangers

28 – shots that actually hit Lundqvist
22 – blocked shots by the Rangers
13 – shots taken by Mike Green that either missed or were blocked (felt like more)
8 – blocked shots by the Caps
3 – shots blocked by Tom Poti

2 – too many men on the ice penalties in the game
3 – turnovers apiece for Laich, Green and Backstrom

5 – shots for Nicklas Backstrom…wait, really?

6:31 – ice time for Brashear
2 – PIMs for Brashear
0 – number of fights in the game
$1.5 million – Brashear’s salary this season

17:24 – ice time for Brendan Morrison
3 – takeaways by Morrison
1 – blocked shots by Morrison
$1.5 million – Morrison’s salary this season

7 – goals scored in the game
5 – goals with less than 2 assists
3 – goals that neither goalie should have allowed (at least)

4 – hits for Shaone Morrisonn
3 – hits apiece for Ovechkin, Erskine, Sloan and Laing

543987 – a rough estimation of the # of “Herbies” the boys were likely subjected to today

4 – the number of games we’ve played in the 2009-10 season.

In other words…everyone come in off the ledge.

A closer look at the Caps’ first loss of the 2009-10 season, by the numbers:

11 – goals combined for two teams that have been promising better defense

5 – goals for Ovechkin through 3 games
5 – goals for Richards through 3 games
0 – times anyone on the broadcast mentioned the possibility of a 70-goal season for Richards (hmm, odd…)

6:28 – amount of PK time for Poti
4:32 – amount of PK time for Erskine
3:54 – amount of PK time for Green

3 – number of Flyer PP goals scored while Poti was on the ice
3 – number of Flyer PP goals scored while Erskine was on the ice
0 – number of Flyer PP goals scored while Green was on the ice

7 – faceoffs between Backstrom and Richards
0 – faceoffs between Backstrom and Richards that were won by Backstrom

4 – blocked shots for Jeff Schultz
3 – blocked shots for the rest of the Caps’ defense

12:41 – amount of power play time for the Flyers
6 – Caps with less than 20 seconds of ice time shorthanded (Ovechkin, Morrison, Clark, Semin, Backstrom, Kane)

10 – points by defensemen from both teams
4 – assists for defenseman Matt Carle in the second period

4 – giveaways apiece for “shutdown” defensemen Pronger and Coburn

1:06 – amount of power play time for the Caps in OT
0 – number of shots taken by the Caps during OT power play
1 – total number of shots taken by the Caps during OT

.853 – save % for the Caps’ goaltenders (.840 for Varlamov alone)
.857 – combined save % for all three goaltenders

63:52 – length of the game
41:51 – total amount of even strength time

1 – number of goaltender interference penalties called
0 – number of legitimate goaltender interference penalties called
2 – number of useless referees on the ice

Another quick and dirty look at Game #2, by the numbers:

5 – Caps posting a multi-point game

1 – penalties taken by Mike Komisarek
1 – power play goals scored while Komisarek was in the box
3 – total power play goals scored while Komisarek was in the box this season

25 – Toronto shots in periods one and two
1 – Toronto goals in periods one and two
6 – Toronto shots in the third period
3 – Toronto goals in the third period (um…ouch)

11 – shots put on or around the net by Ovechkin
6 – number of Caps with at least 4 shots on goal, shots attempted, or shots blocked

2 – faceoffs taken by Alexander Semin
2 – faceoffs won by Alexander Semin
15 – faceoffs taken by Mikhail Grabovski
4 – faceoffs won by Mikhail Grabovski

10 – total goals scored
1 – goals scored by special teams

4 – hits thrown by four different Caps (Green, Ovechkin, Jurcina and Morrisonn) and one Leaf (Komisarek);
5 – hits for Jeff Finger
4 – giveaways by Jeff Finger

7 – defensemen from both teams with at least a point

It’s always pretty funny to read the recaps from the local media and the opposition media the day after a big Caps win. Today was no exception.

For us, it was a well played, well executed win from top to bottom, with stifling team defense and timely offense; for them, it was a lackluster effort by the entire Bruins team filled with mental lapses and a complete lack of intensity. And really, the truth probably lies somewhere in between – but what fun is that?

At any rate, here’s a closer look at the season opening win, by the numbers:

5 – the number of penalties taken by Washington
4 – the number of penalties taken by Boston
3:25 – the total amount of power play time for the Caps
0:16 – the amount of power play time elapsing before Laich’s first goal

6 – total number of missed shots for the Caps
14 – total number of missed shots for the Bruins

5 – shots on goal by Ovechkin
14 – total shots taken by Ovechkin
5 – shots on goal by Laich
3 – shots on goal by the Bruins in the third period

4 – the number of Caps without a shot on goal (Bradley, Kane, Pothier, Laing)

21% – faceoff % for Marc Savard (3-for-14)
53% – faceoff % for Patrice Bergeron, the only Bruin to crack 50%

1:33 – the length of Ovechkin’s longest even strength shift
0:41 – the length of Ovechkin’s shortest even strength shift
1:00 – the average length of Ovechkin’s shifts

26:31 – Dennis Wideman’s ice time, leading all players
24:12 – Mike Green’s ice time, leading all Caps
7:35 – Shawn Thornton’s ice time, lowest on either team

0 – the number of hits Zdeno Chara had in the game
0 – the number of giveaways by the Caps
0 – the number of power play goals allowed by the Caps

12/2/2000 – the last time the Caps won a game in regulation in Boston

And lastly, the only numbers that really matter:
4-1 – the final score
2 – the number of points earned by the Caps
81 – the number of regular season games remaining