This hasn't been the best stretch of games for Washington Capitals defenseman Dennis Wideman. Whether it's just poor play across the board, some bad luck, or a combination of the two, Wideman has been the common denominator on just about every goal Boston has scored during 5-on-5 play through the first six games of this series. After Sunday's game Washington has now surrendered 10 goals during 5-on-5 play, and Wideman has been on the ice for seven of them. And that includes both of Boston's overtime winners (Game 1 and Game 6), the most recent of which was Tyler Seguin's as Wideman followed it across the goal line.
By comparison, no other defenseman on the team has been on the ice for more than three of Boston's even strength goals.
Let's take a look at a quick comparison:
| Washington Capitals Defense: Even Strength Play (Games 1-6) | ||||||||
| Player | Even Strength Minutes | Even Strength Goals Against | ||||||
| Karl Alzner | 128:34 | 2 | ||||||
| Roman Hamrlik | 123:05 | 1 | ||||||
| John Carlson | 122:04 | 2 | ||||||
| Mike Green | 116:18 | 0 | ||||||
| Dennis Wideman | 87:50 | 7 | ||||||
| Jeff Schultz | 37:32 | 3 | ||||||
| John Erskine | 28:15 | 3 | ||||||
Basically, whenever Dennis Wideman is on the ice for Washington, something good is probably happening for Boston. Or about to happen.
Taking a look at it across the league and the only other defensemen that have been on the ice for as many goals against in these playoffs are Philadelphia's Braydon Coburn and Detroit's Brad Stuart. Coburn, of course, had to play in that firewagon series against Pittsburgh, so it's not as much of a surprise to see him on the ice for that many, especially since he's logged over 134 miinutes of ice-time for the Flyers.
Wideman, on the other hand, is really having a hard time against Boston.
On the plus side: The top four guys appear to be playing great.
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