The week of March 14th saw the Capitals go 2-1-0, picking up wins against the Hurricanes and the Predators before getting pounded by the Penguins on Sunday, 6-2. With 11 games to go, Washington has 107 points and remains all but a lock for the President’s trophy.

Here’s a look at the plus…and minus…from the past week for Washington.

Plus

Evgeny Kuznetsov

Kuznetsov didn’t have much of an impact against Pittsburgh, but his performance in the other two games are to enough to make him one of the brightest spots of the past week. Via War on Ice, he was a plus-4 in 5-on-5 shot attempts, plus-5.6 percent in relative Corsi For percentage, and plus-10.9 percent in relative scoring chances.

But, unsurprisingly, the area where Kuznetsov made his biggest impact was through a few dazzling primary assists.

After posting the primary assist on the overtime winner against the Devils, Kuznetsov had three primary assists against the Predators, two of which were nothing short of spectacular. First he set up Daniel Winnik’s first goal as a member of the Capitals with a sublime slap pass.

Later Kuznetsov, on one of his prettiest assists of the season, set up TJ Oshie. Kuznetsov’s reverse pass from behind the net has almost become routine at this point, as has his unparalleled awareness of where his teammates are on the ice, evidenced by the no-look, behind the back pass to Oshie.

Kuznetsov leads the league with 41 primary assists, seven more than anyone else, and only four other skaters have broken 30 primary assists on the season. This was just another week for a player who has had a superstar-caliber season in DC.

Minus

Braden Holtby

Holtby stopped 45 of the 47 shots he faced in the first two games off the week, but then the wheels fell off in Pittsburgh. Holtby was yanked in the third period after giving up five goals on 26 shots. The Capitals team defense certainly deserves plenty of the blame for the result against the Penguins, but Holtby didn’t do the team any favors.

Goalies are easy targets for criticism, and over the course of a long season every goalie is going to allow plenty of goals they “should have” had. But Holtby’s performance in Pittsburgh is part of a larger, more concerning trend.

After playing a Vezina-level earlier in the season, and even creating some buzz for the Hart trophy, he’s been painfully mediocre for a prolonged period now. Holtby’s 5-on-5 save percentage since the All-Star break ranks 40th among the 51 goalies who have played a minimum of 300 minutes.

His 20-game, rolling 5-on-5 save percentage tells the story. The viz is courtesy of Corsica.

While Holtby’s career track record suggests that he’ll likely right the ship sooner rather than later, but the playoffs are growing near and each uneven performance is cause for more and more concern.

The Capitals have already locked up a playoff spot and next will look to clinch the division and conference titles. They visit the Ottawa Senators and New Jersey Devils this week before returning home for a Saturday night tilt against the St. Louis Blues.