Among the biggest surprises of this start of the season are the “old” Capitals, a dominant team until a few years ago but which, having been dismembered from its core, has obviously lost its role as contender.
Time passes, faces change but the constant in this side of America still has the appearance of <a href="http://www.world-today-news.com/nhl-new-york-islanders-push-washington-capitals/" title="NHL: New York Islanders push Washington Capitals“>Alex Ovechkin, the untouchable flag around which the team has been built even in the current round.
Already at 7 goals for 1,564 total points in his career, the Great Eight looks at the legend Gretzky and his 894 all-time goals, only 34 away, and therefore sensationally on average to hit them already in 2025!
At 39 years old and without the speed of the past, the Tsar is humbly relating to his line mates, incredibly continuing to be useful, although without the terrifying power of the past but with an underrated quality in opening the game, and without forgetting that one-timer that still hurts.
The new Top Line together with Dylan Strome, and with Protas preferred to Mangiapane, is in fact among the best in the league. If the NHL had the same visibility as the NBA, the prodigies of such a champion would be cited like those of LeBron!
Of course, the summit of the Metropolitan one step away increases the ambitions of the fans, however predicting a deep run seems utopian as well as hasty, given that the new Capitals of the old Ovi do not practically have a full-blown star and perform hockey in a choral way, above all after both Backstrom and Oshie, aces of the legendary 2018 ride under Barry Trotz, will visit all year and perhaps will not return next year, when their contract expires.
All this is especially noticeable in the performances in numerical superiority, with a meager percentage of success and the penultimate step in scoring.
However, if the positivity glimpsed so far continues, nothing will take away from the fact that in the deadline we could churn out some high-level steals, profiles like Hall or Toffoli who would certainly declare themselves eligible, even if the salary space is equal to zero and the bargaining chips are few.
Furthermore, a Top Six concluded with McMichael, the rude Wilson and the new entry Dubois at center seems immovable and non-expendable today, as does Sonny Milano on the third line!
The last away match in Carolina against the battleship Hurricanes has in fact revealed the ability to compete on equal terms with everyone but also a substantial distance towards higher caliber teams.
However, all this does not prevent us from exalting the new face that Washington is revealing, given that the historic doctrines of defense, forechecking and individuality in the power play that brought a Stanley Cup and several Presidents’ Trophies are today replaced by the unprecedented “workmanship” of the puck, numerous touches associated with lightning-fast transitions, which therefore make the team from the capital an overflowing offensive machine: 3rd place in goals per game and shooting percentage, fourth in minutes with result in favor and sixth in assists and total points!
This derives precisely from having replaced the certainties of the past, now “dated”, with all-around profiles who are both dynamic and skilled in puck movement.
Spencer Carbery’s team work in the 2024/25 season is so far superlative and far surpasses the excellent work of 2023/24, when he reached the postseason as an “extra” however, with a minus 37 on his scores (now at +13 and third spot of the Eastern Conference), the worst ERA salary cap figure among the PO qualifiers!
Thanks to today’s mantras, the coach brings points to all the skaters employed, with Lapierre, the only one missing, who provided against Columbus, 4 players on average for 1 point per game (Strome, McMichael and Protas in addition to Ovechkin) and every defender on the scoreboard in the first 6 matchdays.
Honorable mention goes to the button pair from the beginning of the year, Sandin and Van Riemsdyk, yet another veteran in his back season, who is surprising everyone.
This last detail is worth underlining, given that if John Carlson is still certainly the best element in the squad with the fourth highest Avg game score, it is also true that the rest of the defensive team is already at 14 on the scoreboard, clearly in the wake of surpass the 73 “non-Carlson” of 2023, despite the physical problems that prevented Matt Roy from being deployed.
The 2008 first round Canterano superstar is experiencing a second youth alongside Chychrun, thanks to whom Washington maintains 63% on goal expectations in 5/5 with him on the ice and a positive differential in high-danger chances (+8), shots in the cage (+29) and scoring chances (+28). Furthermore, the home winning streak (6 matches) had not been seen since 2018 and the 8-2-0 record equals that of 1991, 2011 and 2015 in 50 years of history, all of which ended in the postseason and the last with the Presidents’ pennant !
The two goalies are a bit subdued in SV%, with Lindgren fresh from 50 starts last year – career high – now at only 6, and Logan Thompson, still at 5 wins out of 5!
“Sick” of Stars and Stripes sports since the 80s! Struck by the Bills of Thurman Thomas and Jim Kelly, by Run TMC and Kevin Johnson, by Fernando Valenzuela’s throws and by the “Finnish lightning”. Fan of Yankees, Packers, Ravens, Spurs and Canadian hockey tradition.
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