All posts in photos

When the schedule was released, this was one of the most anticipated games of the season. For the first time in two years, the dynamic Edmonton Oilers visited our nation’s capital.

Connor McDavid. Alex Ovechkin. Leon Draisaitl. Evgeny Kuznetsov.

The best overall player in hockey today against arguably the best pure goal scorer of all time. A young and exciting club hoping to put together all of the pieces squaring off against a grizzled group of veterans trying to make one last run at glory. What more could a hockey fan ask for?

Sigh.

The Caps welcomed the Oilers without the services of Ovechkin, and his team-leading 29 goals and 58 points through 46 games, after the 36-year-old tested positive for Covid-19 earlier in the day. The Russian Machine may never break, but it means he’ll also miss this weekend’s All-Star Game festivities.

Additionally, T.J. Oshie and Vitek Vanecek were unavailable for the marquee matchup, as both recover from upper body injuries.

Edmonton, who has struggled to find consistency all season long, showed no sympathy to their shorthanded hosts, scoring on three of their first four shots of the game — sending Ilya Samsonov to the showers before he even had a chance to break a sweat (after just five minutes and seven seconds of action).

Pheonix Copley, who was added to the Caps’ taxi squad earlier in the day, was thrust into action and had a strong showing — stopping 21 of 22 shots in relief duty. Lars Eller, Conor Sheary and Kuznetsov scored for Washington, who rallied to make a game of it. But ultimately, McDavid and friends prevailed, 5-3, earning their fifth win in six games while preventing the Capitals from recording a third-consecutive victory of their own.

While Alex Ovechkin continues to defy conventional wisdom (and Father Time), the fact remains that the current version of your Washington Capitals is clearly built to win now. 

Along with The Great 8, guys like Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, Evgeny Kuznetsov and John Carlson are established veterans who are much closer to the end of their playing days than the beginning.

Capitals coach Peter Laviolette and general manager Brian MacLellan obviously know this, and realistically, should be pleased with what they’ve seen from the bulk of the roster during the current campaign.

That said, while Washington’s offense has done the bulk of the heavy lifting and the defense has been steady and solid, the team’s biggest question mark is at goalie.

Neither Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek has done enough during their time with the franchise to stake their claim as a long-term solution. Which is why Laviolette turned to Zach Fucale as the Boston Bruins came to town for a rematch of last year’s disappointing playoff series.

Fucale is a 26-year-old netminder who got the call-up from Hershey and promptly recorded a shutout in his NHL debut back in November. In his next two appearances, Fucale was equally impressive and featured a 0.42 goals against average and .980 save percentage prior to his first-career home start.

Sadly, the good times did not continue against Boston, as the 2013 second round pick was waxed by the resurgent Bruins — allowing four goals on 16 shots before his night was ended midway through the second period. 

Conventional wisdom suggests you should never get too high or too low after a particular outing, but nights like this are a harsh reminder that if the Capitals are going to avoid a hasty elimination in the postseason for a fourth-consecutive season, they’re going to need someone to step up and solidify the goaltending situation. Whether that someone is currently on the roster or not remains to be seen.

The Washington Capitals and Nashville Predators do not play each other very often, which is probably a good thing considering how heated these two teams became during their not-so-cheerful holiday gathering. That said, while it might not have been hugely fun for the combatants, this action-packed event entertained the masses with eight goals and 68 minutes in penalties.

Capital One Arena was rocking throughout the first period, thanks to goals by Lars Elder, John Carlson and Nic Dowd. Unfortunately, the rink was tilted in the opposite direction for the second period, as Nashville battled by tie even the score at 3-3. This grudge match was ultimately decided when Evgeny Kuznetsov craned-kicked Nashville, via a shorthanded tally with less than six minutes to play to break the deadlock. Carl Hagelin added an empty-net goal in the closing moments to prevent any last-minute heroics by the Predators.

Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie and Tom Wilson all returned to the lineup after missing games recently due to injuries and/or COVID-19. And they weren’t the only new faces in the lineup. The game also marked the debut of rookie defenseman Alex Alexeyev and the triumphant return of defenseman Michal Kempny, who hadn’t played an NHL game since August 2020 because of three different serious injuries to his left leg.

Alexeyev became the 10th rookie to play for Washington this season, which usually means trouble. But the Capitals have been able to not only stay afloat, but remain competitive while still giving the youth movement a chance to see what it takes to play at the highest level. If this game is a sign of things to come for the Caps, and they’re able to avoid serious injuries and the COVID-19 list, then the last 50 games of the regular season could be a wild ride.

When the Washington Capitals jumped out to an unexpected fast start this season, they did so with above average play from the back half of the lineup — namely the defensemen and goalies.

While Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov received ample love and attention as they accumulated points in rapid fashion, and the handful of rookies playing meaningful minutes every night made for a feel-good story, stout defensive play in Washington’s own zone was a key reason why the Caps held the best record in hockey a month into the season.

Unfortunately, since posted back-to-back shutouts just before Thanksgiving, Washington’s defense has taken a massive step backwards. After falling to the rival Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2, the Capitals have now allowed 30 goals in the nine games since Los Angeles and San Jose failed to score in consecutive outings.

Of course, it’s difficult to have consistency and stability defensively when you’re forced to play with a new roster seemingly every time you take to the ice. The Capitals faced Pittsburgh without bottom-six forwards Nic Dowd and Garnet Hathaway and defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk, who are in NHL’s COVID-19 protocol. Additionally, forwards Nicklas Backstrom and Anthony Mantha remain sidelined as they recover from injuries.

And yet, no one in hockey will shed a tear for Washington. Peter Laviolette’s men either need to figure out how to limit opponents to under three goals a game or a once-promising season could derail quickly.