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Expectations were low for both the Washington Capitals and San Jose Sharks entering the season. Washington limped into the playoffs last season allowing 37 more goals than they scored. The Sharks landed the first pick in the draft after earning a league-worst 47 points one year ago.

Fortunately for both fanbases, both teams have been significantly better than advertised. The Washington Capitals have been a joy to watch this season, with seemingly every offseason gamble the front office made already paying dividends. A team that struggled to score with any regularity last season now boasts one of the league’s best offenses.

Washington has done an amazing job of consistently creating high-percentage shots and scoring chances this season. All four lines have been productive, making it easier for coach Spencer Carbery to spread playing time out more evenly than in previous years. Additionally, Caps defensemen — specifically John Carlson, Jakob Chychrun, Rasmus Sandin and Trevor van Riemsdyk — have consistently contributed to the offense as well, nearly matching the production of last year’s defense in roughly a quarter of the season.

The normally high-octane Capitals failed to get rolling against a young and scrappy San Jose team that appears to be ahead of schedule in their rebuild, losing 2-1 in overtime which snapped Washington’s four-game winning streak. William Eklund scored the game-winning goal during a power play just 39 seconds into the extra session. A high sticking by Tom Wilson on Sharks center Macklin Celebrini resulted in a double-minor penalty, which was too much for the home team to overcome. Capitals goalie Logan Thompson stopped 29 of 31 shots, while goalie Mackenzie Blackwood saved 27 of 28 shots faced for San Jose.

The Sharks, who started the season 0-7-2, improve to 10-6-3 over their last 19 games — which is ninth best in the NHL during that span. Baby-faced Celebrini, the number one pick in the 2024 draft, leads the way with 11 points in his last nine games.

Just hours before the puck dropped between the Washington Capitals and Colorado Avalanche, it was announced that Caps captain Alex Ovechkin suffered a fracture to his left fibula and will be out of action for four to six weeks.

The Russian Machine is temporarily broken thanks to a knee-on-knee collision with Utah Hockey Club forward Jack McBain three days earlier. Prior to the collision, the 39-year-old was off to arguably the best start of his Hall of Fame career, with an impressive 15 goals and 10 assists in 18 games played this season. Without his hulking presence in the lineup or on the ice, Washington struggled to get going offensively. Forward Pierre-Luc Dubois scored his second goal of the season, but no one else was able to slip a puck past Colorado goalie Alexandar Georgiev, who stopped 28 of 29 shots he faced.

The Capitals have gotten off to an impressive start this season, posting a 13-5-1 record thus far. But much of their success could be attributed to Ovechkin’s incredible production. Without their captain in the lineup for the foreseeable future, can others step up to help fill the void? Beyond that short-term problem for Spencer Carbery’s squad, the biggest storyline in hockey is now on hold — with Ovechkin sidelined at 868 career goals, just 27 shy of surpassing Wayne Gretzky’s record.

Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin scored his 861st career goal midway through the third period to lift Washington to a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators. The Great 8 scored his eighth goal of the season, tying him with center Connor McMichael for the team lead.

McMichael and forward Aliaksei Protas also scored, and goalie Logan Thompson stopped 33 of 35 shots he faced to improve to 6-0-0 in Washington. Center Dylan Strome picked up his 200th career assist on Ovechkin’s goal and defenseman Matt Roy picked up his first assist with the Capitals, with the primary helper on McMichael’s tally.

On the other side of the ice, Nashville dropped to a hugely disappointing 4-8-1 on the season. A perennial playoff team featuring Filip Forsberg, Ryan O’Reilly, Roman Josi and Steven Stamkos is clearly not where they hoped to be after their first dozen or so games. Rather than scheduling a players’ meeting, maybe they can cancel another planned concert outing. That seemed to get them back on track previously.

In many ways, the Washington Capitals overachieved during the 2023-24 season. A team built around an aging core of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, T.J. Oshie and John Carlson was no longer able to compete with the league’s elite because most of those key players were injured, unavailable or no longer productive.

The Capitals finished the season with 91 points and clinched a postseason berth in their final game against Philadelphia, but finished the regular season with a goal differential of -37. By the time the Capitals snuck into the final playoff spot, there were definitely “just happy to be there” vibes. Well, they weren’t “there” for long — as the New York Rangers, fresh off earning the Presidents’ Trophy, swept the Caps out of the playoffs in the first round.

Washington isn’t even 10 games into the new season, but nearly everything about the team appears to be transformed from a year ago. And, as fate would have it, Washington had an early-season matchup with those same Rangers to see how this year’s team stacks up against a Stanley Cup contender.

A mere two minutes and 37 seconds into the night, Caps defenseman Dylan McIlrath and Rangers goon Matt Rempe dropped the gloves in a heavyweight bout that did not disappoint, with both big men landing significant blows. McIlrath emerged victorious though over the bigger combatant, sending a pulse of energy throughout Capital One Arena as fans roared their approval.

Just 46 seconds later, Ovechkin scored the game’s opening goal. Rangers left wing Will Cuylle tied the game a minute later, so Ovechkin went back out and scored his second goal of the game a few moments later. The Great 8 now has four goals in eight games this season, which translates to 41 goals during an 82-game season. With 857 career goals, he remains 38 away from passing Wayne Gretzky on the all-time scoring list.

By the time the opening period ended, Washington led 3-1 while outshooting New York 19 to 5. While the Rangers kept things relatively competitive, goalie Logan Thompson made 16 saves and Aliaksei Protas and Pierre-Luc Dubois each recorded three points in the win for the home team.

“What a hockey game,” said coach Spencer Carbery. “That had everything. I’m glad that was on national television, because that helps our sport a lot. That was a great hockey game. I thought our guys played outstanding, start to finish.”

One possible area of concern for the Caps: defenseman Jakob Chychrun left the game with an upper-body injury. Defensive depth has already taken a hit with Matt Roy out since the season opener with a lower-body injury, so any lengthy absence could pose a problem for the backline.

The Washington Capitals defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-3, to sweep a home-and-home set against their longtime rival and improve to 5-1 on the season. The victory was Washington’s fifth straight, while Philadelphia has now lost six consecutive games.

Taylor Raddysh provided the only goal during the opening period before Nic Dowd and Connor McMichael (twice) stretched the lead to 4-0 for the Caps. Frustratingly for coach Spencer Carbery, the Capitals let off the proverbial gas and allowed a wounded opponent back into the contest. Three straight goals by Philly made for a hectic final 14 minutes of regulation. Empty-net goals by Pierre-Luc Dubois and Alex Ovechkin ensured the Capitals didn’t suffer a monumental collapse.

Goaltender Logan Thompson remained a perfect 3-0 so far this season, stopping 26 of 29 shots he faced, while Flyers netminder Ivan Fedotov stopped 20 of 24 shots in the loss. The Capitals have outscored opponents 23 to 13 during their current five-game winning streak.

“There was a lot of dicey situations there protecting that lead,” Carbery said. “But we dug in and did enough to get two points against a team that was pretty desperate tonight.”

While the thought of hockey in Texas might be unusual to some, the truth is the Dallas Stars have been one of the league’s best and most consistent franchises in recent memory. They’ve featured in the Western Conference finals three of the past five seasons, and made it to the finals in 2020. While the Stanley Cup remains ellusive, they are consistently in a position to compete for hockey’s top prize.

From a local perspective, the Stars might be the difficult opponents the Capitals face each year. Coming into their early-season contest, Washington had only three wins in their last 19 home games against Dallas, with the Stars outscoring the Capitals 70-44. In fact, the franchise’s last win over Dallas at Capital One Arena was back in 2018. On this night, Spencer Carbery’s men were able to overcome Dallas’ dominance thanks to goals by forwards Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome and Taylor Raddysh.

While Strome was the team’s most consistent player last season, Wilson has earned that distinction thus far this young season — netting his third goal in three games. Raddysh’s first goal with the organization turned out to be the eventual game winner.

For the Stars, Colin Blackwell netted a shorthanded goal in the first period and Jason Robertson added a goal in the second period. Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren had a solid showing in net for the home team, with 10 of his 22 saves made during a difficult third period.

Since their inception, the Vegas Golden Knights have consistently been among the NHL’s elite. Not only have they qualified for the postseason in six of their seven seasons, but Vegas has already played in the Stanley Cup Finals twice — losing to the Washington Capitals in their inaugural 2017-18 season before besting Florida Panthers in 2022-23.

Caps goalie Logan Thompson made 24 saves against his former team to earn his first win of the season in a 4-2 victory. Thompson, who was traded to Washington during the 2024 NHL Draft in Vegas, earned the victory over Adin Hill, who he backed up while amassing a 56-32-11 record during his four seasons in the Golden Knights organization.

Forward Jakub Vrana, who helped the Capitals win the Stanley Cup in 2018, opened the scoring on his first shot in his first game back with the franchise. Tom Wilson, Aliaksei Protas and Jakob Chychrun all scored during the second period. Alex Ovechkin added two assists on the night, became just the sixth players in NHL history — along with Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, Jaromir Jagr, Marcel Dionne and Phil Esposito — to register 700 goals and 700 assists.

Vrana, the former first-round pick who was traded to Detroit in 2021, might be the feel-good story of the early season after playing well enough during a training camp tryout to once again claim a roster spot in Washington.