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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.

The midpoint of the season provides a perfect opportunity for players and front offices to review what’s gone right and what needs to improve. Brutally honest assessments are vital, both on and off the ice, for the good of the franchise.

To that end, the 2023-24 Washington Capitals have proven to be a limited bunch. The offense struggles to score consistently (only two teams in the league have scored less this season), the defense has been erratic and the goaltenders remain streaky. With an aging roster that too often relies on razor-thin margins, each game further solidifies that Washington is not a true contender and that simply qualifying for the postseason might be a difficult achievement.

Nicklas Backstrom ($9.2 million this season) played just eight games before stepping away from the team thanks to a chronic hip injury. Evgeny Kuznetsov ($7.8 million) did not return after the All-Star break, having entered the NHL’s player assistance program. T.J. Oshie ($5.75 million) remains productive when healthy, but “when healthy” is a substantial disclaimer for the oft-injured winger. Alex Ovechkin’s ($9.5 million) pursuit of the NHL’s all-time scoring record is in serious jeopardy after a less-than-stellar first half of the season.

For Washington to be truly competitive this season, they need much more from their core players. With the trade deadline one month away and the Caps currently on the outside looking in at likely playoff teams — Moneypuck gives them a 1.5 percent chance of qualifying while The Athletic puts the odds at five percent — the next few weeks will decide general manager Brian MacLellan’s course of action.

Sadly, Washington’s start to the second half of the season wasn’t any better than their first half showing, as Montreal cruised to a relatively straightforward 5-2 win at Capital One Arena. Goalie Charlie Lindgren was pulled after allowing three goals on nine shots and the competitive portion of the evening concluded before the game was even 12 minutes old.

Ovechkin scored his 10th goal of the season and 832nd of his NHL career, on an otherwise forgettable night for the home team. Ovechkin is now 62 goals away from Wayne Gretzky’s record, while his Capitals are currently mired in a season-long five-game winless streak.

A little more than 24 hours after visiting the White House, the Vegas Golden Knights looked to build on their strong start to the young NHL season at the expense of the Washington Capitals.

Goalie Charlie Lindgren had other ideas though, stopping all 35 shots he faced in a 3-0 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champions, which marked Washington’s first shutout of the season and the veteran netminder’s first shutout with the franchise. After a slow start to the campaign (with just one win in their first five contests), the Capitals have now won three consecutive games and six of their last eight.

For much of last season, Washington looked old and slow out on the ice — plodding up and down the ice during open play and taking too long to get set up on the powerplay. This season has seen a much-needed infusion of youth and speed to go along with first-year coach Spencer Carbery, and the results have been promising. During the preseason, the line of Dylan Strome, Sonny Milano and Matthew Phillips stood out for their efforts and against Vegas, they once again delivered — as Strome scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season in the late stages of the first period.

Early in the second period, center Evgeny Kuznetsov dropped to the ice in obvious pain after an illegal hit to the head by Golden Knights center Paul Cotter, who was ejected from the game. Washington received a five-minute powerplay, but the league’s worst powerplay unit failed to capitalize on the lengthy advantage. Typically, killing off a five-minute penalty provides a huge boost and the Golden Knights upped their efforts once they returned to even strength, but Lindgren continually found ways to thwart Vegas’ high-powered attack.

Connor McMichael and Beck Malenstyn added goals in the final minute of regulation to ensure the Caps closed out their most impressive victory of the season. While the top-line talent remained quiet, goals from the second, third and fourth lines showed nice balance across the roster and provided a reason for optimism moving forward. If/when the biggest names on the roster begin to produce, this season could become a lot more interesting.

It’s safe to say that the Washington Capitals aren’t off to the best of starts. Through four games, the Caps have been blown out twice, lost once in overtime and picked up their lone win via shootout. They’ve scored just six goals in those four games (lowest in the league), none on the powerplay (also lowest in the league) and have yet to lead a game for a single second (which is not ideal).

The team is so out of sync right now that left wing Alex Ovechkin failed to register a shot in back-to-back games for the first time in his Hall of Fame career (1,496 games). It’s not a controversial statement to suggest when the face of the franchise struggles, so too does the franchise itself.

In an effort to rectify issues that have plagued them this season, the Capitals had their best start to a game this season — applying tons of pressure and spending ample time in the offensive zone. And for a few moments center Nicklas Backstrom appeared to give Washington its first lead of the season, when he corralled the loose puck and fired it over Toronto goaltender Joseph Woll in the opening period. Alas, the officials determined that Ovechkin impacted Woll’s ability to make a save on the play, so the game remained scoreless.

Even though they played with much more confidence and aggression, the Caps still found themselves down 2-0 for a fifth-consecutive game. Washington outshot Toronto by 37-17, but the Maple Leafs made their limited number of shots count as Morgan Rielly, John Tavares, William Nylander and Auston Matthews each scored for the visitors. Capitals goalie Darcy Kuemper made just 13 saves.

On the other side of the rink, Ovechkin registered 14 shots, nearly matching Toronto’s shot total by himself. The 38-year-old was awarded a penalty shot when Mark Giordano hooked him on a breakaway during the second period, but was unable to convert the opportunity. While he will go down as one of the best goal scorers the league has ever seen, Ovechkin has scored on just two of 13 career penalty shots. The Great 8 did score his first goal this season — the 300th power-play goal and 823rd of his storied career — during the final moments of the second period. But the outcome had long since been decided by that point.

“It’s the same old story,” said coach Spencer Carbery. “We’re finding ways to lose hockey games. In the National Hockey League, you can do all the good things you want. Structurally, there are a lot of good things going on, no question. But at the end of the day, if you want to be a good team in this league, you’ve got to find ways to win as opposed to finding ways to lose.”