The Washington Capitals (7-2-0) host the Columbus Blue Jackets (5-4-1) for a 5 pm EST early evening start time tonight at Capital One Arena. Washington is looking to extend the home winning streak to six games if they can take down a Blue Jackets squad surpassing expectations early on in 2024-25.
Before the game, the Washington Capitals placed defenseman Jakob Chyrchryn on the injured reserve list and recalled Vincent Iorio from the Hershey Bears. Chychryn will be a big hole on the backend for Spencer Carbery to try to fill as the 26-year-old defenseman has logged almost 19 minutes of ice time per night this season. The Florida-born Chychryn has earned that ice time with 2 goals and 2 assists with a +5 rating in his first 8 games as a Washington Capital.
Washington Capitals Off to Best Start Since 2015-16
It has been nine years for Washington Capitals fans since they saw their hockey squad start a season in an unbeatable form to open an NHL regular season. During the 2015-16 season, Washington won the President’s Trophy with a 56-18-8 record. They never lost more than four games in a month during that season. In retrospect, there is no shame in the second-round playoff exit to the eventual back-to-back Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins, ending the season prematurely.
Almost a decade later, the Washington Capitals are led by the same man with the C on his sweater, Alex Ovechkin. He and his pals average 4.11 goals per game – the only Eastern Conference team averaging more than 4 goals a game. The Winnipeg Jets (4.73) and the Vegas Golden Knights (4.55) top the leaderboard followed by Washington (4.11), New York Rangers (3.90), and Ottawa Senators (3.90). If the Washington Capitals can keep up the scoring pace, they can make a serious bid for their first division title since 2019-20.
Alex Ovechkin Scores in Back-to-Back Games
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin “is heating up” as Tim Kitzrow of NBA JAM fame in the nineties would say. Ovechkin has scored in two straight games and three-out-of-four contests. Since scoring his first goal on 10/19 in New Jersey, Ovechkin has scored in four of the last six games, or 66%, for the Washington Capitals.
According to NHL PR, Ovechkin is now the fifth-fastest player age 39 or older to hit the 10-point plateau in a season. NHL Hall-of-Famer Gordie Howe completed the feat at age 40 with the Red Wings in nine games before improving the following season to 10 points in only 6 games in 1968-69, the fastest ever in the mark in NHL history.
Alex Ovechkin’s 10 points in nine games is tied for fourth-fastest trailing only Jean Beliveau (8), Jaromir Jagr (8), Jean Ratelle (7), and Howe (6). Most recently, Joe Pavelski secured 10 points in 9 games last year for the Dallas Stars.
Columbus Blue Jackets Solid First Ten Games
The Columbus Blue Jackets have started off the season better than most pundits predicted with a 5-4-1 start placing them fourth in the Metro Division early on. Following the stunning Johnny Gaudreau offseason tragedy, Sean Monahan has honored his longtime friend over the first ten games with a team-leading six goals. Kirill Marchenko leads the team in points with 12 behind four games and eight assists.
The goalie tandem of Daniil Tarasov and Elvis Merzlinkins shared the net equally through the first ten games with solid results. Tarasov is 3-1-1 with a 3.42 goals-against-average and an 89% save percentage. Merzlinkins is 2-3 with a 2.86 GAA and a 91% stop rate.
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