The Washington Capitals are 4-0-1 this season without their captain, Alex Ovechkin, in the lineup. A big reason why is because the team has gotten timely contributions from their depth player.
Daniel Sprong… or should I say, Daniel Sprongvechkin, has been the latest player to step up. Sprong replaced Ovi on the left wing of the first line, which, by the way, is not his natural position, and has scored three times in the last two games.
Tuesday against the Islanders, the Dominating Dutchman scored one of the quickest goals of the Capitals season in the first period.
Video
There’s so much going on here. Sprong drives hard to the net, looks off a wide-open Kuzy, and roofs a shot to the top corner. Kuznetsov appears stunned by the perfectly placed shot and dramatically keeps the blade of his stick on the ice as Sprong celebrates.
Less than 2 mins in Sprong on the board! pic.twitter.com/clVuCWaczQ
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 27, 2021
The tally was 27 seconds shy of the fastest goal of the Capitals season.
Sprong's goal was 27 seconds shy of the Capitals' fastest goal to start a game this season (John Carlson: 1:01 against the New York Islanders on April 1).
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) April 27, 2021
Sprong also scored twice on Saturday in the Capitals’ 6-3 win over the Islanders – their first without Ovechkin in this series.
The goals put Sprong over double digits on the year (10). It’s the first time he’s hit the mark since 2018-19 when he scored a career high 14 goals. At this point, he’ll eclipse the mark by next week.
— Tom Mumford (@tumboThomas) April 27, 2021
RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Isles
Screenshot courtesy of NBC Sports Washington
