The Washington Capitals faced a familiar fate on Sunday afternoon against the Utah Hockey Club. Washington went down early after not having their best, came back late, and extended their home-point streak to 15 games.
Let’s hope this break does the boys well.
NHL GameScore Impact Card for Washington Capitals on 2025-02-09: pic.twitter.com/CXBLKDLoRE
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) February 9, 2025
- The Capitals had a really tough time limiting Utah from getting to dangerous areas all game. They gave up 31 five-on-five scoring chances, which is the fourth most a team has recorded against them in a single game this season. Luckily, they did find enough volume of their own both at even strength and on the power play to force the game to overtime. Washington finished ahead in overall high-danger chances, 17-10.
- Alex Ovechkin recorded three assists in the overtime loss, giving him 43 points (26g, 17a) in 39 games. With his first assist, he recorded his 1,591st career point, moving ahead of Phil Esposito for 11th on the NHL’s all-time scoring list.
- Really big game from Tom Wilson, who potted two goals to give him 24 goals through 55 games. He is on pace for a career-best 36 goals. Wilson added an assist, five shots on goal, seven individual shot attempts, five individual scoring chances, four individual high-danger chances, and one hit.
The Capitals extended their home point streak to 15 games (10-0-5), which is tied for the second-longest home point streak in franchise history (2016-17: 17 GP, 16-0-1; 2009-10: 15 GP, 14-0-1).
— Capitals PR (@CapitalsPR) February 9, 2025
- John Carlson recorded an assist, his 31st of the season, after his big 700-point pregame ceremony. Carlson extended his point streak to six games. Washington was fantastic with Carlson on the ice at five-on-five in the game, seeing positive differentials in shot attempts (+13), scoring chances (+2), and high-danger chances (+3).
- The power play was excellent, converting on both of their opportunities. They created 1.35 expected goals on those two chances.
- The Capitals go into the 4 Nations Face-Off break with 80 points from their 36-11-8 record, which is second-best in the NHL only to the Winnipeg Jets (81). They are nine points ahead of the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference and 10 points ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes in the Metropolitan Division.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-Reference, NaturalStatTrick, and HockeyStatCards.
