Don’t look now but Alex Ovechkin is going streaking.
Taking a slick pass by Garnet Hathaway, Ovechkin ripped a one-timer past Connor Hellebuyck and his out-stretched goalie stick.
The tally gave Ovechkin the league lead in goals (27), passing Edmonton Oilers’ star Leon Draisaitl. It also gave Ovi goals in three straight games.
The Washington Capitals face the Winnipeg Jets to complete a two-game homestand at Capital One Arena tonight. The Caps’ have lost five of their last six games and fallen to fourth in the Metropolitan Division. Peter Laviolette says there’s “no common thread” in the losses.
Without TJ Oshie in the lineup once again, Laviolette will give first-line duty to Garnet Hathaway, whose penalties the game before contributed to the Capitals’ loss to the Canucks. Vitek Vanecek will start the game in net.
The Capitals are wearing special Willie O’Ree stickers on the back of their helmets. O’Ree is having his number retired by the Bruins tonight.
Willie O’Ree broke the NHL’s color barrier in 1958. Sixty-four years later, O’Ree will get an honor that only 11 other players in the Bruins’ 98-year history have received. O’Ree will have his number 22 retired forever.
The Capitals will honor O’Ree’s honor from afar. Every player on the Capitals will wear special decals on the back of their helmets featuring O’Ree’s number 22.
“On the night his No. 22 is retired by the Bruins, we join the entire NHL in honoring Willie O’Ree for his immeasurable contributions to the game of hockey,” the Capitals wrote on their Twitter account.
Since the clock struck 12 on New Year’s Day, the Washington Capitals have not played their best hockey. The team has lost five of its last six games, being outscored 22 to 13 during that span. The team has sunk to fourth place in the Metropolitan Division.
Finding answers for what’s wrong, however, has been elusive. Conor Sheary pointed to the team’s “attention to detail”, but Nic Dowd suggested it was deeper than that.
“We’re losing games in all types of styles rights now,” Nic Dowd remarked last week. “I’m not going to say it’s one thing or another. We’re up and down. We’re losing in overtime.”
Tuesday, after the Capitals’ morning skate, The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir asked Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette about what he thought the state of the team was.
The Washington Capitals hosted Kids Days at Capital One Arena on Sunday. There were Nickelodeon slime graphics on the scoreboard and balloon animals in the crowd.
There were also videos the team shared of Caps players’ favorites. The best video was the one dedicated to the topic of ice cream flavors.
Bruce Boudreau led Alex Ovechkin to some of his greatest seasons as a pro. Ovechkin scored a career-high 65 goals during Boudreau’s first year behind the Capitals bench in 2007-08. Ovi followed that up with 56- and 50-goal campaigns in Bruce’s next two seasons.
Since Bruce left Washington, Ovechkin continues to torment the NHL, but especially Boudreau-led teams. Coming into Sunday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks, Ovechkin had notched 20 points (10g, 10a) in 12 games against Boudreau’s Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild over nine seasons.
Boudreau was asked how to stop his former pupil pregame.
As a kid, Connor McMichael loved hockey and envisioned himself as an NHL player. One year, his mom revealed on social media that he had dressed up as Alex Ovechkin for Halloween.
Fast forward over a decade later, McMichael was drafted by the Capitals and now plays on the same team as his childhood idol. Connor’s first NHL goal was assisted by Ovi and they even embraced at center ice after the milestone marker.
Over the weekend, after the Capitals played back-to-back matinee games against the Islanders and Canucks, McMichael got to spend some more intimate time with his new real-life pal after turning 21 on Saturday.
Alex Ovechkin scored a familiar goal on Sunday that has sadly gone out of style recently.
Ovechkin ripped a one-timer from his office beating Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko. The goal gave the Capitals an early 1-0 lead against the Canucks.
Two days, two goals. 99, 9, and 68 should be shaking in their, er, skates!
By Ian Oland 3 days ago
The Washington Capitals are taking on the Vancouver Canucks as Washington DC is under a Winter Storm warning due to Winter Storm Izzy. The Capitals are coming off a 2-0 victory against the New York Islanders on Saturday.
The Capitals got bad news before puck drop as John Carlson, the team’s best defenseman, was forced to enter COVID-19 protocol.
Bruce Boudreau is making his first stop in DC since being hired as the the Canucks new head coach in early December. The Canucks won their first seven games under Bruce, but have lost their last three recently.
Today also marks Kids Day at Capital One Arena. Watch the game along with us on NBC Sports Washington.
The Washington Capitals snapped a four-game losing streak against the New York Islanders on Saturday. Buoyed by goals from Tom Wilson and Alex Ovechkin, the Caps shut out the Isles 2-0 in their first trip to UBS Arena in team history.
To celebrate, the Capitals social team created a joke New York Post Page Six cover. The design featured a picture of Pete Davidson and the paparazzi-style headline read CAPS CALL IT QUITS WITH LOSING STREAK. Underneath, a subheader added Toxic Couple ends it in Long Island, Losing Streak now rumored to be dating Pete Davidson.
