Alex Ovechkin and Devante Smith-Pelly both scored in the Capitals’ 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers Monday night, but they also shared in a funny lowlight at the end of the game.
Both players missed out on gimme empty-net goals.
12 games into the season, the defending champion Washington Capitals are only one game over .500 and have struggled with turnovers and team defense. Monday morning, ahead of the Caps’ game against the Edmonton Oilers, head coach Todd Reirden made several aggressive changes to the forward lines. A re-tooled fourth line paid immediate dividends in the first period against the Oilers.
Capitals center Travis Boyd, playing in his first game of the season after getting injured during training camp, skated with Jakub Vrana and Devante Smith-Pelly. Boyd had two assists in three minutes as the Caps took a 2-1 lead into intermission.
The Washington Capitals truly set the bar for championship celebrations after their summer of parties with the Stanley Cup this year. Now other sports teams are expected to live up to the fountain-swimming, public-singing, drinking-beers-through-jerseys standard, but Devante Smith-Pelly has two words for would-be contenders: “Good luck.”
After the Boston Red Sox won the baseball World Series last night with a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Star columnist Bruce Arthur wondered on Twitter if they would party as well as the Caps. On the same night the Caps re-kindled their party-animal spirit at the team’s Halloween shindig, Smith-Pelly, was dubious.
Devante Smith-Pelly has become a fan favorite in Washington, especially after scoring seven goals during the Stanley Cup playoffs. He’s also one of roughly thirty players of color in the National Hockey League.
Smith-Pelly has faced challenges because of race, including this past February, when he was the target of racist chants during a Blackhawks game in Chicago. Smith-Pelly has said previously that being a minority player can have “a little bit of a lonely feeling.”
Smith-Pelly was interviewed by ABC 7’s Robert Burton during Media Day and spoke about what it meant to bring the Stanley Cup to a city with a large Black population.
The happiest day of the Capitals regular season happened on Saturday when they participated in the annual canine calendar photoshoot. Partnering with Homeward Trails Animal Rescue, the guys posed with dogs up for adoption, as well as their own family-owned pups.
This year’s shoot was more relaxed, with each Caps player sporting their own style with a special guest: the STANLEY CUP! And what’s better than tiny puppies in the Cup? Not much.
Capitals players John Carlson, Brett Connolly, Nic Dowd, Lars Eller, TJ Oshie, Alex Ovechkin, Matt Niskanen, and Chandler Stephenson all posed with their own dogs. Nicklas Backstrom, Madison Bowey, Travis Boyd, Andre Burakovsky, Pheonix Copley, Christian Djoos, Braden Holtby, Dmitrij Jaskin, Michal Kempny, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov, Devante Smith-Pelly, Jakub Vrana, Nathan Walker, and Tom Wilson took their photos with dogs available for adoption through Homeward Trails.
Since the calendar began in 2014, the Caps have raised almost $250,000 for Homeward Trails. A limited number of calendars will be available for $20 at the November 21 game against the Chicago Blackhawks. The calendar will be sold online and details will be announced at a later date.
While the official photos won’t be seen until the release, we hope these adorable photos will hold you over until then.
After the shortest offseason in franchise history, the Capitals got back to business on Wednesday.
Before their banner raising and 7-0 beatdown on the Boston Bruins, Capitals players walked a red carpet outside Capital One Arena. There was a remarkable turnout from fans who crowded F street in anticipation.
As Lexuses dropped the guys off at the corner of 6th and F, they were escorted down the rug with fans chosen by the team. The Caps spent time signing autographs and taking quick selfies with the fans. Some of them, including Craig Laughlin, Alex Ovechkin, and TJ Oshie, were even wearing their Stanley Cup championship ring.
Last season, TJ Oshie brought in the most cheers as his arrival was announced. He brought on the same excitement this season but Lars Eller also received a massive reception from the crowd. The scorer of the game-winning Stanley Cup Final may be one of the most popular players on the team, for good reason of course.
Nothing has changed with this well-dressed group of weirdos — some players wore custom suits (we’ll have more on John Carlson’s ditty later). Ovechkin also wore another classic blue suit. Never change, Ovi.
Check out all the photos from the event below.
CAPITAL ONE ARENA — The NHL announced Wednesday afternoon that Tom Wilson had received a 20-game suspension for his illegal check to the head of St. Louis Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist during the Capitals’ final preseason game Sunday.
After Washington’s Wilson-less season-opening win Wednesday night, Capitals players voiced their support for their teammate.
On Friday, the Capitals will take on the Carolina Hurricanes at Capital One Arena for their sixth preseason game. The Capitals are coming off their first victory of the new season, a 4-0 shutout over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
Capitals forward Devante Smith-Pelly will return for his first pre-season game. Smith-Pelly will play on the third line with Lars Eller and Andre Burakovsky. The speculation surrounding Smith-Pelly’s game absence has been cryptic, and many believe that it is conditioning related.
Devante Smith-Pelly has yet to appear in any of the Capitals preseason games and that won’t change on Tuesday in St. Louis. Todd Reirden announced on Monday that Smith-Pelly is getting closer, but is not quite at the point of playing in a game yet.
Last week, Reirden told reporters that Smith-Pelly was still working to “get to the level where he was at last year,” and was choosing to sit the forward until then.
After getting molly-whopped by the Indianapolis Colts during their home opener, the Washington Redskins turned out an impassioned performance against the Green Bay Packers, defeating future Hall of Famer Aaron Rogers 31-17 at a soggy FedEx Field.
Much like the week before, Capitals players were in attendance. But this time they got to see a thrilling win and hang out with Washington Wizards superstar John Wall.
Brobeans Tom Wilson and Andre Burakovsky took in the game in a suite along with Devante Smith-Pelly and John Carlson.
