The Washington Capitals have been playing poorly for a while now. There was the 8-4 disaster on April Fools, the sludge of that 1-0 loss to the Isles, and that unearned overtime win over the Devils.
After being one of the more fearsome NHL teams in March, the Caps of April are scary in the other way — allowing their opponents lots of good looks at the net without putting up much offense at all in response.
What’s changed?
By Peter Hassett 6 days ago
Alex Ovechkin can’t stop, won’t stop scoring, you guys.
A night after scoring his 721st career goal, Ovi quickly tallied his 722nd in the first period against the Devils.
It was Ovi’s 16th goal of the season.
Evgeny Kuznetsov was arguably the Capitals’ best player during the Capitals’ Stanley Cup run, ending the postseason with the most points in the NHL — 32 (12g, 20a) in 24 games. Kuzy played in all situations at 5v5, centering a first line consisting of Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson, and received Conn Smythe Trophy consideration as playoff MVP.
Three years later, Kuzy finds himself at a bit of a crossroads. Coming back from COVID-19, the Chelyabinsk native found himself predominantly skating on a second line with Jakub Vrana and Daniel Sprong that was the second line in name only. The line was being matched up against other teams’ fourth lines, predominantly put on the ice for offensive zone starts, and typically benched down the stretch of games clearly due to Peter Laviolette’s lack of faith in their defense. Kuznetsov would get less ice time than both Nicklas Backstrom and fourth-line center Nic Dowd.
Kuznetsov, however, recently got promoted back to the first line and received a new opportunity from Peter Laviolette. Kuzy delivered against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday, scoring twice including the game-winning goal late in the third period.
Alex Ovechkin scored career goal no. 721 to restore Washington’s tie with New Jersey on Thursday night.
It was your classic Ovi Shot from the Ovi Spot, but with a twist: it came at even-strength!
By Ian Oland 3 weeks ago
Evgeny Kuznetsov became the 13th player to play in 500 games with the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
The Capitals aired a tribute video during the game to honor Kuzy for all of his contributions throughout his tenure with the team.
By Eliza Kravitz 4 weeks ago
Evgeny Kuznetsov hit a big round-number accomplishment against the Buffalo Sabres, Monday night.
Seconds after a Capitals power play elapsed, Kuzy scored on a muffin from the sidewall.
The goal marked Kuzy’s 400th career point.
Daniel Sprong scored four minutes and 40 seconds into Saturday’s game against the Flyers. But by the end of the night, he was demoted and moved off the second line.
After having 2-0 and 5-2 leads over the Flyers, the Capitals hung on to win 5-4 over the Flyers and narrowly avoided collapsing.
Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette threw some subtle shade at the second line after the game. The trio of Daniel Sprong, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Jakub Vrana was on the ice for two second-period Flyers’ goals.
By Ian Oland 1 month ago
Evgeny Kuznetsov took the ice on Tuesday for the first time since sitting out back-to-back weekend games against the New Jersey Devils with an upper-body injury. The Capitals had a day off on Monday.
Washington practiced at Warrior Ice Arena, the Bruins’ practice facility, ahead of their match against Boston on Wednesday night.
Evgeny Kuznetsov was mysteriously scratched minutes before puck drop of the Capitals-Devils game on Saturday. The Capitals announced on social media that Kuznetsov was out with an upper-body injury.
Kuznetsov practiced fully the day before and took the ice early to get extra work. Only Alex Ovechkin and Carl Hagelin took the day off for maintenance and both played against the Devils.
Evgeny Kuznetsov will miss the Capitals-Devils game on Saturday due to an upper-body injury. It’s unclear when Kuznetsov got injured or how.
The Capitals announced the news after warmups completed.
By Ian Oland 2 months ago
