April 2 vs. Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center
Time: 7:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 THE FAN, Caps Radio 24/7
Washington Capitals (48-17-9)
Carolina Hurricanes (45-24-4)
The Caps conclude a set of back-to-back games on Wednesday night in Raleigh when they face the Carolina Hurricanes in the first of two remaining games this season between the two Metropolitan Division rivals. The Caps and Canes will close out their season series with one another a week from Thursday in the District.
On Tuesday night in Boston, the Caps edged the reeling Bruins 4-3 to stem a short three-game slide (0-2-1) of their own. Tuesday’s triumph was Boston’s ninth consecutive setback (0-8-1) and dropped the B’s to the Eastern Conference cellar, and to an anemic 3-14-3 mark in their last 20 games.
Alex Ovechkin shrunk the goal deficit between himself and Wayne Gretzky by another puck, scoring for the second straight game to push his own career total to 891, and moving to the “final four” of the 20-year chase. Ryan Leonard acquitted himself well in his NHL debut, and Charlie Lindgren made 21 saves to register his 17th victory of the season.
“I thought he was excellent,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery of the 20-year-old Leonard’s first NHL game. “I liked his game, [and] a bunch of different touches he had. He obviously plays a big factor in the [Dylan Strome] goal that was going to be the game winner [until Boston scored another goal].
“I liked his touches through the neutral zone; he was just off on a couple of plays where he’s in an odd man rush situation, whether that was a breakaway or a 2-on-1, so a lot of things he did really in a difficult environment, in the first NHL game.
“And people have to remember too, is these college kids, they don’t get [NHL] exhibition games, right? A lot of these major junior kids that come and play their first NHL game, they’ve got five or six exhibition games. He’s never played, never been to an NHL training camp. So to step into a game a couple days after his college season ends, and play the way he did, it’s pretty impressive.”
The confluence of the ongoing Ovechkin chase and Leonard’s Monday signing and Tuesday debut is interesting, and video of the oldest and youngest Capital out on the town together on Monday in Boston made the social media rounds to the delight of many. It’s fun seeing the grizzled Caps captain nurturing the promising young prospect who is virtually half his age, all while The Great Eight draws nearer and nearer to the top of the NHL’s goal-scoring mountain.
“I think he just brought a lot of energy,” says Strome of Leonard. “And you see him in the first period making a couple hits, a couple big plays, keeping pucks alive. I think it’s brought that little spark that we needed on a three-game losing streak, and it’s nice to get a win for him in his hometown and obviously his first game.
“It’s special; it’s tough. He’s never even played a preseason game. It’s tough to jump right in, and I thought he did a great job for what the task at hand was, and it was a lot of fun.”
Speaking of special, and tough, and fun, we land on Ovechkin. The season he has put together at the age of 39 and with the eyes of the hockey and sports world upon him has been nothing short of magnificent, as Lindgren eloquently reminded us after Tuesday’s win.
“It’s unbelievable,” exclaims Lindgren. “And I think that’s selling it short, how just incredible this journey has been. Go back to when he was injured and out for a while. When that happened, I think everyone was thinking to themselves whether or not it was going to be possible. But anything is possible with Alex Ovechkin, and we’ve seen that this far.
“We’ve got eight games to go, and the best thing about it is it doesn’t feel like there is any pressure at all, and the team is enjoying it.”
Ovechkin now has 38 goals in 58 games this season. At this time last season, he was in the midst of a four-game dry spell, something he hasn’t experienced since. His longest drought this season is three games; it’s happened twice. Since his late season drought ended last April, Ovechkin has scored 42 goals in 65 games. Only Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl (54 goals in 77 games) and Tampa Bay’s Jake Guentzel (43 goals in 78 games) have scored more over that span than the Caps’ captain.
Carolina occupies second place in the Metropolitan Division standings, 11 points south of the Capitals, but the Canes hold a game in hand relative to Washington. The Canes are coming in hot on Wednesday; they recently reeled off eight straight wins and are 11-2-0 in their last 13 games.
The Caps and Canes split a pair of games I the 2024 portion of the 2024-25 season. Carolina won a 4-2 decision in its own building on Nov. 3, and Washington responded with a victory in the District on Dec. 20, stemming a two-game slide with a 3-1 win.
Most recently, the Canes claimed a 6-4 win over the Islanders here on Sunday. Carolina concludes a four-game homestand with Wednesday’s game against Washington; the Canes are 2-1-0 on the homestand to date.
