March 11 vs. Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center
Time: 10:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 THE FAN, Caps Radio 24/7
Washington Capitals (42-14-8)
Anaheim Ducks (28-28-7)
In the last 38 days, the Capitals have played a home heavy schedule that featured just three road games, each of them a short, one-game journey to play against a team in their own division. On Tuesday night in Anaheim, the Caps open a three-game road trip to California, where they’ll play three games in six days – three time zones away – starting with the Ducks.
As they embark upon their last trip this season of more than two games in duration, the Caps are carrying a four-game winning streak; it’s their fifth winning streak of at least four games this season. Washington had already exceeded its modest goal and win totals from last season, and with Sunday’s 4-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken, the Caps hit the road with 92 points, one more than they amassed last season when they squeaked into the playoffs in the waning minutes of their final regular season game of 2023-24.
Each of the Capitals’ last three victories – and 22 of their 42 wins on the season – have been of the comeback variety. In the other 20 triumphs, Washington has not trailed. Nearly one-third (seven of 22) of the Caps’ comeback wins came in games in which they trailed entering the third period (7-10-5), tied with Toronto and Vegas for the most in the NHL.
In Sunday’s win over Seattle, the Caps fell behind in the first after delivering a second straight dismal first period against a team that had played the previous day/night. But instead of needing to dig out of an early two-goal ditch as they did on Friday night against Detroit, the Caps only needed to overcome a one-goal deficit on Sunday. With goals from Martin Fehervary and Dylan Strome – who was playing in his 500th career game – the Caps unlocked that achievement before the three-minute mark of the second, but the Kraken pulled even less than five minutes later.
Despite playing its third game in under 72 hours, Seattle had – and it displayed – every bit of its collective legs throughout the game, and there was no shortage of feistiness on either side. But Washington prevailed when Connor McMichael converted a sublime John Carlson slap pass with 4:16 remaining in regulation, snapping a tense 2-2 deadlock that stretched over nearly 30 minutes of playing time.
Alex Ovechkin gave the fans what they came for, namely career goal No. 886; he takes to the road just nine goals shy of surpassing Wayne Gretzky (894) for the top spot on the NHL’s all-time goals ledger. His Sunday goal was also his 1,600th career NHL point, and remarkably, (h/t Chase Pyke), it came on the 14th anniversary of his 600th career point, which came on March 9, 2011 in a 5-0 victory over Edmonton, via an assist on an Eric Fehr power-play goal.
Ovechkin only needed 1,010 games with which to record his last thousand points.
The Caps arrived in Anaheim in the wee hours of Monday morning, grabbed a few hours of sleep, and reassembled at Honda Center for an optional late morning practice. Upon arrival, the team learned that Tom Wilson was named the NHL’s No. 3 star for the week ending March 9.
In four games last week, Wilson totaled three goals and four assists for seven points, sparking the Caps’ four-game winning streak, which came on the heels of their first three-game slide of the season.
“It’s important to be consistent in this league,” says Wilson. “If you drop a few games, you’ve got to correct it as quickly as possible. There’s always ups and downs throughout the year, and I think a little bit of that falls on the leadership group and the older guys sometimes to try and step up and get things fixed as quickly as possible.
“And I thought it was a great group effort. Coming off a bit of a slide, we came out ready to play in those games, and it was a lot of fun hockey; it was exciting hockey. I think we could be a little more structured, but when the team is playing well like that, it takes every guy. And I think we knew we needed to be a little better, and we found a way to get it corrected.”
Wilson had a goal and an assist in each of the Caps’ first three games of the week, a shootout victory over Ottawa, an overtime win over the Rangers in New York, and a home ice win over Detroit. With a beauty of an apple from Strome, Wilson supplied that overtime winner in the Big Apple, and he scored a third-period shorthanded goal to put the Detroit game out of reach.
On Sunday against Seattle, Wilson dragged his team into the fight with his physical play, and he also set up Ovechkin’s latest milestone marker.
“He is such a fiery competitor, and he wants it so bad, that you can feel it as a coach,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery of Wilson. “And it’s my job to help him or get him in situations where he can be effective and can change the momentum in the hockey game. And because he wants to do it so badly, he can sense when the group is really struggling and we need a spark – but some quality shifts – and that’s where he feels like he could be the guy to do that and provide that.”
Not only did Wilson enjoy a stellar week, but he is also enjoying a career season. With 29 goals, he has established a single-season career high, and his total of 52 points matches his previous best with 18 games remaining on the campaign.
“It’s a tough league to score in, if you ask anybody,” says Wilson. “When they’re going in, you have to appreciate it, and you have to just keep your head down and keep putting in the work. You can’t take it for granted. I’ve never been a guy that really creates goals or anything for me that I need to hit a certain mark, or I need to have these many goals each year.
“I’ve – over the years – just tried to help the team whatever way I can and whatever way my role was growing. And this year, being on the power play and chipping in offensively has been important, so I just try and do whatever I can to do that. And I think when the group’s playing well, individual stats always follow, and individual’s games always look strong.
“I’ve played with a lot of great players; my centermen this year have been phenomenal at finding me in good spots. And playing with Stromer, [P-L Dubois, Ovi, [Connor McMichael], [Aliaksei Protas], those guys – for the most part – it’s been it’s been fun, it’s been clicking. And everybody’s individual game is obviously great as well.”
Now in his 12th NHL season, Wilson has missed out on being in the Stanley Cup playoffs just once during his career. That was the 2022-23 season, the one in which he didn’t play his first game until Jan. 8, and in which his total participation was limited to just 33 games, fewest of his career.
Although this season will almost certainly extend Anaheim’s franchise record streak of missing the playoffs to seven straight seasons, the Ducks – currently sitting in sixth place in the Pacific Division – should be able to avoid the bottom two rungs on the divisional standings ladder for the first time since 2019-20.
Monday’s game is the rubber match of a three-game homestand for the Ducks. Anaheim fell 4-3 to the Blues in Friday’s homestand opener but rebounded to drop the Islanders by a 4-1 count on Sunday. The Ducks will play four of their next five games on the road after the Caps leave town.
