The Washington Capitals had many wondering if they’d be more rested or rusty due to the 20-day hiatus for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The Milan Cortina Games were a mixed bag that included Trevor van Riemsdyk playing well for a Slovakian team that finished fourth, Logan Thompson not winning the No. 1 job for Canada, and Tom Wilson tallying a Gordie Howe hat trick for the Canadians in preliminary play. Wilson and Thompson won silver medals for their efforts and the Capitals would go 2-1 after the break (they won two of three entering the Olympics) to finish February with a 4-2 record.
The problem for the team now is that they’ve played a league-high 62 games, meaning the other teams in the playoff race will have more opportunities to post points over the final month and change remaining on the schedule. When they lost at Montreal like they did this past Saturday, the opportunity missed hurts a little more.
Record: 31-24-7 and fourth place in the Metropolitan Division. They currently stand four points behind the New York Islanders for third place, while they are two shy of Boston for the second wild-card spot. They’ve played two more games than the Islanders and three more games than the Bruins.
Rankings: Entering March, the Caps rank 16th (3.16 goals per game) in scoring and 11th (2.92) in goals against, 31st (15.5%) on the power play and 17th (79.3%) on the penalty kill. Hopefully, the special teams will make strides down the stretch.
Iceman of the Month: Pierre-Luc Dubois missed most of the season with injury and returned to the team right before the Olympic break and made his presence known immediately, scoring three goals with two assists over four games in February. Dubois at center moves Connor McMichael to the wing on another line, where he can contribute better.
Hot Sticks and Cold Pads: Aliaksei Protas led the team with six points (two goals and four assists) last month, while defenseman Jakob Chychrun netted three goals with two assists. The defenseman’s 22 goals and 48 points are already more than the career highs set last season. Logan Thompson posted a 3-0 mark with a 1.68 GAA and stopped 93.7% of shots faced.
Ovi Odometer: Alex Ovechkin’s two goals in six games give him 24 for the season, or one more than Tom Wilson for the team lead. Ovi tied TJ Oshie for the team lead in goals during the 2016-17 season and has been the outright leader every season he’s played for Washington. The career total is now 921 and at his current scoring pace, Ovi would finish the season with 32 goals and 929 for his career.
Matchups of the Month: The Capitals face the team they are chasing for the final playoff spot on successive Saturdays, visiting Boston on March 7 and hosting the Bruins on March 14. They lost their season opener to Boston in D.C. back in October, and these two meetings can bring them closer to the postseason or help shut the wild-card window.
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