Once Around The Weekend – The Caps – and the rest of the NHL – have been parked for nearly two full weeks of the 2024-25 season so the League could conduct what was by almost all accounts a wildly successful and compelling 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.
Canada was crowned champion of the tourney following its 3-2 overtime victory over Team USA on Thursday night, and today the NHL returns to business as usual, and the Caps head into the final third of what’s been a highly successful season for them.
As was the case when they came out of the NHL’s annual three-day holiday hiatus less than two months ago, the Caps will have to ramp up quickly as they emerge from their midseason break; they’re playing two games in 22 hours, just as they did in late December coming out of the holiday break.
The difference this time is they’ve got the benefit of at least three full practices – those who took the ice for Tuesday’s optional session will have four practices under their belts – and the Caps’ practices this week were high energy, high tempo affairs, particularly on Wednesday and Thursday.
“We’ve been champing at the bit, especially with the last few days of practices, and guys being ready to play in games again, and the break,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “So hopefully we come out and there’s tons of jump and energy in the game, I think even for both teams. I look for this first period to be highly competitive, and guys [to have] a lot of fire on the ice.”
With a break of nearly two weeks, sometimes the rust can be noticeable and difficult to shed. That’s where the energy generated at this week’s practices can make a difference.
“I can just speak for what I've felt from the group the last couple days,” says Carbery. “I feel like our guys are energized and ready to go. And obviously there's an opponent on the other side, so they're going to have something to say for it, but I feel like the jump and enthusiasm and readiness to come out of this break and hit the ground running is there. So that's what we're expecting, especially early in this game.”
Pump Up The Volume – Washington and captain Alex Ovechkin have 27 games remaining this season, and as play resumes on Saturday in Pittsburgh, The Great Eight has 879 career goals, putting him 16 goals south of matching The Great One – Wayne Gretzky (894) – for the top spot on the NHL’s all-time goals ledger.
Whether Ovechkin can topple Gretzky’s longstanding standard between now and Washington’s final regular season game – right here in Pittsburgh – on April 17, is something the entire hockey world will be watching as the 2024-25 stretch drive unfolds.
The 39-year-old Ovechkin is on more of an undercover heater than many may realize. He started last season slowly, with just eight goals in his first 43 games. When he scored late in a Jan. 27, 2024 game in Dallas – the Caps’ last game before the 2023-24 All-Star break – it ended an eight-game dry spell, which paled in comparison to a 14-game drought earlier in the season. Ovechkin’s early season struggles in ’23-24 dampened the talk of him being able to catch Gretzky.
But starting with that goal against the Stars just under 13 months ago, Ovechkin has scored a remarkable 49 goals in 75 games, seventh most goals in the NHL over that span. Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl leads the way with 59 goals over that stretch, but he has also played in 92 games over that span.
Among the six players with more goals than Ovechkin since Jan. 27 of last year, only Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprisov (.72 goals per game) and Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point (.66) have scored more goals per game than Ovechkin (.65).
Ovechkin’s Jan. 27 goal in Dallas sparked a six-game goal streak, one of three streaks of at least five straight games with a goal he has authored since. Ovechkin has not gone more than four straight games without scoring since Jan. 27, 2024, and he has not gone more than three games without a goal at any point of this season.
Ovechkin’s rate of 2.3 goals per 60 minutes of ice time this season is the highest rate of his NHL career, surpassing the 2.1 mark he established in 2007-08 – when he scored a career high 65 goals – and matched in 2019-20.
“We honestly don't talk about it – and I’m not just saying this – at all,” says Carbery of the ongoing Ovechkin chase. “Now, where I would say it comes into play is there is a little added juice and excitement of what's going on that everybody can feel – and especially when he scores – and we're not oblivious to it; we know what's going on.
“So it doesn't play into anything that we're planning, objective wise. But what it does play into, I think it does add one more notch of guys being hungry, excited, trying to find ways to recover more pucks on the power play so we can be effective, whatever it might be. I just think it gives us a little bit more juice, because the guys can feel [what’s happening]. And hopefully – and I believe this, and that's why I said it a few weeks ago – I think Ovechkin, I think this is going to be his best hockey of the year, these last 27 games. And I think you're going to see a guy that's highly, highly motivated and just has the pedal to the metal for this last little stretch.”
Sometime To Return – Eleven games shy of reaching 1,100 career NHL games, Caps center Lars Eller returns to Pittsburgh today for the first time since a Nov. 12, 2024 trade sent him back to Washington for a second stint with the Capitals.
Now in his 16th NHL season, Eller has spent the lion’s share – nearly half – of his NHL career in a Caps sweater. After signing a two-year contract as an unrestricted free agent with Pittsburgh on July 1, 2023, Eller skated in 99 games in parts of two seasons with the Pens, totaling 19 goals and 19 assists for 38 points along the way.
“It’s a very, very good organization with a lot of good people,” says Eller of the Penguins. “I met and still have good relations with a lot of people there. What stood out the most to me was the relations I made in not a long time. I really enjoyed my time there, and I look forward to playing there again [Saturday], and hopefully get two points.”
Legends Never Die – As members of the NHL’s Original 12, Pittsburgh began its NHL life in 1967-68 and is now in the midst of its 57th season in the circuit. The Pens have won five Stanley Cup titles, and many legendary players have started their careers here or starred here for several seasons over the last half century plus.
Mike Lange was the radio voice of the Pittsburgh Penguins for 46 seasons, beginning in 1974-75 (with a brief detour as the voice of the Washington Diplomats soccer team a season later), and to these aging ears, he was one of the best to ever do what he did. In 2001, he was honored with the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award.
Lange’s broadcasts combined his deep knowledge and feel for the game with the fun and whimsy of his numerous catch phrases. He was also a warm and engaging human being who had a great ear for excellent music – particularly the blues – and was known to seek out live music during his work travels, a kind and kindred spirit in that regard. Lange's voice and his work are as deeply woven into the fabric of hockey in Pittsburgh as the exploits of the players he described for nearly a half century.
Lange passed away at the age of 76 earlier this week, and the Pens will honor and celebrate his life prior to today’s game with the Capitals. I’ve missed seeing Mike around the arena and catching up with him since he retired in 2021, but his body of work and his distinctive voice will live on forever, and not just in the greater Pittsburgh area. Our heartfelt sympathies are extended to the Lange family and to the Penguins organization.
In The Nets – Logan Thompson gets the net for Washington on Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh. Thompson’s 24 victories (24-2-5) are fourth most in the NHL, and he has started at least 10 fewer games than each of the three netminders ahead of him.
Lifetime against Pittsburgh, Thompson is 2-1-0 in three appearances – all starts – with a 2.36 GAA and a .923 save pct.
For the Penguins, we are expecting to see Alex Nedeljkovic in the crease this afternoon. On the season, Nedeljkovic is 12-9-5 in 27 appearances with a shutout, a 2.93 GAA and a .900 save pct.
In three career appearances – just one of them a start – against Washington, Nedeljkovic is 1-1-0 with a 1.77 GAA and a .924 save pct.
All Lined Up – Here’s how we believe the Capitals and the Penguins might look on Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 43-Wilson
21-Protas, 80-Dubois, 24-McMichael
16-Raddysh, 20-Eller, 53-Frank
22-Duhaime, 26-Dowd, 88-Mangiapane
Defensemen
38-Sandin, 74-Carlson
42-Fehervary, 3-Roy
6-Chychrun, 57-van Riemsdyk
Goaltenders
48-Thompson
79-Lindgren
Extras
13-Vrana
27-Alexeyev
52-McIlrath
Out/Injured
15-Milano (upper body)
19-Backstrom (hip)
77-Oshie (back)
PITTSBURGH
Forwards
67-Rakell, 87-Crosby, 71-Malkin
72-Beauvillier, 13-Hayes, 53-Tomasino
8-Bunting, 19-Glass, 43-Heinen
83-Nieto, 46-Lizzotte, 55-Acciari
Defensemen
73-Joseph, 58-Letang
24-Grzelcyk, 65-Karlsson
27-Graves, 7-Desharnais
Goaltenders
30-Blomqvist
39-Nedeljkovic
Extras
5-Shea
23-Kolyachonok
Out/Injured
14-Imama (undisclosed)
17-Rust (illness)
