Capitals Finding Early Season Success: What's Working?

The Washington Capitals currently sit at third in the Metropolitan Divison, eighth in the league, and have accumulated 21 points in 15 games played this season. This time last year, fans were questioning whether or not the team even had a fighting chance at playoff contention and wondered about the state of their superstar captain, Alex Ovechkin. What has changed for the boys in red and why are they suddenly finding so much success on the ice?

Line Combinations

Spencer Carbery has proven himself to be an expert in finding line combos that click. With the exception of the third line, which has continually been workshopped, the Capitals lines have been consistent this season and thus, have been able to find chemistry together and, most importantly, find the back of the net. The top line, in particular, of Alex Ovechkin-Dylan Strome-Aliaksei Protas has been wildly successful together. Ovechkin, notably, has tallied 10 goals this season– all 10 have been assisted by his linemate Dylan Strome. Ovechkin-Strome are looking like old school Ovechkin-Backstrom, and it’s working in the Capitals’ favor. The second line rounds off the powerful top six with Connor McMichael-Pierre Luc Dubois-Tom Wilson. Like his teammate Ovechkin, Connor McMichael also has 10 goals on the season, and McMichael noted on Caps Radio 24/7 that he enjoys playing alongside PLD and Wilson and has found his confidence this year after scoring time and time again.

The bottom six, and especially the fourth line, is no stranger to scoring, either. Brandon Duhaime, Nic Dowd, and Taylor Raddysh have collectively found themselves on the scoreboard seven times this season and all play a strong defensive game, as well. The third line has been workshopped a few times, with the centerman being a consistent question mark for Spencer Carbery and his coaching staff. We’ve seen Hendrix Lapierre and Mike Sgarbossa filling the spot, however, both are lacking the experience to confidently and successfully play at the NHL level. The gap in a solid, reliable center may have been filled last night, however, when the Capitals picked up Lars Eller from the Penguins for a couple of future picks. Eller was, notably, part of Washington’s Stanley Cup-winning team and is a veteran centerman who brings the style of play and presence the third line needs. He is set to make his debut against his former team, the Colorado Avalanche, on Friday.

Bouncing Back From a Loss

Another key to the Capitals’ consistent success is their ability to bounce back quickly from a loss. So far this season, the team has not lost multiple games in a row–a habit that prevents them from getting stuck in a mindset of defeat. Connor McMichael spoke to Captials reporter Katie Florio about the team’s ability to recover from a loss, indicating that you have to have a “short-term memory” and regroup before the next game. The Capitals play with a similar mindset to successful college football teams– “go 1-0”.

Goaltending and Defense

In the past, the Washington Capitals have struggled in the defense department, but it seems like the team has finally clicked and found D pairs and a goalie tandem that work night in and night out. The defensive pairs of Chychrun-Carlson, Sandin-Roy, and Fehervary-van Riemsdyk have found great success– the defensemen have collectively blocked 132 shots and have taken 95 of their own so far this season. Matt Roy was injured for most of the season, so Rasmus Sandin will need to adjust to his new defensive partner tonight against the Maple Leafs.

Goaltending has started out phenomenally for the team with newcomer Logan Thompson and Capitals veteran Charlie Lindgren making up the tandem. Lindgren, while absolutely stellar last season, has struggled a bit more this season. He has a 3-4-0 record and a 0.897 save percentage. Not awful, all things considered, but Logan Thompson really is the star of the show in net. In his first seven starts, Thompson was undefeated. After the team’s loss against Toronto, he still has a 0.906 save percentage, proving himself to be the favored starter for the Capitals. If the combination of a strong defense and reliable netminding continues, Washington will be on track to keep pucks out of the net on one side of the ice while getting them into the net on the other. This winning combination will help them in their quest for a deep playoff run once again.

New Faces

Washington did extremely well with their money this offseason, acquiring five new names: Pierre-Luc Dubois, Andrew Mangiapane, Brandon Duhaime, Matt Roy, Jakob Chychrun, and Taylor Raddysh. This season, two familiar faces joined the team once again in the form of Jakub Vrana and Lars Eller. These six pickups have filled gaps in the Capitals’ lines and have helped address their areas of weakness to build a strong and successful team. The Capitals were previously lacking reliable and healthy veteran players as their core began to age and acquire injuries. With both Nicklas Backstrom and TJ Oshie out of the lineup long term, Washington needed solid forwards with NHL experience under their belts– in come the newest faces to the team.

Pierre-Luc Dubois is a playmaker, setting up shots and coming in clutch on the assist time and time again alongside linemates Tom Wilson and Connor McMichael. Andrew Mangiapane came from the Calgary Flames with 40 points last season and has proven himself to be a reliable forward with solid offensive abilities. He has totaled seven points (4g, 3a) so far this season. At 6’2 and 200 pounds, Brandon Duhaime has brought a large physical presence to Washington’s fourth line alongside other new add Taylor Raddysh. The two average roughly 14 minutes on ice per game and have quickly clicked with Nic Dowd to be a solid fourth line that knows how to get the job done. The newest member of the team, Lars Eller, will be filling the third line centerman spot that was previously taken by Hendrix Lapierre. While Lapierre was a decent player, Capitals staff decided he needed more development in Hershey before he was ready to play full time at the NHL level. Eller will play beside former teammate Jakub Vrana, and the speed and shooting ability of the two along with their previous chemistry should make for a sharp third line in Washington.

The Capitals also acquired two new defensemen recently to bolster the efforts of John Carlson, Martin Fehervary, Rasmus Sandin, and Trevor van Riemsdyk. Spencer Carbery noted on the Afternoon ReCAP podcast that his defense is “able to play against any of a team’s top six that they throw at [them]”. Jakob Chychrun and Matt Roy joined the team over the summer. While we have not seen much from Matt Roy yet due to injury, he comes from the Kings with 25 points on the season last year and brings a strong and physical game to Washington’s blue line. Jakob Chychrun is solid on both defense and offense– he’s totaled three goals and three assists on 17 shots this season and has blocked 11 shots in critical moments. He spends a lot of time on ice, averaging roughly 18 minutes per game and plays alongside Washington long-timer John Carlson. These new adds have strengthened the talent that the Capitals already had, making them fiercer, more physical, and most importantly, more successful so far this season.

Disciplined Play

Across their 15 games, the Capitals have collectively taken just 139 penalty minutes, placing them in the middle of the league as far as that statistic. “We’re trying to do a better job of just staying focused on what we can control,” noted coach Carbery. “We’re just doing a better job of being responsible with our sticks, defending with our feet and not… having to hook or having to trip.” It is also noteworthy that Washington is playing offense more often this season, keeping them focused on finding open lanes and shooting, rather than on trying to get the puck back and making careless errors. “When we have the puck, it’s hard to take penalties,” said Carbery. The team is also notably less hotheaded and starting fewer fights out of frustration this season, likely due to their offensive success.

Should the Washington Capitals continue to take two points in the majority of their games, they will be an easy shoo-in to this season’s playoffs. With the first benchmark of a team’s success upcoming at American Thanksgiving, the future is looking bright for the capital city.