Light the lamp: Ovi is back while the hoods stay on the trail

On January 3, 2025By Littum

The Washington Capitals enter 2025 playing solid hockey that is no longer just a sign of a strong start, but sustained success. WTOP’s Dave Preston examines the Caps’ run in his Lighting the Lamp column.

FILE – Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin looks on during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)(AP/Nick Wass)

The Washington Capitals ended December in fine fashion, beating Boston 3-1 on New Year’s Eve after splitting a back-to-back against two other Original Six teams (Toronto and Detroit). The club enters 2025 playing solid hockey that is no longer just a strong start, but sustained success.

Alex Ovechkin is back in the lineup and the captain returned with a bang, scoring twice over the weekend (we’ll update the Ovi dome below).

Record: 25-10-2 (after an 8-4-1 month) is good enough for first place in the Metropolitan Division (one point ahead of New Jersey). Almost halfway through the season, the Caps own the best record in the Eastern Conference while sitting three points behind Winnipeg for the best record in the NHL. Their playoff cushion is 13 points over the first team out of the Wild Card – Pittsburgh.

Locations: Second (3.65 goals per game) in scoring and fourth (2.60) in goals against, 14th (22.7%) on the power play and sixth (83.3%) on penalties.

Diamonds Direct Iceman: Aliaksei Protas scored eight goals with three assists in December. In less than half a season, the fourth-year player (33, 58 and 78 games played before this fall) has posted 16 goals and 32 points, both career highs.

Hot Sticks and Cold Pads: Defenseman Jakob Chychrun has given the blue line a big boost with 11 goals and 14 assists this season (three goals and seven assists in December), while Tom Wilson scored five goals with three assists last month to match career highs in both of these. season. And Pierre-Luc Dubois collected 10 assists in December (his 23 are second most to Dylan Strome’s 29). Goalie Logan Thompson went 5-1-1 with a 1.86 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. Thompson and Charlie Lindgren are almost tied (19-18) in starts…for now.

Ovi-dome: Alex Ovechkin’s return from injury Saturday in Toronto saw the captain score an empty netter, and he scored another goal Sunday in Detroit. Ovi has 17 goals for the season and 870 for his career, putting him 24 years shy of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL mark. Before the injury, Ovi was on pace to score 68 goals this season and, assuming he plays the rest of the team’s games this season (he missed a total of 17 games over the previous three campaigns), is on pace for 53 goal.

Here’s where my head explodes: Relative to his pace over the last 45 games of the season, Ovechkin has reached Gretzky’s mark in Game 30, which is Saturday, March 15 in San Jose. Game 31 is Tuesday, March 18 at home against Detroit.

Matchup of the month: The Caps play six home games in January, and their first one features the toughest opponent on Thursday night. But Minnesota (23-11-4) forward Kirill Kaprizov and his 23 goals (tied for second in the NHL) are on injured reserve with a return date, according to ESPN, expected to be two nights after the Wild are in Washington. That means we move to Saturday at noon and the eighth-place New York Rangers — yes, the team that swept the Caps out of the playoffs last spring. Revenge is a dish best served cold, especially on ice.

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