They have never had a team quite like the one they have this season.
Advertisement
Washington is 39-9-4 overall, 19-5-2 on the road and 21-21 with the over/under total.
A couple of things to keep in mind about this start and their current place in the standings. The team with the second best points percentage in the league (Dallas) is “only” on pace for 111 points. Shots were even at 15 for the period for both teams.
With the win, the Capitals become the first team in the National Hockey League to reach the 40-win plateau and now have an eight-point lead over Chicago in the chase for the President’s Trophy. Those games would have simply ended as tie games before.
The Wild lost six straight games in December 2013, and the feeling was that Yeo would have been fired with one more loss. Only 12 teams before the introduction of the shootout ever won 37 out of their first 53 games.
But for now at least, there’s a new player at the head of the pack.
“You get back to playing in front of friends and family, people that supported you throughout your career so far, I think is great”, Schmidt said as defensive partner John Carlson lobbed tape balls at him over the media surrounding him. They also haven’t won a game at the Xcel Energy Center in 45 days. “When the team has lost however numerous last however many, it’s tough. It doesn’t have the obvious flaws that past teams have had, whether due to the construction of the roster or the man standing behind the bench pushing all of the buttons”, said CBS Sports writer Adam Gretz. It bounced off Dubnyk and right to Ovechkin, who on the second whack flipped it back on net and it slipped through Dubnyk for his 34rd of the season.
EDMONTON, Alberta – Connor McDavid had two goals and three assists, Jordan Eberle scored three times and added an assist, and the Edmonton Oilers snapped a three-game losing streak.
PHILADELPHIA – R.J. Umberger snapped a 50-game scoreless drought and Wayne Simmonds got his 20th goal of the season to help the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Buffalo Sabres to end a three-game skid.
The Capitals’ captain recorded his 14th career hat trick, and scored all three of his goals in the second period.
In five games since the schedule resumed, the Wild has been outscored 13-3 in the middle 20, allowing three goals three times. And neither one of them is this team’s leading scorer at the moment.
The Capitals are expected to have Evgeny Kuznetsov, the club’s leader with 54 points, available after passing a concussion test on Friday.
Advertisement
Compared to last season’s slump (and the similar midseason slump the year before that), this one seems worse. The best chance for Minnesota came when Holtby made a save, but the puck dropped and sat in the crease.
