Red-hot Capitals hope January will be as kind as December

It’s officially New Year’s resolution season. And not just for those who are back in the gym looking to shed that holiday belly, but also for professional sports teams hoping the turn of the calendar turns their fortunes around.

Not every team, though. New year, new Caps? Not needed. 

The Washington Capitals started acting upon their New Year’s resolutions a month early. For Alex Ovechkin & Co., they just need their December dominance to transfer over into January.

The Capitals won more games in December (11) than they did in October and November combined (10). Washington went 11-2-2 in December — one of the best months in franchise history — to turn its season around. The Capitals entered the month 21st in goal differential at minus-9. Now, they’re 10th at plus-19. 

“The whole December, how we played, shows how good we are,” Erik Gustafsson told reporters after Saturday’s blowout win. Gustafsson totaled six goals and eight assists in December. “It’s a fun stretch we have here, and we’ve just got to keep it going. 

Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said after the bad start (7-10-3) that the Capitals had dug themselves such a deep hole they needed to start climbing out of it in December. His players responded by shoveling all month long — so much so that they don’t have much more catching up to do. They even capped the month off with an impressive 9-2 win over Montreal and another Ovechkin hat trick — his second of the month and 30th of his career. 

“We have dealt with some major adversity to this point, and to see the guys continue to push the way they are,” Laviolette said in late December. “It was probably just a month ago when we were sitting three or four games under .500. We couldn’t afford to roll through December and be a couple more games under .500. There were conversations and talks inside the room. It’s a credit to the players — they have manned up every game. … We didn’t get lucky. Our guys, regardless of the lineup and regardless of the guys that were available to us, they went out there and pushed like crazy and brought us back to life.”

Around Thanksgiving, the Capitals were below .500 and several points out of a postseason spot. A little more than a month later, they’re one of the hottest teams in hockey and solidly in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Washington (21-13-5) entered Monday in third place in the Metropolitan Division — two points behind New Jersey for second and one ahead of the New York Rangers in fourth. 

A big reason why the Capitals went from the cellar to currently being in the playoffs so quickly is thanks to Ovechkin’s torrid scoring pace in December. The 37-year-old earned the NHL’s First Star for December after tallying 13 goals and nine assists in 15 games — in addition to passing Gordie Howe for No. 2 on the all-time goals list. 

Ovechkin’s 22 points were the most of any Washington player and tied for second in the NHL in December. The Russian winger entered Monday tied for third in the league in goals with 26. He’s on pace for 54 this season — a total that would be his most since 2008-09. 

Of course, it’s not all rainbows in the District.

Surprisingly, the exceptional month had little to do with the Capitals having key players return from injury. Forwards Nicklas Backstrom (hip) and Tom Wilson (ACL) still haven’t played this season, although they are both now practicing in full-contact jerseys. Winger T.J. Oshie, who hasn’t played since Dec. 17, has missed six games with an upper-body injury. And now Washington will be without defenseman John Carlson for the “long-term,” according to Laviolette, as the alternate captain was placed on injured reserve after being hit in the face by a puck on Dec. 23. 

“T.J. [Oshie] is probably the closest (to returning to game action),” Laviolette told reporters Monday. “[Backstrom] and [Wilson] are still off a bit. Nothing wrong, no setbacks. Just working their way back.”

The Capitals are back on their home ice Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres.