Ovechkin-less Capitals maintain spot atop Eastern Conference

The Washington Capitals fell just short of history this week, falling one win shy of the best 30-game start in the franchise’s 50 years and within three victories of setting the NHL’s road-winning streak record. 

But the Capitals, who are still without longtime captain Alex Ovechkin, still lead the Metropolitan Division — and the NHL’s Eastern Conference on point percentage — ahead of next week’s Christmas break.

Heading into Monday’s game, Washington’s 30th of the season, the Capitals were approaching a record pace with 21 wins. A victory in Dallas against the Stars would’ve tied the best 30-game start in franchise history. 

The Capitals dropped the game 3-1, but it wasn’t enough to remove Washington from its perch atop the NHL’s Eastern Conference ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Chicago to face the Blackhawks. 

A month without Ovechkin has been no problem for the Capitals, who won eight of their first 12 games without the three-time MVP. 

Center Dylan Strome has led the charge with 38 points, including 11 goals, through Washington’s first 30 games. The 27-year-old is on pace to finish with 103 points on the season, which would shatter his career-high of 67 from the 2023-24 campaign. 

The No. 3 pick in the 2015 NHL draft has downplayed his role in Washington’s continued success without Ovechkin, despite ranking fourth in the league with a +17 plus-minus. 

“It helps when you have four solid lines that are playing good,” Strome said after Monday’s loss, referring to Washington’s deep roster.

The Capitals are outperforming almost all preseason expectations as they approach the halfway point of the season. The hot start began with the 39-year-old Ovechkin, who was leading the league in goals before his injury, and extended throughout the roster. 

“I think it starts with John (Carlson) and Tom (Wilson) and our leadership group,” Capitals general manager Chris Patrick told The Athletic. “Both with their play on the ice and off the ice, they have helped reinforce what the team has been doing, which is continue to play with structure and consistency every night.”

After scoring just 18 goals in 80 games last season, center Connor McMichael has tied Ovechkin for the team lead with 15 goals. Strome’s 27 assists ranked 11th in the NHL on Monday morning. The goaltending tandem of Charlie Lindgren and Logan Thompson has performed admirably while splitting starts, ranking seventh in the league in goals allowed per game. 

Most encouraging for Capitals fans, though? Help is on the way. 

Ovechkin is approaching the end of the four-to-six-week recovery timetable that the team offered for him in November. He traveled with the team to Dallas on Monday and Chicago on Tuesday and has started participating in practice. 

Wearing a light-blue non-contact jersey, he’s slowly integrating back into drills. Prior to this week, the Russian had only skated on his own, gliding around the ice before the team’s practices in Arlington. 

“So now he’s back integrated in the group, he’s on the road,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said Monday. “The next step would be him taking off that non-contact jersey and practicing full, which should get him into contact drills.”

Ovechkin will likely return to practice on Thursday, though Carbery has been reticent about giving a return date for his superstar winger. 

By all accounts, Washington’s all-time leading scorer is on pace to return from the longest absence of his career in the coming weeks. 

NHL insider Pierre Lebrun expects Ovechkin to return just before or after Washington’s holiday break. That would mean No. 8 could be a factor in Monday’s game against the Boston Bruins or the Dec. 28 tilt in Toronto against the Maple Leafs. 

With a healthy Ovechkin on the ice, the NHL world will turn its eyes back to the all-time goals record. A hot start put Washington’s captain on pace to shatter Wayne Gretzky’s mark by season’s end. Even a broken leg seems unlikely to change that. 

If Ovechkin returns to the goal-scoring pace he set at the start of the campaign, he’ll score goal No. 895 in mid-March.