The Washington Capitals put the entire NHL on notice this weekend after none of its players received an invite to the 4 Nations Face-Off.
The fully rested Capitals defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 8-3 on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena, and then returned home on Sunday to deliver a 7-3 beatdown to the Edmonton Oilers, jumping back into first place overall in the NHL standings.
The Capitals scored fifteen goals combined during the two games and boasted a goal differential of plus-nine. The team scored in all six periods, notching two or more goals in five of six. They scored a weekend-high five goals in the second period against Pittsburgh (the third time they’ve done that this season).
Alex Ovechkin scored his 32nd career hat trick against Edmonton and narrowed his chase (882 goals) of the NHL goals record to 13. Every Capitals skater in the lineup, including all six defensemen, registered at least one point over the weekend except Nic Dowd. Four different players scored more than once: Ovechkin (3), Jakob Chychrun (3), Dylan Strome (2), and Tom Wilson (2). Both Capitals’ goaltenders, Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren, earned a win.
The Capitals also kept the other teams’ superstars in check. Connor McDavid (1 assist), the scorer of the tournament-winning goal at the 4 Nations Face-Off, was held without a shot and finished a minus-three on Sunday. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were a combined minus-three and registered only a goal, an assist, and four shots together.
What perhaps is the most impressive part about the Capitals’ (in football parlance) two touchdowns and a field goal is the timing of it all. Puck drop against in Pittsburgh was 3:21 pm on Saturday. Twenty-one hours and 46 minutes later, the Capitals were back on the ice in the district (1:07 pm) and playing hockey again against Edmonton.
The Capitals’ first goal of the weekend was scored by Ethen Frank against the Penguins at 3:30 pm on Saturday. The Caps’ 15th tally, an Alex Ovechkin’s empty-netter for a hat trick, was scored exactly 24 hours and 0 minutes later at 3:30 pm the next day.
Don’t believe us? Check the timestamps.
Time wise, here’s when all the Capitals goals happened this weekend per the Capitals’ goal announcements on X.
All the Capitals’ goals this weekend
| Day and Time | Event | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Sat, 3:21 PM | Puck drops in Pittsburgh | |
| Sat, 3:30 PM | Frank off his skate | 1 |
| Sat, 4:23 PM | Fehervary on the rush | 2 |
| Sat, 4:44 PM | Chychrun’s first, from the slot | 3 |
| Sat, 4:49 PM | Chychrun’s second, from afar | 4 |
| Sat, 4:50 PM | Protas eight seconds minute later | 5 |
| Sat, 4:55 PM | Wilson on deflection | 6 |
| Sat, 5:40 PM | Strome gorgeous goal | 7 |
| Sat, 5:50 PM | Duhaime on a breakaway | 8 |
| Sat, 5:52 PM | WSH beats PIT 8-3 | |
| Sun, 1:07 PM | Puck drops in Washington | |
| Sun, 1:36 PM | Wilson on rebound | 9 |
| Sun, 1:43 PM | Chychrun on the power play | 10 |
| Sun, 2:19 PM | Ovechkin on the rush | 11 |
| Sun, 2:36 PM | Ovechkin from his office | 12 |
| Sun, 2:39 PM | McMichael on nasty passing sequence | 13 |
| Sun, 3:14 PM | Strome cleans up Protas’ rebound | 14 |
| Sun, 3:30 PM | Ovechkin ENG for hat trick | 15 |
| Sun, 3:34 PM | WSH beats EDM 7-3 |
As someone who has covered the Capitals since 2009, this is simply Twilight Zone-level stuff. Sure, Alex Ovechkin has had his magic moments, like scoring hat tricks in consecutive games. But beatdowns of Crosby and McDavid-led teams in back-to-back day games -– which are often the Caps’ kryptonite? No.
“You can see we’re fresh,” Alex Ovechkin, who is 39 and should not be fresh, said. “Everybody playing the same way. You can see everybody’s flying out there.”
What we saw this weekend out of the Capitals is rare and special. I’ll let Greg Young of Japers’ Rink put it in perspective.
