Washington Capitals, Hershey Bears, and South Carolina Stingrays all lead their respective leagues in points

The Washington Capitals’ organization accomplished something rare after its weekend games. All three of its teams led their respective leagues and sat first overall in points.

In the NHL, the 19-6-2 Capitals have 40 points and sit in a three-way tie for first with the Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets. In the AHL, the Hershey Bears, at 17-5-3, are two points ahead of the Calgary Wranglers for first. Finally, in the ECHL, the South Carolina Stingrays are tied with the Florida Everblades for first after matching 16-4-1 starts to the year.

Ted Leonsis, the Capitals’ owner, commented on the success of the three levels in the organization, crediting leadership both on and off the ice.

“@Capitals first in division, @TheHersheyBears first in division, @SCStingrays first in division,” Leonsis tweeted Tuesday. “Long way to go, but proud of organizational culture, led by our veterans and front office, driving success on the ice at all levels of our system.”

Washington moved to the top of the NHL after a comeback win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night. The club holds tiebreakers over both the Wild and Jets for first place as they have a higher points percentage (.741) than the Jets (.690) and more regulation wins (17) than the Wild (15).

The Capitals have a two-point lead in the Eastern Conference and Metropolitan Division, with the New Jersey Devils in second place in both races. Washington (27 GP) still has three games in hand over the Devils (30 GP).

Entering Tuesday, they were also first with 109 goals, and their plus-35 goal differential was tops in the NHL. Washington has even continued winning ways without their legendary captain, Alex Ovechkin, going 7-2-1 in nine games without him.

“No [Nicklas] Backstrom, no T.J. Oshie, no Alex Ovechkin, no player named to a 4 Nations [Face-Off] team, probably no All-Star,” Leonsis told NHL.com’s Dan Rosen from the NHL Board of Governors meetings in Florida. “To have the most points in the League right now, it goes to show you what all the experts know.”

The Bears continue to rip apart the AHL, entering the 2024-25 campaign as back-to-back Calder Cup champions. Despite a shaky start to the year by their standards and missing head coach Todd Nelson for some time due to family reasons, the Bears have risen to the top of the league after winning three games in a row. They are 7-1-2 in their last 10 games.

Hershey’s 91 goals lead the AHL, primarily fueled by 18 tallies from star winger Ethen Frank, the league’s goal leader. The Bears have raced out to a five-point lead in the Eastern Conference over the Laval Rocket and a 12-point lead in the Atlantic Division over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

“[We] have such a great partnership with our AHL team, the [Hershey] Bears, and they have been the most consistent winner in the AHL,” Leonsis said. “So, a lot of these kids and the coaching staff have come up through that, and they have a sense of purpose. They know what it takes to win. I think they’ve been a big secret part of our cultural ongoing success. They just expect that we’ll win and play well.”

The Stingrays are excelling in their first season under new head coach Jared Nightingale. South Carolina has won six games in a row and are 8-2 in their last ten games. They are also out to a red-hot start offensively, leading the ECHL in goals with 88.

Instead of having a few first-line players lead them to wins, South Carolina’s victories have come due to widespread scoring in their lineup. They have 13 players scoring at least 0.75 points per game, led by Capitals prospect Alexander Suzdalev (1.06) and Grant Cruikshank (1.08).

Stingrays goalies are also being mentored this season by former Capitals goaltending great Braden Holtby. All three of their netminders have produced fantastic results. Seth Eisele is 6-1-1 with a 1.75 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage, Garin Bjorklund is 5-2-0 with a 1.71 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage, and Mitchell Gibson is 5-1-0 with a 2.01 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage.