The Washington Capitals look to acquire their first win against an undefeated Vegas Golden Knights squad that stormed into the 2024-25 NHL season. Washington opened up with a tough loss against New Jersey in their season opener, while Vegas has had no trouble with their 3-0 start to the season.
Alexander Ovechkin continues to add to his NHL legacy with each NHL game skated at this point in his 20-year Washington Capitals career. The captain in the Nation’s capital is on the hunt for the NHL goal-scoring record trailing only Wayne Gretzky’s scoring mark of 894 goals. More important than personal accolades, Ovechkin will be looking to lead the Washington Capitals back to the postseason for the 16th time in 20 years with a successful 2024-25 NHL regular season.
Washington Capitals Season
The Capitals started their season this past Saturday night in a 5-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils. While Washington did not perform poorly in the contest, you could tell the team had only played preseason contests to date while New Jersey had played a few contests to begin their season.
During Saturday night’s home opener at Capital One Arena, John Carlson and Dylan Strome were the most effective players for the Washington Capitals. Both players finished with a goal and an assist to kickstart their seasons on the right skate. Superstar Alexander Ovechkin got into the game action with 7 hits on the game. The forward could not generate a shot on net despite almost 20 minutes of ice time on the evening. Ovechkin still trails Wayne Gretzky by 42 goals in his quest to become the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer.
Tonight’s content is the second in 41 more regular season contests at Capital One Arena celebrating the storied history of the Washington Capitals franchise. Washington’s brass pulled out all of the bells and whistles for the Home Opener naturally, however, there should be at least small touches to commemorate the season throughout the rest of the 2024-25 NHL regular season. The Caps will have one more game remaining on the three-game season-opening homestand. Another undefeated Western Conference rolls into the Nation’s Capitals on Thursday evening as the Washington Capitals play host to the Dallas Stars (3-0) later this week.
Las Vegas Golden Knights Campaign
Life is good after the first week of action in Las Vegas, Nevada for the Golden Knights. Vegas started the NHL season with an 8-4 smashing of division rivals before ripping off wins against the St. Louis Blues and the Anaheim Ducks this past weekend. The victories improved the Vegas Golden Knights record to 3-0 on the young season.
Star center Jack Eichel leads the way in points for Vegas on 1 goal and 6 assists for 7 points early in 2024. Eichel is tied atop the NHL scoring leaderboard with Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin and New York Rangers winger Artemi Panari. Vegas linemates Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev each have 6 points on the season as the Golden Knight’s top line has dominated competition early on.
Capitals vs. Golden Knights Goalie Matchup
The Washington Capitals contest on Tuesday night features a pair of backup goalies greeting some friends on the other bench. The Caps’ backup goalie Logan Thompson started his NHL career starting 95 games over three seasons in Sin City. Thompson’s record was impressive at 56-32-11 with a 2.67 goals-against-average and saving 91% of pucks sent his way. The 27-year-old goalie signed a three-year contract with Washington this past offseason to backup Charlie Lindgren.
Las Vegas brings former Capitals goalie Ilya Samsanov back to the DMV area for tonight’s contest. Samsanov allowed 1 goal against in a 3-1 win in Vegas’ most recent win, so a starting spot tonight would come a bit as a surprise. Starting goalie Adin Hill is 2-0 with a 3.5 goals-against-average. Hill has struggled a bit stopping only 87% of shots faced over the first two contests he has played this season.
As of press time, the starting lineups for tonight’s contest have not been announced. The puck drop for tonight’s game is set for 7 pm EST in Washington, D.C.
