For one day at least, the Capitals are staring down at the rest of the NHL.
With star forward Alex Ovechkin back from suspension and in the midst of a six-game winning streak, Washington has jumped to the top of the overall league standings with 44 points.
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The Caps (19-5-6) can build on that lead tonight when they conclude a three-game road trip at Buffalo (16-9-2, 34 points). This is just the second time the franchise had led the NHL standings this late in a season. The 1991-92 team did so as well.
“It’s nice at any time. I’m hoping it’s there at 82 games,” Caps coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters after Monday’s 3-0 win at Tampa Bay. “But I don’t think we’ve been in first overall … at this stage of the season. So it’s quite a good thing for them, especially with the travel that we’ve had to do in the last month.”
Washington also leads the league in another category — goals scored. In 30 games the Caps have 111 goals — seven more than San Jose (104). That’s an average of 3.7 goals-per-game, which puts them on pace for 303 for the season. And that’s without Ovechkin for eight games, thanks to injury and suspension, and winger Alex Semin for another nine. Forward Mike Knuble — who scored 27 for Philadelphia last year — is expected back this week after missing the last 11 games with a broken finger.
This certainly looks like a team capable of cracking the 300-goal barrier. Back in the mid-1980s, no one would have batted an eye at that number. Now? Since 1997 only three teams have topped that mark — Ottawa (314) and Detroit (305) in 2005-06 and Buffalo (308) in 2006-07. It’s a long way from the NHL’s offensive glory days when the Pittsburgh Penguins could score 362 goals in a single year (1995-96). During the 1992-93 season, 15 different teams topped 300 goals. In 1981-82, 16 of the league’s 21 teams did it. That was the same year Wayne Gretzky set the all-time individual goals record with 92. Two years later his Edmonton Oilers scored a league-record 446.
Those gaudy numbers are unapproachable in this era. But what about the franchise record set by the same 1991-92 Caps, who also topped the NHL standings on Dec. 8? They eventually finished with 330 goals. That one may be tough to crack, too.
For now, Ovechkin has 20 goals — the quickest he’s ever reached that mark. A one-man team? Hardly. In the two games Ovechkin missed last week while serving a suspension, Washington scored 14 goals. Three of his teammates — Semin (11), Brooks Laich (10) and Tomas Fleischmann (10) — have hit double digits, too. And three more Caps — Nicklas Backstrom (8), Eric Fehr (8) and Brendan Morrisonn (9) — are within reach. Knuble, Matt Bradley and defenseman Mike Green have five each.
