Top 3 Capitals that need to step up in January

Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
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Connor McMichael, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Connor McMichael, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Things have not looked good this month so far for the Washington Capitals. Their power play is inconsistent. COVID issues still remain. And the team hasn’t even won a game as they dropped all four of their contests so far this month.

Now the Capitals have a few days of practice before another back to back where they’ll look to turn things around. First up is the New York Islanders on Saturday then the Bruce Boudreau coached Vancouver Canucks on Sunday at Capital One Arena.

Which 3 key players need to step up for the Caps to get back to their winning ways?

Connor McMichael, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Connor McMichael, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

#3 Connor McMichael

Coming in at #3 is Connor McMichael. Through no fault of his own he isn’t getting the ice time he needs and being a healthy scratch during Friday night’s blowout loss to the St. Louis Blues didn’t do him any favors.

McMichael has five goals and five assists for 10 points. The next night McMichael had a goal in Washington’s eventual road loss to the Minnesota Wild. So far this month he has averaged 9:46 minutes of ice time which is an uptick by four seconds from his ice time in December. In total he now averages 11:02 and I expect more goals to follow very soon.