Top 5 Capitals moments of the season
This was not a good season to put it mildly for the Washington Capitals. The team missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014. But that didn’t mean the 2022-23 season didn’t have good moments.
My favorite moment was riding down to Raleigh in an RV with Captain Obvious for the Stadium Series. Even though the team didn’t show up, other than in those nice sexy varsity jackets, the fans certainly did! It was cool parking at the hotel and seeing the lobby filled with Capitals fans.
Anyway here are the five best moments of the season and we start without a game.
#5 Rock the Retro concert
That’s right number five is not a game but rather a fun gathering at the 9:30 Club in D.C. back in November during the launch of Reverse Retro 2.0 where the team put together a 90s themed concert and party featuring the band White Ford Bronco playing all the 90s hits.
It was fun singing along to old songs of my childhood and it was cool running into lots of people that night including Mike Vogel, Alan May, Craig Laughlin and Ian Oland.
It’s sad that they’re doing away with the Reverse Retro since Fanatics now has the jersey rights and not Adidas. But hopefully the Caps can put together more events like this in the future.
#4 The Return of Nicky and Willy
The reason this doesn’t get ranked higher is the team got worse after they returned but it wasn’t on them. A new guy just seemed to go down every week making Laviolette juggle the lines. The date was Jan. 8 and the Caps had a home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Nicklas Backstrom made his return from hip surgery while Tom Wilson came back from an ACL tear last playoffs. The Caps would win this game 1-0 with the goal coming form Erik Gustafsson in the first period behind a 38 save performance from Darcy Kuemper.
“You can’t ever take it for granted, playing in the NHL, the fans, and the roar when Nick and I came out. It’s a pretty special feeling.”
Backstrom added:
“It meant the world. Obviously, I missed this. Without knowing what my future is going to hold, it feels great.”
Wilson applauded Backstrom for his road to recovery:
“[Backstrom] has that demeanor that makes everyone around him better. He’s a guy that everyone around the room wants to play well for. He gets that buy-in from his teammates.”
Wilson turned down a fight in the game while skating with 14:10 minutes of ice time over the course of 17 shifts.
#3 Offensive explosion vs. Oilers
On Nov. 7 the Caps won a thrilling game against the Edmonton Oilers. Dylan Strome had a two goal game. Alex Ovechkin scored. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored his first two goals of the season with both on the power play. On one of Kuzy’s goals it featured a sick no look through the legs pass from Alex Ovechkin.
Kuznetsov had a down season but this was the game where he was actually noticeable and being a playmaker on the ice. We also saw the emergence of what Dylan Strome would become. He had a big role to fill when the Caps started the season without Backstrom and he ended up doing so well the team signed him to an extension.
Of course nothing is better than an Ovechkin goal on your birthday and I got exactly that from being in the stands with my dad that night. But seeing Ovechkin pass it to Kuznetsov the way he did was a thing of beauty. What a team player Ovechkin is.
The game also featured two goals from Ryan Nugent Hopkins and goals from Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, three studs from a loaded Oilers team that could win the Cup this year. This should have been the finals matchup but oh well.
#2 Gr800
On Dec. 13 against the Chicago Blackhawks on the road the Capitals won 7-3 in a game where Alex Ovechkin not only got a hat trick but his 798th, 799th and 800th career goals.
Ovechkin’s first came 24 seconds into the contest. Then he struck on the power play at 8:14. In the second period Trevor van Riemsdyk and Nic Dowd added to the scoring with Ovi assisting on TvR’s goal. But all eyes were on the great eight to see if he can reach 800.
He did at 6:34 and everyone went crazy. Even the Blackhawks fans chanted “Ovi!”. Anthony Mantha and Dmitry Orlov capped off the scoring for the visitors and on his way back to the locker room he was showered with beer by his teammates.
Ovechkin told the media after the game:
“It’s a huge number. It’s the best company you ever can imagine since you start playing hockey to be connected to Gordie. Eight hundred, I’m the third person who ever scored that many goals. So without my teammates, without the organization, the fans, my family, I would never get that number and I would never talk to you right now about those numbers.”
He is the third player ever to score 800 NHL goals. He pulled himself to within two of the number one moment…
#1 Gr802
Two days before Christmas Alex Ovechkin delivered us all an early present as he scored career goals 801 and 802 at home against the Winnipeg Jets to pass Gordie Howe for second all time in NHL history in goals scored. Now only Wayne Gretzky is in Ovechkin’s sights.
Ovechkin tied Howe at 18:22 in the first period. In the second Sonny Milano made it 2-0. Then Nic Dowd made it 3-0 in the third. After the Jets got on the board they pulled the goalie making it operation get the puck to Ovi for the record.
As Ovechkin came down the ice he passed it to Evgeny Kuznetsov. Naturally Kuzy didn’t want to shoot it. Who would want to shoot it when your fellow teammate and countryman is on the cusp of NHL history.
But Kuzy got the puck to Ovi and he shot it and to everyone’s delight he scored. He thanked the fans, said he loved his parents in Russian at the postgame interview with Smokin Al Kokin. and ended that interview saying Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas indeed.
Now Ovechkin has 822 goals putting him 72 behind the great one. That night after the game in a packed scrum in the locker room, Ovechkin told the media:
“You never thought it’s going to happen when you came into the League, you’re going to beat any Gordie Howe record or Wayne Gretzky record or any record. You felt like, ‘OK, maybe you’re going to play in the NHL, you’re going to be good and you’re going to try to do your best,’ but the whole situation happening right now, it’s a miracle. You know, it’s pretty special.”
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Those are our top five moments from this past season. Now let’s turn the page and find a new coach and some young studs.