Top 3 Capitals studs against Penguins
The Washington Capitals began 2024 with a bang, literally with four first period goals to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3.
The Washington Capitals took care of business in their first game of 2024. The tables turned since opening night on Friday the 13th. After starting the season with a 4-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Capitals trounced them 4-3 last night to leapfrog past them in the standings and occupy that second and final spot in the wild card.
Lots of players stepped up in the winning effort but who were the top 3 studs in the win?
#3 Martin Fehervary
Martin Fehervary left Friday night's loss against the New York Islanders with an injury but was back in the lineup last night. His goal put the Caps up 3-0. Fehervary was among a Capitals blueline that combined for four points in the win with two goals and two assists. Rasmus Sandin had two of those assists with Fehervary providing the lone goal and new defenseman Ethan Bear assisting on the first goal.
Fehervary skated on the top pair last night with John Carlson. When paired together in both games against the Penguins at five on five, their combined Corsi For percentage is at 50 percent whie Fehervary's CF drops to 33.33 percent without Carlson, per Natural Stat Trick.
#2 Tom Wilson
Tom Wilson has more goals against the Penguins than any other team in his career. His goal last night started things for the Caps and they didn't turn back after it. He skated on the top line with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin, donning the alternate captain with T.J. Oshie's injury.
It was not only Wilson's 11th goal of the season, it was also his 11th goal in 40 games against Pittsburgh. Rasmus Sandin and Ethan Bear had the assists as the defensemen contributed big time to the win. It was the first of two assists for Sandin to go along with Martin Fehervary's goal.
Tom Wilson told the media after the win:
"I think we came out, we were playing really well. Maybe one of our best periods of the year. We made it a little harder on ourselves than we probably needed to. It was weird. We were playing really well. They get that late one in the first. Then there's a power play. Kind of a weird one there and then they're right in the game. I think it's the classic with Pittsburgh, you have to control the moments a little bit better. They're a momentum driven team. So we have to do a better job just managing some of those moments."
#1 Alex Ovechkin
The number one stud of the game is Alex Ovechkin. He hasn't had the best of seasons but his power play goal but the exclaimation point on the Caps win. It was the 830th goal of his career, putting him 64 behind Wayne Gretzky. Ovechkin has now scored in back to back games.
HIs goal turned out to be the game winner, marking his 126th career game winning goal. Only Jaromir Jagr (135) has more game winning goals in NHL history. It also marked his 302nd career power play goal, adding to his NHL record.
With the goal last night Ovechkin has now passed Ray Bourque for the seventh most points by a player with one franchise in NHL history. Bourque had 1,506 points with the Boston Bruins in 1,518 games played. Ovechkin now has 1,507 career points in 1,382 career games played.
Ovechkin's turnaround began on Dec. 21 in an overtime win at the Columbus Blue Jackets as he scored the game winning goal. It marked his 900th career NHL goal between the regular season and playoffs combined. The only other player to reach 900 career goals between regular season and playoffs combined is you guessed it, Gretzky.