Century City – As they take to the ice against Philadelphia tonight for the middle match of a three-game homestand, the Capitals can reach the 100-point plateau with a victory on this Thursday night.
If Washington collects those two points tonight, it would match the second-quickest Caps team to reach the century mark; the 2015-16 Presidents’ Trophy-winning edition managed the feat in 65 games; tonight is the Caps’ 69th contest of the campaign, and that’s the same game in which the 2009-10 Caps – the team’s first-ever Presidents’ Trophy-winning club – clicked the points odometer over to triple digits.
There are also scenarios in which Washington can officially punch its postseason ticket tonight; not all of those scenarios require a Caps victory over the Flyers.
“I’m going to guess 50 percent of our players would know that,” said a smiling Spencer Carbery after Washington’s morning skate.
But Carbery himself is well aware.
“Oh yeah,” he admits. “I have some light reading in the morning that I do, so I did read that.”
Here’s what he read:
*The Caps will clinch if they defeat Philly in regulation AND any result in the Islanders-Canadiens game other than an Islanders regulation win
OR
*If the Caps defeat the Flyers in overtime or shootout AND the Islanders lose to the Canadiens in any fashion
OR
*If the Caps lose to the Flyers in overtime or the shootout AND the Blue Jackets lose to the Panthers in any fashion AND the Islanders lose to the Canadiens in regulation
Last season, the Caps were the last team to clinch a playoff berth; they did so with about three minutes remaining in their final game of the season against the Flyers in Philadelphia. This time around, they could be the first team to clinch a berth and could also be the first team to reach the century mark. Winnipeg also has 98 points and could reach 100 tonight, but puck drop in the Jets-Oilers game in Edmonton tonight is two hours later than puck drop in the District.
Roaring Twenties – When Martin Fehervary supplied the secondary helper on Tom Wilson’s 30th goal of the season late in the third period of Tuesday’s game against Detroit, he became the fifth Washington defenseman to reach the 20-point plateau this season. This marks just the third time in franchise history – and the first time since 1984-85 – that the Caps have had five blueliners hit the double sawbuck in points in the same season.
Back in 1983-84, the Caps turned that trick for the first time in their history with Larry Murphy (46), Scott Stevens (45), Rod Langway (33), Darren Veitch (24) and Timo Blomqvist (20) piling up at last 20 points. A season later in ’84-85, they achieved the feat again with Stevens (65), Murphy (56), Mike McEwen (38), Langway (26) and Veitch (21) reaching the milestone.
Last season, the Caps’ defense combined for 20 goals and 135 points, ranking 30th in points and 31st in goals from the blueline on a team that ranked 28th in the NHL with just 216 goals on the season.
Washington has turned last season upside down in so many ways, and scoring from the back end is one of the most major of all the team’s year-over-year improvements. This season’s edition has amassed 33 goals and 174 points this season from the back end, and that’s with 14 games remaining in the season. The Caps trail only Colorado (176) in total points from the defense corps this season, and their total of 33 goals from blueliners is tied for seventh in the circuit.
“I think if you were to dive into the reasons of why we've gone from one of the lowest scoring teams in the NHL to the highest scoring team in the NHL as it sits right now,” begins Carbery, “If you were saying, ‘Why and how did that happen?’ I think that would be number one, the production from our back end. And it's not just from Jakob Chychrun, it's from the group as a whole.
“They’ve done a fantastic job of getting up in the rush, giving us that second wave with their skating, because they’re all quality, quality skaters. But they’ve also grown – I’ve noticed – a ton with their offensive blueline touches. And we try to be an offensive zone possession team, and to get pucks up to them as much as we can.
“And what they've done is a real good job of making good decisions and execution at the blue line with those pucks. Sometimes it's a shot, sometimes it's a pass, sometimes it's just keeping the puck down low. I think that's added a huge layer. And like I said, it’s one of the main reasons why we are where we are. And our forwards, obviously, you can speak to some of that, what they've done, and the additions up front, but the [defense] production is probably item number one of why we have been a higher scoring team.”
Historically, the 2024-25 Caps’ defense is contributing at a rate not seen in these parts since 1992-93. This year’s model is pitching in with 2.56 points per game from the rearguard corps, but old-timers will recall that ’92-93 crew as being the only back end in NHL history with three 20-goal scorers. The ’92-93 Washington defense kicked in 94 goals and 264 points for an average nightly contribution of 3.14 points per game.
Fehervary surpassed his previous career high of 17 points – established in his rookie season of 2021-22 – earlier this month, and he’s currently in the midst of one of the hottest offensive spells of his career, with nine points (three goals, six assists) in his last 16 games.
“I don’t know about the last 15 games or whatever,” says Fehervary, “but overall I’m just trying to get better in offensive skills, and trying to realize when I can go and when I cannot join the rush. I think that in the time I’m getting more experience, I can get a little bit better, and I think that’s why I’ve got a couple more points. I think with my speed, I can be more proactive, and I’m really happy for it.”
Carbery credits Fehervary’s tireless work ethic for his offensive uptick this season.
“There's evidence there, and I feel completely comfortable saying that he has grown in that area offensively,” says the Caps bench boss. “Whether it's his shot; he's finished a couple, and these aren't just him closing his eyes and [shooting]. These are [examples of] great recognition of where the goaltender is moving, so finishing. His offensive blueline touches, his shooting from up top, his reading when to get up and involved in the rush, all those things I think have improved inside of his game.
“And there's a ton of credit that he deserves, because nobody works harder at their game than Marty Fehervary, on his hands, and on his offensive side. He has been in this league for a long, long time now, and that's the area that has always been like, is there anything more? Is there some untapped potential?
“And this isn't someone that's just like, ‘No, I am who I am.’ This is someone that's working at it every single day. It doesn't come as naturally to him as it does to John Carlson and Jakob Chychrun. But it's not for lack of effort. He is working on that part of his game, and so it's good to see optically, you can see the improvements, and then also for him to get rewarded with the production that you're seeing as well. So good on him, because he's put a ton of work, and he deserves that recognition.”
The Caps have never had a season in which six defensemen have amassed 20 or more points, but with Trevor van Riemsdyk sitting on 17 points (one goal, 16 assists) at the moment, they could pull it off if the veteran blueliner can pull three more points from the season’s final 14 games.
In The Nets – Charlie Lindgren gets the net for the Caps tonight against Philly; he draws his third starting assignment in the four games against the Flyers this season. Early last month in Philly, Lindgren picked up his 50th victory with the Capitals in a 4-3 comeback win over the Flyers. Lindgren enters tonight’s game with four victories in his last six starts. In his last three starts, he is 2-1-0 with a 2.28 GAA and a .908 save pct.
Lifetime against the Flyers, Lindgren is 5-0-2 in seven appearances – all starts – with a shutout, a 1.54 GAA and a .941 save pct.
For Philadelphia, we are uncertain of the identity of tonight’s starter. Samuel Ersson has had the lion’s share of the crease duty for Philly this season, but hulking 6-foot-7 netminder Ivan Fedotov has played more and has played quite well of late.
Ersson is 19-14-3 with a pair of shutouts on the season, along with a 3.02 GAA and an .886 save pct. Lifetime against the Caps, Ersson is 1-3-0 in four appearances – all starts – with a 3.22 GAA and an .866 save pct.
Despite Fedotov’s unimpressive 5-12-3 record on the season, his 2.98 GAA and .887 save pct. are both slightly better than Ersson’s qualitative numbers, and that’s been fueled by his recent strong play. Although he is just 1-4-0 in his last five starts, Fedotov sports a 2.07 GAA and a .920 save pct. over that span.
Among all NHL goaltenders with at least five appearances in March, Fedotov’s feeble goal support of 1.45 goals per game is next-to-last in the NHL; only Ersson’s 1.18 is lower.
Lifetime against Washington, Fedotov is 0-2-0 in two career appearances and starts, with a 4.12 GAA and an .805 save pct.
All Lined Up – Here’s how we believe the Capitals and the Flyers might look on Thursday night in DC:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin 17-Strome, 43-Wilson
24-McMichael, 80-Dubois, 21-Protas
88-Mangiapane, 20-Eller, 16-Raddysh
22-Duhaime, 26-Dowd, 72-Beauvillier
Defensemen
38-Sandin, 74-Carlson
6-Chychrun, 57-van Riemsdyk
42-Fehervary, 3-Roy
Goaltenders
79-Lindgren
48-Thompson
Extras
27-Alexeyev
52-McIlrath
53-Frank
Out/Injured
15-Milano (upper body)
19-Backstrom (hip)
77-Oshie (back)
PHILADELPHIA
Forwards
71-Foerster, 27-Cates, 11-Konecny
74-Tippett, 14-Couturier, 39-Michkov
15-Lycksell, 25-Poehling, 10-Brink
44-Deslauriers, 18-Abols, 22-Pelletier
Defensemen
8-York, 6-Sanheim
24-Seeler, 9-Drysdale
5-Zamula, 36-Andrae
Goaltenders
82-Fedotov
33-Ersson
Extras
None
Out/Injured
19-Hathaway (upper body)
55-Ristolainen (upper body)
94-Ellis (upper body)
