[23-Feb-2016] Caps fix Yotes; #OviWatch, #HoltBEASTWatch, and Richards Gets One!

Last night, our beloved Caps took on the Phoenix Coyotes and won, 3-2, in regulation. The goals came from Evgeni Kuznetsov (his 18th), Alex Ovechkin (his league-leading 39th), and Mike Richards (his first as a Cap, and first in over a year since being released from the Los Angeles Kings in a rather dickish move on their part, but we'll be happy to have him here!

Richards has been looking better and better over the last several games, and I can't wait to see what he'll do if he's put on a line with Jay Beagle, who is reportedly practicing with the team now, and should be ready to play soon. (Of course, as they are both centers, one would have to take the wing for this to work out, but anything's possible!)

Now for the climb:

#OviWatch

With his 39th goal of the season, Alex Ovechkin now has 514 goals in 816 games played. This puts him in sole possession of the #37 slot all-time. He's just surpassed Jeremy Roenick, and next up is Pierre Turgeon (515G in 1,294 games played.)

33 - Brian Trottier - 524 G, 1279 GP
34 - Pat Verbeek - 522 G, 1424 GP
35 - Dale Hawerchuk - 518 G, 1188 GP
36 - Pierre Turgeon - 515 G, 1294 GP
37 - Alex Ovechkin - 514 G, 816 GP
38 - Jeremy Roenick - 513 G, 1363 GP
39 - Gilbert Perreault - 512 G, 1191 GP
40 - Jean Béliveau - 507 G, 1125 GP
41 - Peter Bondra - 503 G, 1081 GP
42 - Joe Mullen - 502 G, 1062 GP
43 - Lanny McDonald - 500 G, 1111 GP
44 - Glenn Anderson - 498 G, 1129 GP

Born in 1969, Pierre Turgeon played for a number of NHL teams. His start came with the Buffalo Sabres, and he would go on to play for the New York Islanders, Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars, and Colorado Avalanche before retiring from the NHL in September, 2007. 

#HoltBEASTWatch

With his 38th win of the season (in 48 games played), Braden Holtby moves up a notch to #10 in the all-time goal-scoring leaders since the Washington Capitals first played in the NHL. He is the fastest in that time to reach the 38 win plateau. I won't repost the whole list here; it's pretty long... 10 more wins, and the HoltBEAST will catch Brodeur for the single season record of 48 wins. Here's where he is right now, with 24 games left on the schedule.



09 - 1995-96: Chris Osgood (39W in 50GP) J* 
       1998-99: Martin Brodeur (39W in 70GP)
10 - 2015-16: Braden Holtby (38W in 48GP)
       2010-11: Roberto Luongo (38W in 60GP) J*  
       1996-97: Patrick Roy (38W in 62GP) 
       1991-92: Tim Cheveldae (38W in 72GP) 
       1977-78: Donald Edwards (38W in 72GP)
       2003-04: Martin Brodeur (38W in 75GP) J* V*

#Roaring20s

The Caps have seven players not named Alex Ovechkin who have more than 10 goals on the season so far. Those players are:

• Justin Williams (19) - career best is 33 in 2006-07
• Evgeny Kuznetsov (18) - already his career best (11 last season)
• Nicklas Backstrom (17) - career best is 33 in 2009-10
• TJ Oshie (17) - career best is 21 in 2013-14
• Jason Chimera (16) - career best is 20 in 2011-12
• Marcus Johansson (14) - career best is 20 in 2014-15
• Andre Burakovsky (12) - already his career best (9 last season)

It is not inconceivable that many of these players will reach the 20 goal plateau in the 24 games left on the season. I believe we will see Oshie, Chimera, and possibly Johansson put up career numbers this year. 

#TeamWatch

How good are these Washington Capitals? At 44 wins in 58 games played, the Caps are already the 10th-best Washington Capitals team ever. They are the fastest team in NHL history to the 44 win plateau. The 2009-10 Caps, Presidents Trophy winners, had 54 wins in 82 games. This year's Caps have another 24 games to come up with 10 wins to  tie that record. 

All-time, this year's Capitals sit at #210. All-time. Everyone ahead of them has played a full season's worth of games. And they're #210 out of 1,022.

That #1,022 team? The 1974-75 Caps (8-67-5). 

I would love to see them take the #1 spot this year. The 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings had 62 wins in 82 games. The Caps are winning 3/4 of their games so far this season... If they keep it up?

44 + (24*.75) = 62. It's possible. 

#TradingSpaces

With the NHL trade deadline less than a week away, all eyes are on GM Brian MacLellan... will he trade something, or will he stand pat? Enquiring Minds want to know... (I am personally hoping he does nothing; we have a good balance now. Why mess with it?)