With just ten games into the 2025-26 season, the Washington Capitals are still hard to pin down. After a surprisingly successful 2024-25 campaign that found them finishing first in the Metropolitan Division, many critics wrote them off as a fluke and predicted a sharp drop-off once the buzz wore off from Alexander Ovechkin’s history-making 895th goal.
At 6-4-0 in their first ten games, and sitting in the middle of a seemingly revitalized Metro Division, there are still no easy answers. Their defense has been outstanding this season, but offensive production has been inconsistent, and if not for Logan Thompson’s stellar play in net to start the season, the record would look rather different.
Questions abound regarding the Capitals. Are they a good team that is inconsistent, a little banged up, and not getting bounces, or are they a team that overachieved last season, fueled by their zeal for their captain to make history?
Lack of Goal Scoring in October
The Capitals are ranked toward the bottom of the league in goals per game, averaging 2.7. Last season, they averaged 3.49 goals per game, ranked second in the NHL.
Tom Wilson leads the team with five goals and 11 points to start the season. He is followed by Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas who have nine and eight points, respectively. Ovechkin has two goals and five assists on the season, a slow start by his standards. Defensemen John Carlson (two goals and five assists) and Jakob Chychrun (three goals and three assists) have contributed significantly on the scoring front as well.
The Capitals rank ninth in the NHL for shots on goal, but 23rd overall for shooting percentage. With the exception of Wilson, who is shooting at just under 23%, Capitals forwards have had a hard time finding the back of the net. Last season, the top six all had elevated shooting percentages, with Strome and Wilson having career years.
Related: Analyzing the Performances of Capitals’ Newcomers So Far
The power play has been less than impressive, ranked 21st in the NHL at 18.8%. Last season, the Capitals also started slowly on the power play, scoring only two goals on their first 18 chances. They improved over the course of the season, finishing at 13th overall with a 23.5% success rate.
Injuries have also been a factor for the forward group, with Ovechkin getting dinged up in camp and Pierre-Luc Dubois and Strome missing games along the way. Head coach Spencer Carbery has been forced to swap several players in and out of the top six, with Connor McMichael and rookie Ryan Leonard getting opportunities for more minutes.
Lack of Consistency on the Third Line
For the top six, worries about offensive production are premature. Pucks will start finding the back of the net and shooting percentages should rise. But for the bottom six, especially the third line, consistency has been elusive. Hendrix Lapierre has been an enigma, looking great at times and seeming to be lost at others. He’s been moved off center to the wing, and despite occasionally showing off his explosive speed, hasn’t been able to contribute much. Anthony Beauvillier has been snake-bitten, getting high-danger scoring chances, but has only been able to add one goal and one assist to his tally.
The fourth line of Nic Dowd, Brandon Duhaime, and Justin Sourdif has been dependable to start the season. Acquired from the Florida Panthers this summer, Sourdif has been a welcome addition to the line, adding speed and versatility to the lineup.
Defense Leads the Way
The Capitals are leading the NHL with a stingy 2.2 goals per game average. If you remove the anomalous 7-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 25, that’s an impressive performance. They’ve allowed the second-fewest shots on goal (194) despite blocking the fewest number of shots in the league.
Carlson and Chychrun have led the defense core in ice time and have been impactful offensively. Chychrun in particular has shown a keen desire to jump into the rush and push deep into the offensive zone. Martin Fehervary has looked his old self this season, having successfully recovered from a nagging injury that saw him sidelined for much of the Capitals’ postseason. The Slovak defender currently leads the team in hits (19) and is second in blocked shots (18).
After recovering from an upper-body injury early in the year, Matt Roy has been solid in his own zone, logging important minutes on the team’s second pairing and leading the team in blocked shots. Rasmus Sandin was averaging just over 19 minutes of ice time per game before being added to the injured reserve list on Oct. 27. The top four defenders bring a strong balance of offensive skill in Carlson and Chychrun with defensive responsibility and physicality from Fehervary and Roy. Declan Chisholm, acquired from the Minnesota Wild in the summer, has been a solid addition to the third pair as well.
With the recent dismissal of Capitals’ assistant coach Mitch Love following a league investigation, Patrick Wellar, long-time Hershey Bears assistant and 2002 Capitals draft pick, was given the role of interim assistant coach. He’s made a good case for himself to stay in the position.
Goaltending Is Everything
Thompson leads the NHL with a 1.44 goals-against average (GAA) and a .939 save percentage (SV%). He has established himself as the number one goaltender in Washington and has made a strong case as to why Team Canada needs him on the roster at the Winter Olympics in Milan. He is currently riding a streak of four games where he has only allowed one goal.
Thompson has been exceptional, and his defensive teammates, whose numbers are etched on the back of the mask he wears in road games, have put him in a position to succeed. His goaltending partner, Charlie Lindgren, started the season with a strong showing, making 35 saves and shutting out the New York Rangers on Oct. 12, but in his last two starts against the Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators, he has not looked sharp, allowing 11 goals in the two games.
Lindgren should get back on track, but the Capitals will live and die by Thompson’s success. If he stays healthy, the Capitals will continue to be in close games. An injury could mean disaster for this team, so his minutes need to be closely watched, as does his overall health.
The Capitals need to find run support for their superstar goaltender. The top-six forward group should come along production-wise, so long as Strome and Dubois, two keys to last season’s success, can stay healthy. Ryan Leonard has been as good as expected, and although young and still unseasoned, has provided a good spark. Something needs to change on the third line, as Carbery can’t hide those minutes over a long season without it seriously impacting the team. The line drove some of the play in the team’s 1-0 loss to the Dallas Stars on Oct. 28, but more is needed. The Capitals are a good team, and last season was not a fluke, but the pieces need to come together and come together fast, or some changes may be needed in the middle of the lineup.
