For the first two days of the NHL season, the Washington Capitals could only watch as most of their competitors played their season openers, and in some cases even got two games in. But that extra time, especially after a condensed training camp and shortened preseason slate, may have been exactly what the Capitals needed.
Read more In Kardashian world, youth sports parents are even more insufferable
On Friday, when it was finally their turn to kick off their campaign, the Capitals came out firing, beating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2. After narrowly missing out on making the playoffs before, the Capitals started off this season with high expectations and on a winning note.
“All the additions, the new mix of guys, you are confident, you feel like we’ve got a really good team here and a lot of good players, we made some moves to bring in some significant guys this offseason, but you still don’t know how it’s going to look when the pick drops,” Coach Spencer Carbery told reporters. “So I just think starting on the road in Carolina against a really good team, playing well and showing that we’re capable of being a really good hockey team this year.”
Washington spent the offseason adding on size, speed and power to try to make up for their shortcomings last season. They made four offseason additions, acquiring forwards Alex Tuch and Jordan Kyrou in trades and signing forward Boone Jenner and defenseman Vincent Desharnais.
But they also had return veterans, most notably Alex Ovechkin, who last season became the NHL’s all-time goal scorer. He’s back for his 22nd season at 41 years old. And with all that experience comes a sprinkle of young talent, with Ovechkin sharing a line with Ryan Leonard, who, at just 21, signed an eight-year extension last month.
On paper, the Capitals have one of the deepest teams they have had since they won the Stanley Cup in 2018. There is no way to know, though, how that will actually translate on ice. But if Friday is any indicator how the next 83 games will go, they are set up well to make a deep run.
The Hurricanes weren’t an easy first opponent, especially on the road. Carolina retained much of the same core from last season, when they won the Stanley Cup. They had also already played one game, falling to the Florida Panthers, 1-0, in overtime, giving them extra motivation as they faced their division opponents on Friday.
None of that fazed the Capitals. Tuch scored the first goal of the season, an empty-netter six minutes into the first period. It’s exactly what they hoped Tuch would do when they acquired him from the Buffalo Sabres in June for a 2027 third-round draft pick and forward David Kämpf. Tuch has scored more than 30 goals in back-to-back seasons.
Five minutes later, it was a rookie who extended the Capitals’ lead. Cole Hutson, with an assist from fellow rookie Ilya Protas, scored his first goal of the season to give the Capitals a 2-0 lead.
Read more L.A. Olympics chief Casey Wasserman presses on after Epstein fallout
Tuch added on another goal later in the first period, his 20th multigoal game of his career, as the Capitals went into the first intermission up 3-0. He’s the fifth player to score two or more goals in their Capitals debut.
“Honestly, it was just good we got the two points tonight,” Tuch told Monumental Sports Network. “I thought it was a great team win. I thought we came out, we played really well. … Even when they brought the energy we were able to, I guess, keep them out of the net.”
In the second period, on a power play after a slashing penalty on Charles-Alexis Legault, Jakob Chychrun fired through traffic to keep the scoring going for the Capitals.
The Hurricanes would get one back later in the period, with Sebastian Aho scoring on the power play for the Hurricanes, but Leonard responded eight seconds later with a goal of his own to give the Capitals a four-goal lead again.
“That goal was the backbreaker,” Carbery told reporters. “That was the moment there because they had some momentum there and next thing you know it’s 4-1.”
In the third period, the Hurricanes added on their second goal from K’Andre Miller to cut the Capitals’ deficit to three, but Washington was able to hold on to take the win.
It wasn’t the cleanest game — the Capitals had six penalties — but they took advantage of opportunities and showed no signs of a lack of chemistry, the new additions mixing in seamlessly. Goaltender Logan Thompson had 31 saves.
With one challenge complete, the Capitals now head to Tampa to face the Lightning on Saturday, the first time in team history they have started the season with back-to-back road games.
Read more After ‘special’ season, the Mystics will enter 2027 with lofty expectations
