No, it’s not just you; the Washington Capitals really are accomplishing special things.
In some ways, Washington’s 3-2 win against the Arizona Coyotes was run-of-the-mill.
Braden Holtby padded his Vezina Trophy resume (yawn). The Capitals won their fourth game in a row (yawn). Alex Ovechkin continued to do awesome things (tries to force a yawn).
All joking aside, this consistent excellence is exciting, though, of course.
While every other division is in play, the Capitals’ Metropolitan Division peers are fading from their rear-view mirrors. Even the Chicago Blackhawks lag behind Washington at second place, as the Capitals’ 92 standings points leave them 11 points ahead of the defending champions.
In fact, this 44-10-4 start is the stuff of (admittedly rather specific) NHL history:
The @washcaps (44-10-4, 92 points) are 1st team in NHL history to win 44 of its 1st 58 games in a season. #ARIvsWSH pic.twitter.com/Z94aYo6fGy
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 23, 2016
Ovechkin now has 18 goals in his past 18 games, so the Capitals’ captain and his team are ahead of the pack in a way that almost seems unthinkable in this age of parity.
And, hey, Mike Richards shows that there are some fresh stories beyond “Get this, Washington keeps winning.”