November 2 against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Capital One Arena

Time: 5:00 p.m.

TV: MNMT

Radio: 106.7 Le Fan, Caps Radio 24/7

Columbus Blue Jackets (5-4-1)

Washington Capitals (7-2-0)

Riding a five-game home winning streak, the Caps wrap up a three-game home stretch Saturday afternoon when they take on Columbus in the first of four Metro Division matchups this season. Saturday’s game also kicks off a back-to-back weekend series for Washington, which will travel to Raleigh shortly after facing the Jackets. The Caps face Carolina for the first time this season on Sunday afternoon in the capital of North Carolina.

Three weeks into the 2024-25 season and heading into the November 15 games, things are looking pretty rosy for the Capitals. They’ve won seven of nine games in October and look like a much different team than the one that launched into the playoffs in the final seconds of the 23-24 regular-season finale last April.

While last season’s Caps struggled to score – especially early in the season – this year’s model consistently filled the nets early; they have scored four or more goals in six of their first nine games. The Caps have already scored three goals in a period seven times this season; they needed 25 games to achieve the same feat in 23-24.

“We’re generating more,” Caps coach Spencer Carbery said of the offense’s telling uptick. “Our (offensive) zone time is significantly higher than last year, so we’re trying to threaten the net more. We’re doing a lot of things that lead to more shots and more (offensive) zone time – which ultimately, if you continue to accumulate that, you’re going to generate scoring chances and hopefully, to end. And we managed to do it.

This is indeed the case. In nine games last season, the Caps scored 17 goals, including just 10 at 5v5. This season, they have scored 37 goals in their first nine games (their average of 4.11 per game puts them tied for the fourth in the NHL) and 26 of them were scored at 5-on-5 and 29 were tied.

It’s been over 30 years since an NHL team increased its previous season’s goal production by 20 goals or more in just nine games in a season. In 1992-93, three different teams achieved the trick in the same season: Boston, Buffalo and Quebec.

“So far we’ve been pretty consistent,” said Caps winger Tom Wilson. “And in this League, consistency is huge – that’s everything. After you lose a match, you have to make sure you get back on the horse and start doing the right things again, succeed in the next match and keep moving forward.

The Caps have managed to do that so far. After losing their first match on October 12, they racked up five wins before tasting defeat again. After Thursday’s 6-3 victory against the Canadiens, the Caps have now accumulated two victories since suffering their second loss.

Six different Caps scored in the win over Montreal, including Wilson and Alex Ovechkin. Wilson’s goal ended Washington’s six-game power play drought and was part of Gordie Howe’s first career hat trick in his 763rd NHL regular season game. Ovechkin’s career goal tally rose to 858, putting him 37 more than Wayne Gretzky (894) for the all-time NHL record.

Washington’s suppression of fire also continued; the Caps have had fewer than 20 shots on goal in consecutive games; this is the first time they have done so in just over nine years (October 17-20, 2015). The Capitals held the opposition to fewer than 20 shots on goal three times in five games for the first time since October 9-17, 2003.

Only once in franchise history have the Caps managed to string three consecutive games together by limiting the opposition to fewer than 20 shots on goal. This happened February 2-7, 1995, at the start of the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season.

Montreal only managed 16 shots at the Washington net on Thursday, and despite more than 10 minutes of power play during the game, the Habs only put three pucks on Caps goaltender Charlie Lindgren with the advantage of the man.

“They stressed us out,” Carbery said of the Canadiens’ power play. “And give us credit, whether it was a last-second stick or a shot block from one of our guys to prevent the shot.”

The Capitals will meet Columbus at the end of a consecutive game streak. The Jackets hosted Winnipeg in the finale of a three-game homestand Friday, and Saturday’s district game opens a five-game road trip for Columbus. The Jackets head west after Saturday’s game; they will spend the next week playing in California and Seattle.

Friday night in Columbus, the Jackets looked to do what Washington is aiming for Saturday, which is to complete a three-game home sweep. After alternating losses and victories in the first seven games of the season, the Blue Jackets beat the Oilers 6-1 on Monday and blanked the Islanders 2-0 on Wednesday.

The high-flying Jets proved too much for the Blue Jackets to handle on Friday; Winnipeg improved to 10-1-0 on the season with a 6-2 victory. Nikolaj Ehlers had a hat trick and four points to pace the Jets’ offense, which produced two goals in each period.

Like the Capitals, Columbus has had a busy home schedule early on and has only played three road games (1-1-1) so far this season.