“It was a flood of goals”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the Washington Capitals prepared for an early evening game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, head coach Spencer Carbery stressed the importance of a strong start after an off day – especially against a Blue Jackets team that had played a game the night before .

“Our start will be really important, especially because we took the day off yesterday to rest and recover,” he said before the game. “So it can’t be a slow start for us tonight.”

Well, Carbery definitely got what he wanted. The Capitals stormed out of the gate with their best first period in more than a decade, scoring five goals on their first seven shots en route to a 7-2 victory Aliaksei Protas, Connor McMichael, Andrew Mangiapane, Alex OvechkinAnd Nic Dowd Each scored against Blue Jackets goaltender Daniil Tarasov.

Pro Capitals PRWashington last scored five or more goals in the first frame on March 3, 2008.

“It was a flurry of goals,” John Carlson said after the win.

The Capitals wasted no time and got to work. They shot twice in three shifts and scored both times, taking a 2-0 lead in just 1:42. They scored again less than six minutes later, scoring three times before Columbus put a single shot into the net.

Twice the Caps scored back-to-back goals within a minute: McMichael scored just 46 seconds after Protas broke the ice, while Ovechkin and Dowd's goals came just 24 seconds apart. Every line scored at least one goal and the Caps finished the quarter with an incredible shooting percentage of 62.5.

According to Stathead Hockey, Saturday's explosive start marked the ninth time in the Ovechkin era that the Caps have scored five or more goals in a single period, and just the third time in that span that they accomplished that feat in the first 20 minutes says Stathead Hockey.

“Honestly, it was pretty crazy,” said Connor McMichael, who scored 1:42 into the game. “I can't remember the last time I was in a situation like this. But it felt really good. I think we want to get off to a good start. After they suffered a loss last night, we knew they would come out. I thought we just came out better. We were there everywhere. Didn't give them any time or space. Luckily a few players dropped the game early and we were able to just take control of the game from there.”

Carbery, on the other hand, couldn't be happier with what he saw from his team in the first half.

“That's exactly what we talked about,” he said after the game, later adding: “We really wanted to pay attention to our start.” That happens most nights, but I think that was particularly emphasized today. And man, we started on time. And our execution was as good as I’ve seen in a year and a half.”

The flood of goals came from all sides of the lineup, with 11 different players scoring a point in the first 20 minutes. Dylan Strome, who had an assist in the first period and a goal of his own late in the third period, noted how the diversity of scorers gave the entire team confidence, especially against a Columbus Blue Jackets team that beat its first 10 opponents by 11 :5 had exceeded in the first 20 minutes.

“Carbs told us before the game that they were a good starting team and had outscored some teams in the first nine or 10 games,” he said. “It felt like we just made a good jump. It was nice to get the first turning point of the game in the first minute and we just kept going from there.

“We're obviously having a lot of fun scoring goals at the moment. Insults come from all sides. Nice to see everyone playing along in the first third. Every line had a destination. It makes you feel good.”

Although they're hardly used to five-goal periods, the Capitals were one of the league's most offensive teams early in the season. With an average of 4.4 goals per game, the Caps rank third behind only the Winnipeg Jets (5.2) and Vegas Golden Knights (4.55), while they rank seventh in the NHL with 2.9 goals conceded per game .

This offensive dominance is in stark contrast to last season, when the Capitals struggled to score multiple goals and never reached the seven-goal mark. In 82 games during the 2023-24 season, Washington scored five or more goals just ten times. In just 10 games this season, they have done it five times so far.

However, the Capitals won't have long to celebrate Saturday's milestone win. After traveling to Raleigh on Saturday night, they will face an impressive Carolina Hurricanes team in the second half of back-to-back games looking to pick up their ninth win of the season.