The Capitals finally have a chance to catch their breath.
After star forward Alex Ovechkin pulled out of this weekend’s NHL All-Star Game, only defenseman Dennis Wideman is headed to Ottawa. The rest of the players will scatter across North America for vacations, visits with family and friends and a respite from a season that has not gone as planned.
After a 9-2 start, the organization that received by far the most plaudits for improving its roster in the offseason had to fire its coach, Bruce Boudreau, when it cratered in November. It hasn’t exactly been a direct ascent under new coach Dale Hunter, either. Washington is 14-10-2 since Hunter took over Nov. 28. Keep up that pace and it will be a 94-point season. That could be good enough to win the Southeast Division. But it also could fall short of what the Caps need to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs at all.
“We’re right in the hunt here,” Washington defenseman Dennis Wideman said. “With the way our division is and the way the [Eastern] Conference is right now, you lose one game, you’re down to eighth or ninth. And you win one game and you’re up to third. It’s added pressure. If you’re looking at it every day, it can be pretty mentally draining.”
There are plenty of teams dealing with injuries, so no one will give the Caps much sympathy. But they are missing top center Nicklas Backstrom (concussion). He hasn’t played since Jan. 3 after taking an elbow to the head, and the team isn’t providing much optimism.
“It’s hard to say,” Washington general manager George McPhee said Tuesday of Backstrom’s status. “We’re working and hoping he’s getting closer.”
Backstrom skated briefly Monday but left the ice after five minutes. He continues to do off-ice conditioning, but it’s impossible to give an accurate timetable for a return until he participates in a full practice with his teammates. The next opportunity for that is Jan. 30, when the players return from the All-Star break for a 2 p.m. practice.
Meanwhile, defenseman Mike Green has slowly begun rehabilitation from his sports hernia surgery. He isn’t expected back until late next month. Ovechkin still has two games left on his three-game suspension for a hit to the head he landed on Pittsburgh defenseman Zbynek Michalek on Sunday.
Yet despite all of that, the Caps are 26-19-3 with 55 standings points. They are tied with the Florida Panthers (22-15-11, 55 points) for the Southeast Division lead but own the No. 3 seed in the conference thanks to six more regulation and overtime wins. But a change can come fast. Lose the first two games out of the break, including Feb. 1 at Florida with Ovechkin still finishing his suspension and Backstrom likely still out, and the Caps will be right back in ninth place. Both seventh-place New Jersey and ninth-place Toronto also have 55 points.
