We were just thinking of some old, dead thinkers and writers, and it occurred to us that they might have been speaking once upon a time about a certain local hockey team. For instance…
— Charles Dickens once said, “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” The Caps are 8-0-0 when Alex Ovechkin records at least one assist, “only” 10-2-0 when he records a goal.
— Ben Franklin once said, “Diligence is the mother of good luck.” The Caps are 30-0-4 in the last 34 games that Jay Beagle has recorded a point.
— Pablo Picasso once said, “Youth has no age.” Only three players in the NHL age 36 or older have more goals than the seven that Jason Chimera has – Patrick Marleau (9), Jarome Iginla (8), and Jaromir Jagr (8).
— Fyodor Dostoevsky once said, “Happiness does not lie in happiness, but in the achievement of it.” There have been 31 Russian skaters to dress in NHL games this season. No team has more of them than the Capitals, with four – Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov, and Stanislav Galiev. Those four account for 23 of the 93 goals scored by Russians through Monday’s games (24.7 percent) and 58 of the 258 points (22.8 percent).
— Benjamin Disraeli once said, “A consistent soul believes in destiny, a capricious one in chance.” Washington and Dallas are the only two teams in the league with two winning streaks of five or more games this season.
— Albert Einstein once said, “That which is impenetrable to us really exists.” The Capitals are allowing just 26.7 shots per game through Monday’s games. Over a full season it would be the fewest they allowed since the 26.1 per game they allowed in 1998-1999.
— Sun Tzu once said, “He is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.” Of 430 skaters to dress in 20 or more games this season, only 29 have been on ice for fewer goals against than the trio of Marcus Johansson, Nicklas Backstrom, and Tom Wilson, each of whom have been on ice for nine total goals against.
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, “Girls we love for what they are, young men for what they promise to be.” Of players age 23 and younger, only one has recorded more points so far this season than the 26 Evgeny Kuznetsov has through Monday’s games, Dallas’ John Klingberg (27) in one more game played.