.583 – The Capitals’ points percentage on Thanksgiving Eve since the start of the franchise back in 1974. The Caps have played the night before Thanksgiving 42 times in their history (the only exceptions being lockout seasons of 1995, 2004, and 2012) and have compiled a record of 20-13-9, outscoring opponents 143-140 over that span. They’ve even played twice on Thanksgiving, both times as the second half of a back-to-back – once in 1997 and then 20 years earlier in the franchise’s infancy.
Since the start of the Alex Ovechkin era in 2005, the Caps are 7-3-2 in these pre-holiday games and have won three in a row. Their most frequent opponent has been the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets franchise, having faced some variation of that team five times in the last 11 seasons alone, followed by Boston and Ottawa (four apiece).
They’ve faced tonight’s opponent, the Blackhawks, two times on Thanksgiving Eve – one loss, one overtime tie – but this will mark their first pre-Turkey Day dance with Chicago since 1983.