The Washington Capitals are just escape artists at this point of the season. On Sunday, they managed to hang on for most of the game before Connor McMichael tipped in a goal past Joey Daccord, leading to a 4-2 victory over the visiting Seattle Kraken. 

On Friday, they managed to hold on through a slow start enroute to a 5-2 win against Detroit. And before that, a Wednesday visit to Madison Square Garden required a third period comeback from a slow start (the Pierre-Luc Dubois early goal notwithstanding) against the Rangers for the 3-2 OT win. 

There are many, many more examples in the last couple of months like this for Washington, and it’s a trend we’ve watched the Capitals slowly devolve into. The beginning of the season didn’t look like this, did it? Have the Caps been playing with fire all season like this? 

And is there any reason to even worry too much? After all, they are still getting wins. They’ve sat atop the Metro division for nearly the entire season, and the Eastern conference for a couple of months now. They’re even trading jabs with the league-best Winnipeg Jets for the top spot in the league (they are currently tied in points, but have a better winning percentage than Winnipeg). 

Before anything else, I want to give a ton of credit to Spencer Carbery and the rest of the coaching staff for the way they’ve managed to take a team that had trouble at both ends of the ice last season, retooled with some massive new additions, and make them the team to beat all season in the East. Expectations before the season started were definitely uncertain, but we see what kind of success is capable of now. 

The players themselves obviously deserve a ton of credit as well. It is obvious watching this team on and off the ice, it’s obvious this is a team that loves playing with each other, and playing for each other. This kind of chemistry isn’t easy to come by over the course of years, let alone overnight (just ask Vancouver), and that speaks volumes of the players, the leadership group, and the team as a whole for building an organizational culture that players buy into with ease and want to be part of. 

If you look back through the season’s advanced stats at the beginning, you’ll find a Capitals team that managed to play much more consistent hockey, but still didn’t consistently put together 60-minute games. Which is tough for any team to do every night, so I don’t fault them for it. 

Earlier in the season, I wrote on multiple occasions of the Capitals strong play in the first and third periods of many games, with the second period tending to be the weaker period for them. The difference now however is that while the Capitals weren’t giving away points to their opponents nearly as much early in the season, the poor starts are starting to cost the team games. It goes without saying that holding onto momentum through a rough second period is easier than it is to steal momentum from a team who comes out dominating in the first period (and sometimes into the second). 

On Sunday, Washington frankly just didn’t play well, and really had no business winning the game at all. Seattle is a team that has struggled all season, and they paid the price for letting a good team like Washington stick around in the game. But aside from a quick outburst in the second period and the McMichael tip-in in the third, Seattle spent large portions of the game running the show. 

Washington finished the game with a lackluster 39.06% Corsi-for rating, and were out chanced 32-26 by the Kraken. Only in the third period did Washington have more high-danger chances as well (7 to Seattle’s 6), meaning Washington simply made the most of their chances when they got them. 

In his postgame remarks, Carbery noted that he appreciated the team’s ability to grind through tough games and get wins, but even noted that the slow starts need to be addressed. 

But still he mentioned the team’s “character” and ability to find ways to win. And he’s right- a lot of credit goes to the team’s ability to get through the adversity and win even when they look like they’re down and out. 

But we’re in March now, and teams on the fringe are going to be looking to grind their own way into the playoffs. The last few games (Kraken aside) have been against teams trying to claw their way to the dance. And as the season finishes, there are still multiple games against teams who are currently sitting trying to make their case for a playoff spot. But even more dangerous are the teams like Anaheim or San Jose- teams that are nowhere near the playoffs, but are salivating at the chance to play spoiler against teams trying to build their momentum now for the showdown in April. 

Then there’s the Ovechkin factor. As Alex Ovechkin continues to make his way to the goal record, teams will push back more and more so they aren’t listed in the history books as the team he scored on for the record. No team will want to be that team you see in the background as Ovechkin and the team celebrate No. 895.

I have faith in Spencer Carbery and the rest of the staff. And I have faith in the players. This is a team that has a winning culture and a culture players are excited to be part of. And this season has potential to be very special for Caps fans for several reasons. Carbery is a Jack Adams candidate, at this point, and should be a strong contender for the award after the turnaround from last season. 

I do believe this team figures themselves out and finds a way to get back to starting their games “on time.” They’ve proven to us in the past that they can do this. 

But they cannot rely on their ability to grind out a game after a slow start much longer. Because at this point, every team with designs of hoisting the Stanley Cup in June are doing that very same thing. Washington has the leadership, skill, and talent to be better.