The Washington Capitals are back in a familiar spot from last season.
After their blowout 7-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night, the Capitals currently sit atop both the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference standings.
NHL’s Eastern Conference standings after 12/3 games
Screenshot: NHL.com
Washington has a two-point lead over the Carolina Hurricanes (34) and the Tampa Bay Lightning (34) in the East. The Hurricanes, however, hold three games in hand on the Capitals, and the Lightning have two.
The Capitals’ rise up the rankings comes after they had the fewest standings points in the conference 12 games into the season.
The Capitals are riding a six-game winning streak and have given up two or fewer goals in five of those six wins. In their last 10 games, the team is 9-1-0, with their only loss coming to the Lightning on November 22.
Almost all of Washington’s damage this season has come in regulation, as they only have one overtime or shootout victory. The team’s 16 regulation wins rank second in the NHL, only to the seemingly unbeatable Colorado Avalanche (18) and their 19-1-6 record.
In the overall league standings, the Capitals are currently third behind the Avalanche and Dallas Stars (18-5-5). However, their point percentage (.643) is sixth, trailing the Avalanche (.846), Stars (.732), Hurricanes (.680), Lightning (.654), and Minnesota Wild (.643).
The Capitals are on pace for 105 standings points, which would be just six fewer than last year’s Caps team that finished atop the Eastern Conference. They haven’t recorded 100-plus standings points in back-to-back seasons since the 2017-18 (105) and 2018-19 (104) campaigns.
The team has just one game left on their current four-game road trip, facing the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night. The Capitals have won five games in a row against the Ducks and haven’t lost in Anaheim since November 16, 2021.