{"id":451727,"date":"2026-02-09T01:10:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T01:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/451727\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T01:10:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T01:10:07","slug":"capitals-week-ahead-schedule-storylines-olympic-break-edition-the-hockey-writers-washington-capitals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/451727\/","title":{"rendered":"Capitals Week Ahead: Schedule & Storylines – Olympic Break Edition – The Hockey Writers – Washington Capitals"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NHL entered its Olympic Break after games concluded on Feb. 5. The league will remain paused until Feb. 25 to accommodate the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy.<\/p>\n

The Playoff Bubble Anxiety<\/p>\n

As the NHL hits the pause button, the Washington Capitals find themselves in a precarious position. As of the break (Feb. 5), they are sitting roughly four points<\/a> outside of a wild card spot. The team faced a \u201csprint to the break\u201d that included a critical loss to the Philadelphia Flyers (4-2) on Feb. 3, complicating their path. This 17-day layoff will be filled with scoreboard watching and anxiety about whether they can generate enough momentum upon returning to catch the Flyers or New York Islanders in the Metropolitan Division race.<\/p>\n

Team Canada\u2019s Capitals Contingent<\/p>\n

For the first time in franchise history, the Capitals have players representing Team Canada at the Olympics.<\/p>\n

Tom Wilson made the roster as a power forward, recognized for his ability to play heavy minutes and kill penalties. He is currently leading the Capitals in goals this season (23 goals as of Feb. 3).<\/p>\n

Logan Thompson was selected as one of Canada\u2019s goaltenders<\/a>. He will be looking to prove he belongs on the international stage.<\/p>\n

The \u201cOvechkin Rest\u201d Factor<\/p>\n

Alex Ovechkin will not be participating in the Olympics due to the IIHF\u2019s continued ban on Russia and Belarus from international competition. While disappointing for fans wanting to see him on the world stage, this is a massive potential benefit for the Capitals. The 40-year-old captain, who has 22 goals this season<\/a>, now gets over two weeks of rest. This recovery time could be the deciding factor in whether he has the legs to carry Washington back into the playoff picture in March and April.<\/p>\n

Martin Feh\u00e9rv\u00e1ry\u2019s Heavy Workload<\/p>\n

Defenseman Martin Feh\u00e9rv\u00e1ry will be a cornerstone for Team Slovakia<\/a>. Unlike on the Capitals, where he plays a specific shutdown role, he will likely be asked to play massive minutes in all situations for Slovakia. Caps management will be watching closely, hoping he returns healthy and not burnt out for the final stretch of the NHL season.<\/p>\n

Related \u2013 Guide to the 2026 Winter Olympics Men\u2019s Hockey Tournament<\/a><\/p>\n

Capitals Players Olympic Schedule this week<\/p>\n

DateTime (ET)MatchupCapitals Players InvolvedWed, Feb. 1110:40 AMSlovakia vs. FinlandMartin Feh\u00e9rv\u00e1ry (SVK)Thu, Feb. 1210:40 AMCanada vs. CzechiaTom Wilson, Logan Thompson (CAN)Fri, Feb. 136:10 AMSlovakia vs. ItalyMartin Feh\u00e9rv\u00e1ry (SVK)Fri, Feb. 133:10 PMCanada vs. SwitzerlandTom Wilson, Logan Thompson (CAN)Sat, Feb. 146:10 AMSlovakia vs. SwedenMartin Feh\u00e9rv\u00e1ry (SVK)Sun, Feb. 1510:40 AMCanada vs. FranceTom Wilson, Logan Thompson (CAN)<\/p>\n

AI tools were used to support the creation or distribution of this content, however, it has been carefully edited and fact-checked by a member of The Hockey Writers editorial team. For more information on our use of AI, please visit our Editorial Standards<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NHL entered its Olympic Break after games concluded on Feb. 5. The league will remain paused until…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451728,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5114],"tags":[3189,426,191,5,5926,4,280,190,109,5222],"class_list":{"0":"post-451727","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-capitals","8":"tag-2026-winter-olympics","9":"tag-alex-ovechkin","10":"tag-capitals","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-martin-fehervary","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-tom-wilson","15":"tag-washington","16":"tag-washington-capitals","17":"tag-washingtoncapitals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116038010211460640","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}