Capitals’ Leonard gets ‘better and better’ amid hot start

The Capitals are scoring goals in bunches as they jumped to a 5-2 start to the NHL season. But for the first time in years, those successful shots aren’t coming from the stick of Alex Ovechkin. Instead, a group of fresh faces leads the way for Washington.

Ovechkin has scored just one goal through the Capitals’ first seven games. The now-40-year-old scored at least two goals in every seven-game stretch last season as he completed “The Great Chase,” passing Wayne Gretzky for the NHL’s career goals record. 

The early-season lack of production is only a small sample. Ovehckin has had several scoring opportunities that fell just short as he has posted four assists, tied for third on the team. He hasn’t stopped taking shots at the net — 16 so far this season, including a few that were tipped into the net by teammates. 

The Capitals haven’t needed Ovechkin to find the net to win — he’s had plenty of help. Longtime teammate Tom Wilson leads Washington with four goals, tied with 24-year-old forward Aliaksei Protas. A pair of rising stars — defenseman Jakob Chychrun and rookie winger Ryan Leonard — trail them with three goals each. 

Wilson, Protas and Chychrun are continuing their strong performances from last season after they each set career highs in goals and assists. Leonard, who has hit the ground running in his first autumn as a professional, is more of a surprise. 

The former first-round pick joined the Capitals late last season, acquiring his first taste of NHL action as Washington prepared for a postseason run. That initial stretch was about getting comfortable as he adjusted to the speed of the professional level. 

The highly-touted rookie scored just one goal — an empty-netter — in 17 appearances last season. The 20-year-old has tripled that total in half the time this year. 

“It’s great. Playing with great players, so a lot of credit to them, but I definitely feel a lot better,” Leonard said this week, heaping praise on his linemate: the slightly older Protas. “Each and every shift, get better and better.”

Protas offers a blueprint for Leonard to follow. The pair are wildly different players — Protas’ 6-foot-6-inch frame and defense prominence are hard to replicate — but the Belarusian is proof of the growth possibilities in Washington. 

Protas scored just 13 goals in his first 169 NHL games. But last year, something clicked. The former third-round pick scored 30 goals in 76 appearances, establishing himself as a cornerstone piece of the Capitals’ post-Ovechkin plans. 

Though it’s early in his first full season, Leonard is showing similar flashes of potential. The Boston College product scored in each of his last two games, becoming the youngest Capital to complete that feat since Nicklas Backstrom did it in 2008. 

“These young guys, they’ve got some good wrist flexion. They really can get around the puck,” defenseman John Carlson said after Tuesday’s win over the Seattle Kraken. “It’s fun to watch, it’s tough to defend. If he keeps doing that, there’s going to be some good things happening for him.”

The goals are just part of the “really elite things” Leonard has shown to start the year, according to Capitals coach Spencer Carbery.

“Whether it’s carrying a puck through the neutral zone, whether it’s shooting a puck in the net, whether it’s attacking one-on-one and ringing one off the bar,” Carbery said. “Those are unique to not his skillset, but just how good of a hockey player he is at this level. And he can do things that other guys can’t.”

The youngest Capital on the roster is far from perfect, though. The coaching staff doesn’t question whether or not he’ll continue to improve, but they’re curious how quickly he’ll develop.

“Sooner or later, in game 40 or 50 or game 70, you’ll start to get to a point — or maybe it’ll take a couple years — to be that fully, fully polished NHL player,” Carbery said. “And then you combine that with the skill set that he has, and he makes a few more of those plays, and you’re a good player.”

The Capitals return to action in Columbus against the Blue Jackets on Friday night.