Capitals raced up the standings from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day

Capitals raced up standings from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

It is amazing how a single month of winning hockey can completely turn a season around.

The Capitals headed into 2023 in much better shape after a December to remember. As the month of November concluded things were just not clicking for a team that was not in a playoff position.

As December approached, head coach Peter Laviolette met with his Capitals’ team leaders to discuss how staying afloat with a sub-.500 record was not going to get the job done. It was either going to be now or never for a team in desperate need of wins.

The Capitals had to deal with a losing record through the first two months of the season. But a strong 2-1-1 finish to a west coast road trip was followed by a 4-1 win over the Seattle Kraken on Dec. 9 that pushed the Capitals over the .500 mark for the first time since Nov. 1.

Laviolette’s meeting must have sparked a resurgence in the Capitals locker room, as they looked like an entirely different team in the month of December finishing with a 11-2-2 record. Here are three major takeaways that led to their success.

The Great 8 leading the way

Alexander Ovechkin had himself a great December with all the feats he accomplished. The captain led the team in points (22) and goals (13), helping cement himself in the NHL history books when he passed Gordie Howe for second on the all-time goals scoring list.

Ovechkin was awarded with the First Star of the Month for his exceptional play in December. This was an impressive 10th time Ovechkin has received that honor in his career. His impressive numbers not only showed up in the stat sheet, but it also led to wins for the Capitals.

With teams having to keep a close eye on Ovechkin, it has proven vital to the Capitals offense, leading to opportunities for other players to have scoring chances. The Ovechkin-Dylan Strome-Conor Sheary line found a lot of success in no small part due to the Great…