The Caps are 9-3 so far.
One of the 3 losses was opening night, when they were facing a team who had already played three games and after they had a week-long gap from their last exhibition game.
Another of the 3 losses was the exact opposite situation: Back end of a back-to-back, with travel, on the road against a top team who had last played 3 nights earlier.
The other loss, the shutout against Tampa, was the only one without the back story of a schedule issue.
Now, this isn't meant to excuse anything. The schedule is what it is, and all teams have to deal with forced handicaps due to the schedule at certain times during the season. But seeing the schedule for what it is makes the Caps' start all that much more impressive.
As for Ovechkin, he is coming up on halfway through what might be the one hot streak he needs in order to become a prohibitive favorite to overtake Gretzky.