Celebrating early and often was the name of the game for David Steckel, left,
Matt Bradley and the Caps in Denver last night. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Capitals 6, Avalanche 1: Getting off to a good start has certainly not been a problem for the Capitals this season — case in point, the Caps have the most points in the league standings despite barely outscoring the opposition in the second and third periods. Yes, the Caps win by scoring a lot, and scoring a lot early. It’s hardly surprising then, that in their first chance to reclaim some pride for the Eastern Conference by flexing some muscle on a three-game roadie to the West, Washington got off to a good start. Tomas Fleischmann lit the lamp with a determined effort less than two minutes in, collecting a rebound and stuffing it past Avs ‘tender Craig Anderson on the second try to get the Caps on their way to a 6-1 win against Colorado last night. After Fleischmann’s goal, the top line soon doubled the lead, Nick Backstrom hovering a lovely saucer pass to Alex Ovechkin, who then found Mike Knuble. Knuble then applied a very sweet backhand to beat Anderson. Who else got off to a good start? Rookie Kyle Wilson, who got the best birthday present you could get: a debut. But the 25-year-old showed Bruce Boudreau he was a giver too. He assisted on two Fleischmann goals, earning his first point in his first NHL shift. He also displayed breakaway speed and some smarts, nearly creating and scoring another in his second and third shifts. (Who was this Nylander guy again?) Even the goaltending and defense seemed to start well — Jose Theodore rebounded after a couple of poor outings to save 27 of 28 shots on his old teams’ rink.