When .... It's ...

Helloooo out there fellow Caps fans!  Today we're going to play the "when ... it's ..." game in honor of the slight roller coaster we Caps fans have been on the past couple weeks.  From December 4th through January 7th the riding the "Caps Train" was all honey and butter, really great fun like listening to Aretha Franklin belt out her best tunes on Soul Train in the 70's.  But then starting with the Caps-Flyers game on January 8th, even though the "four game losing streak" didn't start till a week later on January 16th in Smashville, watching the Caps, while still mostly fun for us fans, starting to get to be a bit of an emotional roller coaster.  Games were tight and the play by the Caps was at times, tentative so we started to get a bit tense and at times "reactive" - perhaps we were really channeling the teams own feelings from closer to "real time" then they or we would have preferred.  But as the team heads into tomorrow's game in Montreal to take on the once again, very "hot" Montreal Canadiens, the Caps are seemingly back to riding a wave of confidence after empathically breaking their recent loosing streak and besting the Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 4-0 on the friendly tide of solidly played home cooking at Verizon Center on Wednesday night.  Thankfully, they aren't going into Bell Center on the tail of Tuesday's game in Columbus and so the game of "When .... It's..."

Let's start the game with the big picture ....

1)  "When after the All Star Break, your NHL hockey team of choice is on pace to finish the regular season with 100+ points and 40+ ROW, It's time to start saving your shekels to be able to afford to go watch some playoff hockey."

2) "When four of the seven Canadian NHL franchises are on track to make the playoffs at the All Star Break, It's pretty pointless to even worry for one second what the US-Canadian exchange rate might do to the salary cap since unless they are criminally mismanaged the Canadian franchises are likely to remain incredibly financially healthy."

3) "When immediately after the All Star Break, despite having one of his worst seasons ever, Sidney Crosby is still "just" fifth in the entire NHL in points/scoring and on track for his fifth straight 100+ point season, It's tragically ironic and funny to listen to media wonder aloud "What's wrong with Sid this year, etc." and as a Caps/Ovechkin fan very easy to imagine Ovi calling Sid and opening a conversation with: "Hey Sid, Ovi here, I don't know why they decided it was your turn for them to talk stupidly about, but you know what I'm not gonna say I'm sorry it's someone else in the League's turn, make sure when you pass it along it's to somebody like Sequin or Giroux, or better yet that cocky little "B" Kane,  and not back to me, okay?"

Now onto the more micro picture of the Caps to finish out today's game ....

1) "When the Caps play like they did on Tuesday evening against the Blue Jackets in Columbus; It's really, really easy to get down on them and be very, very concerned that once again you and they might be spending more time on the golf course than you'd prefer. After all "it" happened just last spring."

2) "When the Caps play like they did on Wednesday evening against Pittsburgh at Verizon Center; It's really, really, really easy to foolishly not worry about anything with this team or even how deep they might go into the playoffs and start having "champaign wishes and caviar dreams" that might even extend past say ... May 2015.  But that too would be really, really foolish, I mean remember the 2009 - 2010 team and how great they looked before the second season started?"

But fear not and hey enjoy the ride while we all can since ...

1) "When your concerns in life are centered on how "your" NHL team is really doing and is really positioned for the playoffs and run for "The CUP" are problems you have tome to consider/worry; Its really "all good" as those are truly "just and solely" what I call "first world problems."  As if to drive that point home we Caps fans can proudly point to our Team Captain for reflecting that, behaving in a manner that was pretty fun for all NHL fans to watch during the All Star Break and then have it turn around/out that he used the stage to do something good for some youngsters and families that have real, everyday challenges and generally approach them in a manner that is just a great example and model for us all.  I know to some talking about this is getting old and tired, however every time I think about it, I feel good about being an NHL fan instead of taking even a second to talk about the right amount of pressure an NFL football is supposed to be inflated to, etc. 

2) Finally, tomorrow... When we Caps fans pump out a tweet that bemoans the fact that only Ovechkin as opposed to say Ovechkin, Backstrom and Carlson were selected for the All Star Game: It's probably a good idea to look at the other team and think how ironic it is/was that the only Montreal player selected for the All Star Team was Carey Price instead of Price, P.K Subban (2012 Norris Trophy Winner), and the team's leading scorer Max Pacioretty.   I mean at the break the Canadiens only had 61 points in 45 games played and a top five record in the league while Columbus, with three all stars somehow was/is struggling out side of the playoffs and in appearing to be getting ready to make a run at the "McDavid" Sweepstakes.  My point is while I love the All Star Game, it's an NHL marketing event on par with the best, most well orchestrated sports marketing ever.  Thinking about it any other way and trying to fret about where somebody goes in the "mock draft" or something like that is pointless.  Every player selected, even some guy who got the most votes because he's the only guy in the league from Latvia  "really, really good at hockey."  Follow Ovechkin's example have fun with it, and hey wouldn't it be really, really great if the entire NHL turned at least some of the fun and benefits it generates into some good action and awareness raising for good causes.  I say let's make it one big "ice bucket challenge, car give away for great causes."  I'm even down with making sure the total goals increase - as long as we ditch that friggin' cannon.

In the meantime I'm hoping for a 4 - 1 win by the Caps tomorrow against the Habs.  I say LETS GO CAPS!!!! Wire to wire, never trail or be tied after the first goal and score the final fourth goal into an open net late in the third to ice it. Realistically do I think that will happen, probably not, but if the Caps play tomorrow at Bell Center like they did Wednesday evening at Verizon, I know it's possible, and hey if you're going to dream, why not dream big, "it don't cost any more."

So .... When this Blogger is wrapping up a post .... It's time to loudly proclaim:

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Looking Ahead - Caps Games 47 - 50 (Week of 1/25 - 31/2015)

Well Caps fans the All Star Game is over. Now, the week ahead means the Caps are in search of six more regular season standings points.  This week the Caps face the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Tuesday, on Wednesday they "host" the Penguins here in DC at Verizon Center and then they finish the week on Saturday in Montreal.  All in all it should be a tough week and an interesting week - a week of good hockey.  For the Caps what they need to do is simple, they need to break a three game losing streak. Lets face it the Caps weren't looking real good the last three games before the break so hopefully the week off has been a time for them to clear their minds, heal, make whatever adjustments they needed to make and be ready to resume the rest of the regular season in a manner that keeps them on track for a 100+ point/40+ROW season.

  The Caps can start the rest of the season off right with a win on Tuesday in Columbus, it won't be an easy two points though as Columbus hasn't been a easy game for the Caps this season two of the first three games have gone to OT sow while the Caps are 2-0-1 in those games each of the games have required the Caps to play a full 60:00+ at 100+% to get the five points they've captured.  The good news for the Caps on Tuesday is that the man who forced those last two games to OT - Sergei Bobrovsky will likely still be out and not in net for the Blue Jackets, the bad news - all the rest of the Columbus team will be eager to show the hockey world they can still win and compete for a playoff spot.

Then on Wednesday evening the Caps host the Penguins and a presumably well rested Sidney Crosby at Verizon Center.  The Penguins will be looking to "repay" the Caps for the 3-0 loss the Caps handed them a couple of weeks ago on December 27th at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh. While it would be nice if Braden Holtby could come up with another shutout, it would be even nicer if the Caps played so well it was easier for he and they to come up with another wire to wire three goal victory.  But again it won't be an easy two points - to win the Caps entire team will have to play a 60:00, 200 foot, 110% game.

Then on Saturday afternoon, the Caps play a matinee in Montreal where they get to play Carey Price and surging Canadiens team.  The Habs are on pace for a 111 point/44 ROW Season and were 7-2-1 in their last 10 games before the ASG break.  Additionally the Caps fell to the Canadiens 2-1 in their one other meeting this regular season way back on October 9th when the Haps came to Verizon Center.  So again this game will require the Caps to play solid, "heavy" hockey through all 60:00 if they are to come away from Bell Center with any points.

If the Caps can turn the three game pre-ASG losing streak around and come away from these last three games of the month of January with at least three of the six available points, with a 7-4-2 record and 16 of the available 26 points (0.615) for the month.  They will also finish the month with a total of 60 points and 24 ROW in 49 GP - on track for a 100 point/40ROW season.  I believe it may actually take that be sure to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference this season the way things are going as right now 7 of the 8 teams in playoff positions are on track for 100 point seasons and number 8 - the Bruins are close behind on pace for a 97+ point season.  Additionally of the 8 Eastern Conference teams in playoff spots today 7 of the 8 have player 0.700+ hockey in their last 10 games before the ASG break; only the Penguins are under 0.700 and it doesn't seem likely they'll stay on their current 4-3-3 (0.550) - last 10 games - pace for long.

Well that's the week ahead for us Caps fans ... all I can say is ...

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Two Days and Two Capitals Games Since My Last Post ...

Well since my last post on Monday the Capitals have played two games of their current six game road trip. On Tuesday they played in Montreal and delivered a solid game and win against the Canadiens: 4-2 in regulation. Then last night they took on the Red Wings at "The Joe" in Detroit, a place they haven't been able to win a game at for a long time. Unfortunately, once again, despite playing a decent hockey game, and getting pretty good goaltending from Michal Neuvirth (in the net for the first time since leaving the game against Tampa Bay on 3/7 with some metal in his eye after the first period), the Capitals were unable to leave Detroit with two points, or even a single point, loosing to the Wings 3-2 in regulation.

To some degree the two games were polar opposites as far as the play, tenor and tone of the two opposing teams the Caps faced in them. In Tuesday night's game the Canadiens seemed to have a way of making the Cps look even better than the lopsided scoresheet - lopsided in favor of the Capitals in almost every measure - makes the game appear in retrospect. In Montreal, every one on the Capitals team looked very good, and in fact, IMO played a very good game. Notables: Boyd Gordon - 12 of 16 (75%) in the faceoff circle; Marcus Johansson - 2 goals and buzzing around the ice like "nobody's business the entire game; John Carlson and Karl Alzner - each of them +2 and each of them with an assist; Alexander Ovechkin - basically playing like Alexander Ovechkin always seems to play in Montreal: 1 point (an assist) +1 and led the team with 4 hits; Brooks Laich with a goal off a move that demonstrated to all just "What A Boss" he can be - just ask Hal Gill; Braden Holtby - a slightly off night at least at the start but gets an Assist and his fifth straight W; and the list could go on. On the other side of the ice, as I mentioned Laich undressed Gill and for all his "chirping" Tuesday evening P.K. Suban, who will be a star in the NHL someday, was definitely not looking like one in that game. In fact were it not for Cary Price's excellent goaltending, the game could have been even more lopsided.

Last night, while Neuvy kept the Capitals close, and no one on the Capitals team had an exceptionally bad game, as has often been said, the Detroit Red Wings have a system and way about them that just can "suck the life" out of an opposing team and smother them. That's what they did last night. When you look at tthis stat sheet you can and do see it in every aspect of the game. The first thing you notice about it when you look is just how much of a "puck control" game the Red Wings play and just how well they execute it: a) Faceoffs 35-21 in favor of the Red Wings; b) SOG 35-28 in favor of the Red Wings; c) shots attempted 64 - 42 in favor of the Red Wings. Don't get me wrong elsewhere in the stats the Capitals didn't do badly and as I say other than one goal that Neuvy let in that is in the "you just have to stop those" category, the Capitals stayed in the game all night long. They even had two chances to tie the game late in the third, but alas "the hockey gods" deigned not to smile on the Capitals last evening. All that said, throughout the game, they generally looked worse than the scoresheet might lead you to believe. Also, unlike Monday in Montreal, the Capitals special teams were not their brightest light; the PK unit let Detroit score on one of their two (2) power plays; and the power play units failed to score in any of their four (4) power play chances against the Wings. Best Caps on the ice last night (IMO): Dennis Wideman, Alexander Ovechkin, and Michal Neuvirth. Alexander Semin was about 1 1/2 inches and 40 seconds away from being a hero with a game tying goal in the last minute, but alas he hit the post and ends up with a very unremarkable line on the score sheet instead. Best Red Wing on the ice last night: Henrik Zetterberg - "Z" had quite a night 2 goals, 7 SOG, 2 takeaways and was 7 for 11 (64%) in the faceoff circle. Notably, the Capitals were able to keep Pavel Datsyuk somewhat in check last evening - it seemed to me to be the one thing that Alexander Semin absolutely was determined to do when they were out on the ice together and when that matchup was there Semin won it last night. However, the following other Red Wings all also played very well and made sure their team won the game: the ageless Nicklas Lidstrom (24:10 TOI, +1); Brian Rafelski (3 assists, +2, 1 BS); Kris Draper (6 for 6 in faceoffs); Justin Abdelkader (often in Ovechkin's grill) and the list is probably missing someone. BTW speaking of Abdelkader often being in Ovechkin's grill in the first period when it looked like those two might actually do more than just push and shove each other I had two notable thoughts: a) wow that's a trade I'd love if I was Babcock Abdelkader in the box for 5:00 to put Ovechkin in the box for 5:00 but Ovechkin showed he understands the score and isn't an inexperienced kid if he ever was one; and b) that's called smart line matching when you have the last change, wonder if the Capitals coaching staff should be taking notes. Well like I said, the Caps didn't play horribly, they just succumbed to the smothering play of the Red Wings in Detroit once again. With any luck, we'll all get a chance to see them try and figure out how to overcome that situation twice more this Hockey season (think about it if you don't understand what I'm saying). Now it's on to Newark, NJ for a game against the resurgent and well playing New Jersey Devils tomorrow night at "The Rock."

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Caps 3 - Canadeans 0: If Bruce Boudreau Could ...

Caps 3 - Canadiens 0: If Bruce Boudreau could bottle this game and replicate it as an elixir, I bet he would be doing so this morning. First let me say despite the final score, and despite the fact that for Caps fans this was, by and large, a fun game to watch; there was one glaring short-coming ALL night long: the officiating was awful, and worse yet the officials were involved in things that affected the outcome and flow of the game even when they didn't have to be so. I'm not saying all the calls went one way or the other, they did not - both teams "got screwed", in my view evenly so or close to it. I just think that a professional sports league, especially one which is the highest level of it's sport, or at least purports to be so, can and should, do better. More on that, maybe, later in this post. For now let's get to the good, the exciting and even probably a little of the bad from last night.

Coaching and Preparation: Grade A. First let me say I saw two things from the Capitals Coach and his staff I haven't noticed all that much before (doesn't mean they weren't there, I just really never noticed them much before) that were really good and really worked out. First thing was the basic relatively calm and reasoned reaction to what was likely the worst call all night if not one of the worst so far this year - the wash out of the goal by David Steckel in the first period. Trust me when I say I certainly didn't think this was the right move by Gabby when he did it and I was going apoplectic because it was such a bad call. Apparently though the ref whistled the play dead because he lost sight of the puck and that's not a reviewable call or certainly the hardest one to get a reversal on anyway. That said: the whistle was way too fast, and if that was how the NHL Officials usually handled this situation, there would be A LOT FEWER goals through goaltender's 5-holes by guys right on the doorstep. In any case, Boudreau and the Caps merely and rightly requested an explanation and when they got it they didn't unduly delay the game, get flustered, or distracted bay it. Instead they quickly went back to work and in short order got their second goal of the night when Mike Green joined the rush and nailed a beautiful laser fast wrister past Carey Price at the 19:22 mark of the first period. The second thing that Boudreau did that frankly shocked and totally delighted me was when with about 2:00 left in the game he called a timeout. I'm sitting there, probably like most of the crowd wondering why with just 2:00 left in the game, a 2 goal lead, and the Caps playing well, their coach called a timeout. Then after the timeout, the Caps come out on the ice and immediately start playing a 1-4 trap, regardless of who they have out on the ice. That was beautiful to see, to see this ultra-talented team full of offensive powerhouses, play a 1-4 trap in a manner that would make Claude Lemiuex and/or Claude Julian happy. They were playing for the shutout for their goaltender who had played very well all night. They were just making sure they were ready for the inevitable offensive push from the Canadiens which came less than 20 seconds later when they pulled Carey Price. Best of all both coach and team were rewarded for this solid, smart play when at the 19:28 mark of the period, Team Captain Alex Ovechkin, got the empty net goal to put the Caps up by the final score of 3-0. Folks, if anybody tells you at any point between now and whenever this season ends that this Coaching staff has lost this team, pull out a video of the last three minutes of this game to show them just how absolutely wrong they probably are no matter what happens between now and then.

Offensive Game Plan & Execution: Grade B+. Bottom lines here are: i) everyone was part of the offensive game both 1st and 2nd lines as well as 3rd & 4th lines and the Blueliners. Despite the relatively low score and the fact the Caps only scored the single empty netter after the first period, they kept the pressure up all night long. The forechecking was relentless well over 55 of the 60 minutes of play. Were it not for a quick whistle in addition to call-up Jay Beagle's excellent goal to start out the night's scoring that was the result of simple, straight forward play and hard work the first period would have included two goals that are the kind of goals you really want to see if you think you are trying to get ready for the playoffs. Beagle's goal and Steckel's disallowed tally were the result of players going where they need to go and being willing to pay the price to score, plain and simple. I guess in addition to feeling the washout of Steckel's goal was a horrible call, another reason I was so upset with the call, is because it would have been Steckel's second goal in as many games - I haven't looked but has he scored in back to back games as a Cap anytime before that? The first and second lines played very well, Mike Green's goal was the result of a blue liner activating and joining the rush the way he should and when he should. As far as putting real pressure on the opposing goaltender and getting solid offensive zone time, this was one of the best games I've seen, especially five on five. Top 2 Lines: Ovechkin, Semin, Knuble, Laich, and Backstrom all had very good nights - Backstrom was 83% in the faceoff circle. Call-up Kieth Aucoin did well filling in for the injured MP85 and MoJo90 as the second line pivot. From the third and fourth lines, the performance and contributions were great from where I sat and now post-game looking over the statistics. Jay Beagle was a truly noticeable presence in the game, in a good way - all night long. David Steckel also solid all night long - in every facet of his game. Eric Fehr +2 on the night and involved in the game in every way on every shift. Matt Hendricks didn't let a weak call against him just 0:23 into the game affect his game one negative iota and was his usual solid self. Jason Chimera was +2 on the night and chased down two pucks to nullify icing calls that helped keep pressure on the Habs and give the Caps more offensive zone time. Andrew Gordon played a solid all be it relatively unremarkable game last night after being much more noticeable in the last game, that combined with the fact that if he played two more games here in DC he'd have to pass through waivers were probably while he was sent back down to Hershey. That said A. Gordon and Jay Beagle's play of late has to be keeping everyone on the Caps roster on their toes.

Defensive Game: Grade A (it was a shutout) : So ice time leaders among the Caps Blue liners last night were: Mike Green - 28:19 TOI (4:56 SH and 11:49 PP); and John Carlson 22:13 (14:32 EV). Carlson was usually on the ice with Karl Alzner (18:13 TOI, 14:01 EV). Last night was Jeff Schultz' return to the ice from injury. #55 played 13:16 TOI (2:07 SH) and was generally paired with John Erskine. Schultz was the only defenseman who wasn't in the + column, finishing the night +/- even. Green was +2 and all the rest of the blue liners were +1 on the night. Any night you are playing the "Flying Frenchmen" and you only see Brian Gionta and/or Mike Cammelari get free and skate in on your goaltender unencumbered a few times and with either a blueliner or backchecking forward in close enough pursuit there isn't any real threat from a follow-up on the initial shot is a good night defensively in my book. Also it seemed to me that Mike Green had more than the one blocked shot and had at least one hit last night but apparently not so per the score sheet. By the way, I don't think you should penalize or reduce your opinion of a guy's defensive abilities just because he also happens to be a great skater and have a great shot too. Green had an excellent night last evening and his pairing with Scott Hannan during the shifts when Hannan joined him were really, really solid - Nice to see.

Goaltending: Grade A (it was a shutout). Semyon Varlomov was 25 for 25 and "pitched a perfect game". He seemed a lot calmer and more comfortable in the net than he did against Carolina the other night as well. The Canadiens had enough real scoring chances that you can't say Varly didn't earn the shutout, he did. By comparison, Carey Price was 27 for 29 and had a solid night as well, though not well enough to steal his 20th win of the season off the Caps at home.

Special Teams - Penalty Kill: Grade B+. The Canadiens had 8:30 TOI with a man advantage during five power play opportunities. Despite that large amount of time, from my perspective their best scoring chances came 5 on 5. At no time did they really threaten to score for extended periods and during really extended zone time. In fact there was only one of the five power pays where they seemed to get any extended zone time. During these time periods it's hard to say who in addition to Varly was the best penalty killer. Not because there weren't any others but rather because pretty much everybody did a very good job on the penalty kill.

Special Teams - Power Play: Grade F. The only special team on the ice last night worse than the Canadiens' power play was the Capitals' power play. It was the only aspect of last night's game that the Capitals didn't execute well. To be fair there is no doubt in my mind that Carey Price was his team's best penalty killer but the Capitals 7 times including a 4:00 double minor for a total of 14:27 of ice time. That's 24% of the game. To have that much power play time and not get at least one goal is just not good enough so you can't really even give the power play anything but an F. I don't know what the answer is to get the Capitals power play back on track but I do have faith in this coaching staff and team to figure it out or die trying and when they do, these guys will work their butts off to effectively change things and start scoring more power play goals again. That said until they do that, there's always a risk they won't win games without every other aspect of their game being as good as they were last night.

Next up is the Penguins in the Winter Classic. I'll be there with Wingman and we'll both be very psych'ed.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

What A Difference A Week Makes.... Tonight - Caps/Canadiens Game 7 @ Verizon Center

Well last week this time I was getting off a plane in Fort Lauderdale and preparing for a week of sun, fishing and camaraderie with 4 of my college buds in the Bahamas. At that point in time the Caps led the Canadiens 3-1 and the series looked well in hand. Wow what a difference a week makes. I'm now home, at work, tanned, happy with the large amount of fish we've caught, and the Capitals, or should I say - the Cardiac Caps, are warming up for a do opr die, winner take all Game 7 with those same Canadiens. I'm not entirely surprised, the Canandiens match up very well with the Capitals and Candien goaltender Jaroslav Halak has apparently been on fire since I left for warmer climates. I'm not sure myself, as I only watched a little of game 5 via satellite TV in the Bahamas and because of the weather while travelling back to DC from Fort Lauderdale on Monday, I only caught the third period of game 6. To be sure from what I saw of game 6 Halak is playing, very, very, very well. Tonight's game should be totally exciting, and great ice hockey. I believe the Capitals will win. Why - well because I'm a Caps fan and you gotta believe.

Will Jaroslav Halak Steal The Series From The Capitals Tonight?

Will Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jaroslav Halak be able to turn in a super-human effort again tonight and steal this series for Montreal? Isn't that really the question on every DC hockey fan's mind today? After all when you look at the game 5 summary and detailed statistics it's really only because of Halak's efforts there that Montreal was able to take the series past Game 5. In game five the Caps as a whole did everything they should have needed to do to end the series. Seymeon Varlamov delivered a SV% of 0.9286 and the Caps peppered Halak with 38 shots on goal. The Czech goaltender in Montreal's net rose to that test though stopping 37 of those 38 shots and finishing the evening with a 0.9737 SV%. Or in simpler terms - stealing the game and keeping his team alive. Then on Monday evening in Montreal, Halak was even better stopping 53 of 54 shots on goal for an other-worldly SV% of 0.9815. What can you say, especially when several of the saves in both games were point blank shots.

What Can/Should the Caps Do to Turn The Tide Tonight?


Well that is tough since the Caps have, as has been noted elsewhere, been playing pretty well and we're talking minor adjustments. Keeping in mind I only really saw about thirty minutes of Monday night's game so my recommendations could be off mark but here they are.

1) Recognize that Halak didn't win Monday's game on his own. He had some help from Veteran Canadien players including: Mike Cammalleri, Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta, as well as Jaroslav Spacek, Hal Gill, Marc-Andre Bergeron and Andrei Markov. I continue to believe the Caps need to use their relative size advantage on the Canadiens, particularly during the first two periods to wean the Canadiens down and keep them off balance whenever they look to exit their zone. Cammalleri, Gionta and Gomez are all under 6' and under 205# - whenever they are exiting the zone with the puck the Caps need to put a body on them and finish their check solidly. I'm not talking about playing dirty or even foolishly, I'm saying there are two things you can do to a guy now when he is exiting the zone and at least 51% of the time during the first two periods the Caps out to hit the puck carrier. Of the two choices I know that in today's NHL that's actually the higher risk option, but tonight they need to do that and when it doesn't work out the Caps goalie needs to stop the first shots when the defender/fore/back-checker misses. There will be a lot of adrenaline flying around the ice at Verizon Center tonight, and the Caps need to play with an edge but not over the edge. Further even though that goes both ways, if the Caps hit and slow down those three forwards as well and defensemen Andrei Markov and Marc-Andrei Bergereon, by the middle of the second period, the Caps first and second lines should start to see a little breathing space as they drive the net.

2) Solid team defense. For the full sixty minutes, no matter the score, the forwards, particularly the wings, need to backcheck, backcheck, nd backcheck - first and foremost. All too often over the past few games the Caps outlet pass and typical breakout play has become too, too predictable. They need to mix some things up in this regard, particularly against any sort of 1-2-2 or 2-2-1 trap.

3) Traffic, Traffic, Traffic - greasy goals and all. However also keep the ever growing confident Halak back further in his crease. You both have a right to the space in front of the net just beyond the crease. Play like a group of possessed men fighting for that small but extremely valuable piece of real estate.

4) Want it MORE. The Caps need to want it a lot more than Montreal and they need to play like that from the first puck drop till the last buzzer. Right now Montreal believes they can win this series, the Caps need to say loudly and proudly - not in out house and play like men possessed.

5) The line-up The coaching staff needs to look at things and put the absolute best available lineup out there and to me that's:

8-19-22
28-9-21
39-18-16
10-15-25

52 - 77
26-74
27-55

In the last minute of the first and second periods here's the unit I think should be on the ice at even strength: 8-19-28; 52-22 or 21 - that's right I want the Caps to score by driving hard for the net in each of the last minutes of the the first two periods.

Special teams power play - go back to the unit that got them here with a twist as much as possible: 28-19- 22 or 21; 8-52.

Special teams Penalty Kill (where we'll miss Tom Poti most of all tonight): first unit: 15-21, 77-55; second unit: 39-28, 26-74.

I doubt I've even come close to the line-up Coach Boudreau will go with but my point is we need to mix some things up more than folks are talking over at KCI yesterday. The team configuration shelling Jaroslav Halak has to look somewhat different than it did on Monday in order to create the different situations that might expose some "chinks" in his armour.

Before we go any further I want to put a shout out out there to make sure Tom Poti has a swift and complete recovery from his surgery - ouch!

I'm looking for big games by all the Caps but especially by all the Young Guns all of whom except Nicklas Backstrom who I felt were "diss'ed" today by Thomas Boswell in his column in the WaPo..Typicl DC Mainstream media coverage --- poor, ill-informed, subjective....

I'll be Rockin' the Red in Section 103 tonight. Hope to see you at the game.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

General Hockey Musings On Day 7 of the 2010 NHL Playoffs

Well as we get ready to start day 7 of the NHL Playoffs the eight (8) Conference Quarter Final Series, the match-ups currently look like this:

In the Western Conference:
#1) San Jose vs. #8) Colorado; Colorado leads 2-1 - game 4 tonight in Denver;
#2) Chicago vs. #7) Nashville; Series tied 1-1 - game 3 tonight in Nashville;
#3) Vancouver vs. #6) Los Angeles; LA leads 2-1 - game 4 Wednesday in LA;
#4) Phoenix vs. #5) Detroit; Phoenix leads 2-1 - game 4 tonight in Phoenix.

In the Eastern Conference:
#1) Washington vs. #8) Montreal; Washington leads 2-1 - game 4 Wednesday in Montreal;
#2) New Jersey vs. #7) Philadelphia; Philadelphia leads 2-1 - game 4 tonight in Philly;
#3) Buffalo vs. #6 Boston; Boston leads 2-1 - game 4 Wednesday in Boston;
#4) Pittsburgh vs. #5) Ottawa; Pittsburgh leads 2-1 - game 4 tonight in Ottawa.

There is still a lot to be played but some pretty interesting developments.

After LA & Vancouver played the first two games of the series into overtime, but last night the Kings chased Roberto "The Captain" Luongo from the net in game three. Vancouver pulled Luongo at the 13:21 mark of the second period after Brad Richardson potted the Kings 4th goal of the night on the 16th shot on goal. Of all the teams to be having a goal tending "controversy" in the playoffs, Vancouver was clearly one of the three least likely to be in such a position. However, on Thursday morning the Canucks could find themselves down 3-1 unless they make the necessary adjustments.

In the San Jose - Colorado series things have been a bit different, in game 3, the top seeded Sharks seemed to out play the Avalanche through regulation, but were unable to get one by Craig Anderson. At the end of regulation in game three, the score was tied 0-0, then the Avs got the win on a pretty bizarre play. Just 51 seconds into overtime, San Jose defenseman Dan Boyle basically tried to backhand the puck behind the Shark's own net and instead the puck ended up in the goal behind San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabakov. This series has been close and during the two games the Avs have won, the number one star has been their goaltender. Now the pressure is again on San Jose to even the series.

The #4 Penguins lead the #5 Senators 2 games to 1 but of more note is how they went into Ottawa for game three and controlled the tempo and tenor of game 3 pretty much from start to finish. Clearly the Senators need to make some adjustments and try to get back "in front" of things in game 4 tonight. The Sens also need their stars to play more like they did in game 1 and then need to more effectively stop the Penguins big guns. If the Senators can do so, they have a chance to even the series up before it returns to Steeltown. If they fail on either count, the teams are just as likely to go back to Pittsburgh with the Penguins leading by two games.

The story in tonight's Detroit - Phoenix game is "how will the Coyotes react to and handle the absence of their Captain Shane Doan, who continues to be idled with the upper body he sustained in game 3. Given the way they've handled pretty much everything else so far this season, and how they handled the last half of game 3 with Doan in the dressing room. I'm thinking the media will talk about this and make more of it, then we'll see the Coyotes change things on the ice. That aside, it may well not matter, to some degree, things in Detroit tonight are just as, if not more likely to be "all about the Red Wings" and "Ilya" as in Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. The experienced, and driven Red Wings will likely come out flying and working hard, as usual, but even more so in an effort to ensure the series leaves Detroit knotted 2 games a piece. However so far the Coyotes have stuck to their guns and played the first three games in the same manner and using the same approach as what got them through the regular season in fine fashion. It's hard not to be rooting for the Desert Dogs given the year they and their fans have been through, but this series just seems like one that could easily go all seven games.

In the Boston-Buffalo series, these two defensive minded teams have met and battled three times so far. Each game was pretty tightly played, as expected, though in the one game where the teams scored 3 or more goals, game 2, surprisingly Boston was the team to notch 5 goals in their 5-3 game 2 victory in Buffalo. The other two games have been 2-1 goaltender duels with Ryan Miller and Tukka Rask each winning one of those two battles. In any case, the #2 seed Sabres now find the spotlight and pressure on them to even up the series on the road in Boston tomorrow evening.

So far in the Devils - Flyers series, the Flyers have been able to "solve" Marty Brodeur slightly more often then the Devils have gotten pucks by Brian Boucher, and it's a good thing because as you can see from this roster, the Flyers have pretty much run out of goaltenders. The 33 year old Boucher is in the 9th NHL season of an otherwise unremarkable career after being drafted by the Flyers in 1995 and bouncing around the league as part of 5 different organizations. However, if he continues to hold down the fort for Philadelphia and they continue to deliver results through this round and another couple, he'll at least become the answer to numerous sports trivia questions in future years.

Game 3 of the Chicago-Nashville series will be played tonight down in "Smashville." After Nashville opened the series in the Windy City with a 4-1 win, Chicago goalie Antti Niemi rebounded and delivered a 2-0 shutout of the Predators in game 2. The goaltending in this series has been the highlight, but a bigger story will be will the Predators continue to be able to keep Chicago's high powered offense in a bottle. Even though the series is tied 1 game a piece, the Barry Trotz' Predators have held the Blackhawks to just three (3) goals in the two games. The results in that arena will likely to be the focus and discussion tomorrow after seeing how "the rubber" match goes tonight. After his game 2 victory, Niemi is now the goaltender with the best numbers in the playoffs; the Predators will need to put more pressure on him and solve him a couple of times tonight if they are to win the first 2010 playoff game to be held in Nashville tonight.

In the Montreal - Washington series, for us Caps fans while all is basically "right" with the world after the Caps took a 2 game to 1 lead with their 5-1 victory in Montreal last evening, there is still a lot of hockey to be played. Semyon Varlamov was very good last night and now has a 0.918 SV% overall this post-season. The leading goal and point scorer in the series is Nicklas Backstrom with 4 goals and 7 points. Linemate and pal Alexander Ovechkin has 2 goals and 3 assists. After last night's game where virtually everyone got involved, the Caps just need a few bounces to go Alexander Semin's way and get him off the "schneid" to have everything "clicking" again. Of course the Canadiens will be working hard to try and throw the Caps off their game and back to the way things were during game 1 and the first period of game 2. I don't think that will be too easy for the Habs to do, but it is the playoffs and as we've seen so far, anything can happen. Not surprisingly, according to the Washington Post's Taril El-Bashir reported from Montreal on his blog this morning that the focus of the Caps practice was the powerplay. The Caps are 0-14 this post season with the man advantage. Hopefully, that will do the trick and get the unit back to it's regular season leading ways.

I'll be out of town and out of contact fishing in the Bahamas until next Tuesday, it will be interesting to see where things stand with all 8 of these series when I return.


LETS GO CAPS!!!

Hey DC Are You READY? Ready to ROCK THE RED?

Tonight. Verizon Center. 7PM. Be There or Be Square! Oh yeah.

Well now that I got that out of my system, how about those games last evening. If you ever wondered about the difference between the regular season and the playoffs in the NHL, last evening's four games are certainly an excellent primer. Three of four games won by the lower seed - on the road. Oh, and the one won by the higher seed was #4 Phoenix over #5 Detroit, so some folks think the lower seed won that one too. All four games decided by just a single goal. So bottom line - there is a very fine line between confidence and stupidity this time of year. Those 121 points the Caps amassed over the prior 82 games - forget about them. Talk about life after the Caps - Canadiens series - forget about it, its basically irrelevant right now. Right now, it's all about FOCUS and focus means for the Capitals tonight is all about tonight, not Saturday night and certainly not anything beyond this series.

What do last night's results say? Are they really that surprising? I don't think so. If you look at last night's results and then look at the head to head games between last night's opposing team's you see that the intensity and closeness of the match-ups were clearly able to be forecasted.

Was it surprising that Colorado beat San Jose? Not really in the regular season the two met four times; San Jose went 2-1-1 and Colorado 2-2, in other words, they split the series. Last night, Colorado wins 2-1, why, well the game's first star was Colorado Goalie Craig Anderson who had 25 saves and a Save % of 0.962. Clearly a case of winning with what got ya there.

Was it surprising that the Flyers bested the Devils last night? Not really, in the regular season the Division Rivals met 6 times with Philadelphia going 5-1-0 against the foes in this "Turnpike" Rivalry. How did the Flyers do it? Well goalie Brian Boucher had an excellent night with a SV% 0.958 but the rest of the Flyers played great team defense, and Chris Pronger was a beast. The Flyers had 14 Blocked Shots to the Devils 4; and 21 hits to the Devils 16. Another factor wads New Jersey's ineffective power play, in the third period the Devils had a man advantage for 6:00 and failed to mount much pressure on Boucher and didn't come close to scoring while a man up. The Flyers goals were hard fought, but if New Jersey is to win this series, they need Martin Brodeur to have better than a 0.8571 SV%.

Was it surprising that the Ottawa Senators were able to go into Pittsburgh for Game 1 of their series and come away with a one goal victory? Not all that much, after all during the 4 times these two met in the regular season, the series was split 2-2 and this is the third time in four years, these two teams meet in the playoffs. The Sens outscored the Pens 2-1 in each of the first two periods last night and then held on for a 1 goal victory with solid play in the last minutes of the game after Pittsburgh drew within one goal. The Senators were able to contain Sidney Crosby and limit him to just three assists, two of which were secondary helpers, and even though Evgeni Malkin notched two goals on the night. In the end Ottawa's balanced offense was able to put 19.24% of their shots past Penguin goalie Marc-Andre Fluery so while Senator's goalie Brian Elliott didn't have a stellar night in his playoff debut the Penguins weren't able to win.

Was it surprising that Phoenix beat Detroit last night in Phoenix? Not all that much. After all, the two teams met four times this year; Detroit was 2-0-2 and Phoenix was 2-2; three of those four games were one goal games. Last night, the Coyotes stuck with what got them there, Ilya Bryzgalov had a solid evening between the pipes after surviving an early whiff on a shot by Thomas Holmstrom and making 38 saves and allowing two goals in the first period. The Coyotes played a measured game sticking to Coach Dave Tippett's system and notching a goal in each period for the 3-2 victory.

All of this should serve to put the Capitals on notice, they need to stay grounded and focused. Right now for the second season both teams come into tonight's game with the same record: 0-0. The match-ups and everything else have been discussed ad infinitum elsewhere around the blogsphere so I won't do that here today. I will say again i like the match-ups, speaking as a Caps fan. I think the Caps need to use their size advantage while still making sure they keep up with the small. speedy Canadiens team. I'd love to see a very solid night from Jose Theodore - just to shut people up on that item. I won't make any predictions on the outcome. It's the playoffs, I'm superstitious. I'll be there in 103, Rockin' the Red - after all this is what it's all about. This is the time of year when it's all about "Go Big or Go Home." I'm psych'ed. I likely won't have much of a voice tomorrow morning - not a big concern for me right now.

It's T-5:30:00, it's lunch hour and I need to go mail in my taxes before trying to stay focused on work for another 4 hours and then heading over to the game. I'll be attending with my USMMA Class of 82 classmate Rob. We'll certainly have a good time, even better of course if the Capitals win.

Remember - In The End There Can Be Only One...

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Caps vs. Canadiens Playoff Round 1 Match-Up And Storylines

VS

So it's set, first faceoff Thursday evening, 7PM at Verizon Center. Caps versus Habs, first round of the 2010 playoffs. The story lines abound and this should be a good series. Each team's 2009 - 2010 regular season record against the other being an identical 2-1-1. So let's see if we can identify the top story lines that will be discussed and debated over the next week or so in conjunction with this series.

1) The league's #2 power play (Montreal) vs. the league's #25 penalty kill (Capitals).

I've gotta believe the Capitals will be watching film and working on ensuring their penalty kill unit tightens things up - a lot - starting this morning at KCI. I also believe that will happen - in other words we'll see them do so successfully. This is the playoffs after all and this is what the Caps goal has been all season. Also if that wasn't motivation enough, throughout the 4 game series between these two teams this past season, all four games have been close ones. On the plus side of this discussion for Capitals fans is this year's Capitals team set a franchise record for fewest penalty minutes (940).

2) The league's biggest team (Washington) vs. one of the smallest lineups in the league (Montreal). The Washington Capitals are a deceptive team when it comes to size, since they are such a great skating team with so many fast players, many people often overlook their size. The Capitals smallest player is Scott Walker at 5'10", 196# he is one of only 4 players on the team under 6'. Many folks don't talk about the size of the "young guns" for example and because all the Caps are big guys none really stands out from a size perspective on the ice when they are all there together, but consider that Mike Green is 6'1", 204#; Alexander Semin 6'2", 208#; Nicklas Backstrom 6'1", 210#, and Alexander Ovechkin 6'2", 233#. Elsewhere on the roster guys like Matt Bradley are deceptively tall at 6'3", 201#. The biggest guy on the Caps roster is Jeff Schultz who does indeed look his full 6'6" and more and more this season is has also been making his 220# of muscle felt when he's been on the ice accumulating the best +/- rating in the NHL this regular season, a +50.

On the other side of Center Ice, the Caps will face off against a Canadiens team that is one of "extremes" when it comes to size. The biggest player on the Canadiens roster is defenseman Hal Gill at 6'7", 235#. Gill, a 35 year old American from Concord, MA joined the Montreal roster as a free agent this past summer after two years including a Stanley Cup with the Penguins. He is a big, bruising, stay at home blue liner in his 12th NHL season. At the other end of the spectrum, the Canadiens have seven (7) skaters and goaltender Jaroslav Halak at under 6'0". The smallest guy on the Canadiens roster is Right Wing Brian Gionta, at 5'7", 175#. Gionta, formerly of the New Jersey Devils rejoined former Devils' teammate 5'11", 202# Center Scott Gomez when Gionta joined the Habs as a UFA this summer after Gomez was traded to Montreal by the Rangers for Christopher Higgins on June 30th this summer. Both Gionta and Gomez are hot coming into the playoffs, know the Capitals well from having spent their careers with Eastern Conference rivals, and are having respectable years. However while the entire Canadiens team has had respectable seasons, they've only been average or below as a team coming down the home stretch going 3-4-3 in the last 10 games of the season and they likely won't be trying to out-muscle the Capitals in the corners during this series. Whether that all makes a difference remains to be seen though it will likely be discussed several times during the next two weeks.

3) The goaltending situation and match up for both teams. I suspect we'll have Montreal's past in net for the Capitals, Jose Theodore, vs. either the future Montreal thought they were going to have (Carey Price) or the future they are very likely to have (Jaroslav Halak). Of course, then again it could be Washington's future or at least one of the three possibilities for Washington's future (Semyon Varlamov) against either Halak or Price. All that said I'm betting on a great post season from Jose Theodore and the first opposing net-minder he contrasts with being Jaroslav Halak. In the end I think for the Caps to win this series and go deep in the playoffs they need their goaltender to have a SV% greater than 0.915% and a GAA less than 2.25 through out the post season. The way Theodore has been playing since January, he's clearly capable of delivering that sort of post season and I just think he's on a mission to prove he's as good as he thinks he is instead of the goaltender alot of folks disparage. The fact that he'll open the playoffs against the team that drafted him in 1994 only adds to his focus and motivation. For Montreal to win this first series they'll need their goal tending and team defense to be even better than that. Right now of the two Montreal goaltenders, it still seems to me, the one more likely to have a chance at delivering those sorts of numbers is Halak. However the 24 year old Czech rookie hasn't played to his potential over the past two games going 0-1-1 with a 0.867 SV% and 3.95GAA and while Price has been 0-1-1 in his last two games, he's delivered a SV% of .942 and GAA of 1.94, so who knows which of his two goalies Jacques Martin will start in net on Thursday evening. For Caps coach Bruce Boudreau, when he looks at the career numbers on the match up side, even though, it appears that Jose Theodore has won the #1 job clearly since January 1st, in the back of Boudreau's mind will be the fact that Theodore's numbers against his former team are 2-1-0, .877 SV% and 4.05GAA while Varlamov's are 2-0-0, .930SV% and 1.94GAA. In the end I'm thinking that Boudreau will consult with Caps goaltending coach at least a couple of times during the series but go with Theodore and be pleased with the results.

4) Will the Capitals high powered forwards "feast" on the Canadiens as they have from time to time in recent years. For example, in 20 career games Alex Ovechkin has 11 goals and 13 assists against the Canadiens. If they manage to find a strategy and execute tactics which effectively limit Ovechkin's production, then there are a multitude of other weapons the Capitals might use to put the puck in the Montreal net, such as Alexander Semin, who's been reasonably effective against the Canadiens in the past as well and had 6 goals and 8 assists during the last 11 games of this season. In the end though, I expect that Jacques Martin will be looking to use a team defense that stacks the neutral zone and tries very hard to bottle the Caps up in their own end of the ice. The issue that will likely prevent that will be the size differential between the two teams (see item 2 above). Montreal can skate with the Capitals but unless their goaltending clearly out duels the Capitals defense and goal tending they haven't shown nearly the same ability to put the "biscuit in the basket" as the Caps have this season. In fact the Capitals finished the regular season with 101 more goals for than the Canadiens and the Canadiens finished the regular season with only 10 less goals against than the Capitals. So it's highly unlikely that of these two teams the one looking to open things up will be Montreal.

#5) You tell me, there's lots of them out there ...

Summary: It's been pointed out often as various pundits assess the Capitals chances of winning Lord Stanley's Cup that playing the same team in a best of seven series is a lot different than meeting them 4 or 6 times over the course of a season. I couldn't agree more, and in this case, when you look at the key story lines and match-ups, even if you're not a Caps fan you'll probably going to have to admit these things look good for the Caps in this series. Of course that is as they say, why they play the games on the ice. So here's rooting out Capitals start out this series focused,finish it the same way, and find themselves moving on to Round 2 in two weeks time.

I don't do predictions about playoff series any more, first off I'm trying to practice what I preach and take things ... ONE GAME AT A TIME. Secondly, I'm just that sort of superstitious guy.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Sunday Regular Season Finale Finally Brings Resolution To A Number Of Questions

When we awoke this morning the mark for the Art Ross Trophy had been set by Vancouver's Henrik Sedin at 120 points after the H version of the Sedin Twins had a four (4) point night last evening, gathering 4 assists including 3 while setting up the D version (brother Daniel) for a hat trick, during the Canucks' final game of the regular season, a 7-3 pasting of the Calgary Flames.

Despite the fact, 14 of the NHL's 30 teams finished their regular season before this morning, the Capitals first round playoff opponent was still unknown as well - would it be the Montreal Canadiens or would there be another rematch against the New York Rangers. That would be determined during today's game in Philadelphia, both the Rangers and the Flyers started the day with 86 points, the winner would have 88, the same total as the Canadiens finished their season with last evening, and continue on to the playoffs. The loser would fall just short and their season would be over. The "play-in" has so many undercurrents, sub-plots and story lines around it, being between division rivals whose overall season results were generally below pre-season expectations, that it was actually hard to know what to expect. In the end ... the match ups in both conferences are now set.

In the East:

1) Caps vs. 8) Canadiens

2) Devils vs. 7) Flyers

3) Sabres vs. 6) Bruins

4) Penguins vs. 5) Senators

In the West:

1) Sharks vs. 8) Avalanche

2) Blackhawks vs. 7) Predators

3) Canucks vs. 6) Kings

4) Coyotes vs. 5) Red Wings.

We started the day with the Caps still having one game to play, against the Bruins, at Verizon Center, on National TV - NBC's Sunday Game of the Week. Both the Caps and the Bruins were in the playoffs, and their seeding was set. The Caps started the day with a league leading 120 points and their first President's Trophy already on their mantle this season. Boston started the day entrenched in 6th place in the Eastern Conference with 89 points. Regardless of the score at the end of this afternoon's game against the Capitals, the Bruins would finish the day in 6th place and face either Buffalo or New Jersey depending on how those teams finished the day during which who of those two would be in 2nd and who would finish 3rd in the East. In the end ... the Bruins took the Caps all the way to a shootout ending regulation and overtime in a 3-3 tie before the Bruins won the "gimmick" leaving the Caps with a season long record of : 54-15-13 and 121 points and poised for the start of the playoffs against the Canadiens.

... and the NBC coverage was very even handed. It's been a long time since I've watched a game covered by NBC as a Caps fan and didn't have at least two or three issues with commentary made by the NBC broadcast team, so I feel obligated to give some kudos on this one. First there was actually some love shown by both Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury for Mike Green's game and skills BOTH Defensive and Offensive skill. Milbury's assessment of the Caps strengths and weaknesses during the first intermission was low key and I felt even handed. He mentioned real legitimate stats, the PK#, the GAA, and the OT record, that show where the Caps need to tighten up the team defense and why people focus on that and the goaltending as to why the Caps might be beatable in the playoffs. He didn't make any sort of stupid, sensational, emotional statements, like say a certain winger who currently plays for a non-playoff team domiciled in the State of Ohio.

Last night's results meant that at least 9, possibly 11, teams in the league would finish the regular season today with 100 or more points. That total is, by far, the most teams over 100 points ever and, IMO, is clear evidence of the combined effects of the introduction of the three point game in conjunction with the increasing parity throughout the league as a result of the salary cap and free agency as regulated under the current NHL CBA. At the end of the day ...eleven (11) teams did finish with 100 or more points, four (4) in the Eastern Conference and seven (7) in the Western Conference.

All that said, the day started with several Alex Ovechkin still clearly fighting for the Rocket Richard Trophy as well as having a third Art Ross Trophy within reach, and several other Capitals still working towards some milestones. Alexander Semin started the day with 39 goals, Semin had never reached the 40 goal plateau. Mike Green started the day with 19 goals, back to back 20+ goal seasons for a defenseman was a notable accomplishment to be shooting at. Mike Knuble started the day with 28 goals, the 37 year old veteran has reached the 30 goal plateau only two other times in 13 NHL seasons. So the game between the Bruins and the Capitals was not without items of interest. In the end... Semin tallied the game's first goal while the team's were even strength at the 2:23 mark. That score was number 40 on the season for the talented winger from Krasnojarsk, Siberia; his first 40 goal season, though likely not his last.

Knuble tallied one of the two goals he needed but finished the season with 29 goals. Green played a great game notching an assist and going +2 for the day, but finished the season with 19 vice 20 goals. Ovechkin ended the day with no additional points, last year's Vezina Winner Tim Thomas robbed him several times today to keep the Capitals Captain off the board today. So the following three guys should all be sending their thanks for the help cards to the Bruins 'tender: Ross Trophy Winner Henrik Sedin, Rocket Richard Trophy Co-Winners Sidney Crosby, and Steven Stamkos.

So what's next? The first round of the playoffs, you know that "second season" - the one that really counts. For the Washington Capitals it starts at Verizon Center, when they take on the Canadiens. If your like me, you've been anticipating this year's playoffs for about 9 months. Seriously, I've been expecting the Capitals to return to the playoffs since last August. Now we'll see how much better, mature, and focused this Capitals team is then any prior one. Personally, I know this is exactly what all of us who lived through "the rebuild" as Caps fans and Season Ticket Holders (STHs) were hoping and rooting for. Hopefully, this is just the beginning.

LETS GO CAPS!!! C-A-P-S, CAPS, CAPS, CAPS!!!!

Canadiens 6 - Capitals 5 (OT); A One Point Night in Montreal; Streak Ended At 14

Last night at Le Centre Bell in Montreal it was a ONE Point Night for the Washington Capitals. Yes the injury depleted Canadiens stopped the Capitals winning streak at fourteen (14), but the Caps didn't let Montreal do so easily. The good part of the streak being over is "Caps Nations" can go back to thinking and talking about hockey instead of history. The bad part about the streak being over, is well it's over. I have a couple of things I'm pulling together to keep my Caps Juices flowing during the upcoming Olympic Break, one of course, is a review of the Caps season to date. Even with the streak being over, the numbers the Caps have been putting up during the entire first sixty (60) games, but especially since January 1st, are pretty awesome. This is a very well working, well coached, talented and confident team for good reason.

All that said, last night, the team that played better, more of the game, won. That's not to say, the Caps were overpowered, or they didn't dominate during several stretches. Further, even though they were outplayed at times during the game, it never seemed like Montreal dominated the Caps. Another thing, and I'd guess this is the same for every game that ends a streak, in this blogger's opinion, none of the bounces went the Capitals way.

Once again last evening the Caps allowed their opponent to strike first and this was a game in which the Capitals never led. They came back and tied the Canadiens three times during the evening but in the end, in overtime, the Canadiens scored their sixth goal of the night to take the two points. It was a two points that is currently more important to the Habs then to the Capitals, but it's clear the Caps wanted to win and keep the streak alive as well.

How did the injury depleted Canadiens beat the high flying Capitals? After all by the end of the game they were missing six (6) of their regular lineup including over 40% of their offensive punch. Well, throughout the game they adapted, and they also showed everyone watching just how good they can be. During the first period the Canadiens came out strong and fast looking like they intended to work hard and win the game. The Capitals came out looking somewhat tentative, again. It took just 0:36 seconds for the Canadiens to take their first lead of the game. Brian Gionta made a very smooth hockey play and an even better pass to Scott Gomez who notched his 9th goal of the season via a wrist shot past Michal Neuvirth. Score Canadiens 1 - Caps 0. Not to be outdone the Capitals responded, though not immediately. At the 6:23 mark of the period, Brooks Laich scored his first of three goals for the night, knotting the score for the first time of the evening at 1-1. That's how the period ended, the Caps attempted a couple more surges after Laich's first goal but each time the Canadiens responded in kind or better. In fact by the end of the first period the only reason the Caps had out shot the Canadiens was because they had given the Caps three power play chances. However, the Habs penalty kill unit was very good last night and they successfully killed off all three of those Capital power plays in the first period.

In the second period, the Caps played far better than they had in the first. However, Canadiens' goaltender Cary Price proved up to the task and because to a reasonable degree of his efforts he was able to skate off the ice at the end of the period with his team having a 5-2 lead. The Habs scored the first goal of the period when rookie center Tom Pyatt scored his first NHL goal off a tip in of a Ryan O'Bryne shot from the high slot during the first minute of the period. Once again the Caps trailed by a goal. That didn't remain the case for long though, just 30 seconds later Nicklas Backstrom knotted the game for the second time at the 1:11 mark. Backstrom combined with fellow young guns Alex Ovechkin and Mike Green banging the puck home at the end of a "tic-tac-toe" play scoring his 26th goal of the year, score tied 2-2. Shortly after that, Michal Neuvirth went to the bench, apparently injured and Jose Theodore replaced him in net at the 6:11 mark. The Habs tested Theo quickly but he came into the game heads up and repelled their initial thrusts. The about the midway point of the period it appeared things were looking up for the Caps and we Caps fans, when it seemed Alex Ovechkin had scored one of those amazing goals and put the Caps into the lead. However it was not to be, they didn't remain that way, as after a conference among the officials the goal was waived off. Then the Canadiens took over, first at the 12:45 mark veteran center Glen Metropolit scored for Montreal while they were on the power play with Bredan Morrison in the penalty box for hooking. Score Canadiens 3 - Caps 2. Then just 12 seconds later at the 12:57 mark, Maxim Lapierre scored of a well placed puck from Sergei Kostisyn. Score Canadiens 4 - Caps 2. To cap off the scoring for the second period, at the 18:56 mark Kostitsyn feed the puck to another one of the Habs' sharpshooters - Tomas Plekanec. Plakanec scored his first of the game and 16th of the season, putting the Canadiens up by three and ending the periods scoring. Score at the end of two Canadiens 5 - Caps 2.

The Caps kept in character and came out and turned things around in the third period, as they have been able to do much of the season and especially since the New Year. Jose Theodore tightened things up as did the general team defense, with just one great save by Theo, the Caps were able to hold the Canadiens scoreless throughout the third period. They were also able to score three unanswered goals and tie the game up a third time. In keeping pace with the tempo of the game, Mike Green scored his 14th goal of the season with the Caps on the power play just 16 seconds into the period. Score Canadiens 5 - Caps 3. Then at 9:02 mark, Brooks Laich's scored his second goal of the game and 19th of the season unassisted to pull the Capitals within one goal, score Canadiens 5 - Caps 4. At this point, I, like every other Caps fan watching, am just shaking my head, thinking, can it be, are they really going to pull this game out and continue this crazy winning streak after being so outplayed for the first 40 minutes? At the 17:28 mark, Glen Metropolit is whistled off for a 2:00 minor for hooking. Caps coach, Bruce Boudreau, pulls Theodore, the Caps have a 6 on 4 power play for over 1:30 but fail to score while Metro is off the ice. Though they keep momentum and pressure up and they keep the extra skater on the ice. Then at the 19:41 mark, less than 20 seconds remaining, Laich finds the back of the net for the 20th time this season, scores his first career hat trick and knots the game for the third time of the night at 5-5, and taking the game into Overtime. At this point, if you were a Caps fan, you had to be thinking, "my gosh, they are going to do it again, it's pretty unbelievable."

Through the bulk of the overtime period the Caps were outplaying the Canadiens. However, once again, like in the second period Carey Price was good when he had to be. So after repelling Ovechkin and Backstrom, a slightly slow shift change to Semin and Fleischmann allowed Montreal to get a little room, and once again Sergei Kostitsyn found Tomas Plekanec and threaded the needle by a slightly out of position Jeff Schultz giving Plekanec a wide open back side of the net to send home the game winner. Score 6-5, streak over at 14 games; it's a one point night for the Capitals.

It was a great 14 games, but now the Caps can settle in and start everything all over. Further, they no longer have to think about history, they can get back to just playing hockey. That's not a bad thing for example it looks like several guys who were pushing themselves and playing "nicked up" will sit out tonight's game. It also looks like Semyon Varlamov will get his first NHL start tonight since being injured in early December. All those things are good things. Now all we need is for the Caps to forget about the last streak entirely and start a new one tonight in Ottawa. The Senators are the other very hot team in the Eastern Conference, tonight's game promises to be a good one, as long as the Caps forget about their prior 15 games, keep things simple and play with a high energy level. Ottawa will be up for the game, regardless as they are in the middle of a great "push for the playoffs" and are working hard to overtake both Pittsburgh and Buffalo. They just came off an 11 game winning streak of their own, until they ran into a stonewall named J.S. Giguiere on last Saturday night and were shutout by the Maple Leafs 5-0. The Senators bounced back from that loss and beat the Calgary Flames Tuesday evening 3-2 in regulation. That's what the Caps will hopefully do tonight, bounce back from a streak ending loss.

Prediction Caps 4 - Senators 3. GWG: Mike Knuble

LETS GO CAPS!!!

A Look Ahead To Tonight's Caps - Canadiens Game In Montreal

Tonight at Le Centre Bell in Montreal the Washington Capitals will face-off against, arguably, the most storied franchise in NHL history, the 24 time Stanley Cup Champion Montreal Canadiens. It will be the first of a three game roads trip before the Olympics Break starts on February 14th. No one really needs to talk about how the Capitals will be trying to continue their current 14 game winning streak. In fact, I've thought about it and frankly no one should talk about it at all. Franchise records ought to be taken in and only moderate self-satisfaction ought to be realized. Yes, I've thought about it and decided that, like when I used to be a competitive swimmer, and I would achieve a personal best, a franchise record is nothing more or less. Even when that franchise record is the 2nd or 3rd best of all time; how excited and cocky does the US Swimming Team get when a newly assembled Freestyle Relay Team goes out and swims their best time ever as a team and it's the third or fourth best time ever? See what I mean, it's not like they set a new World Record, or in the Caps case, a new league all time record. I'm not suggesting we belittle it, I'm not even suggesting that it be entirely ignored. I am saying the fact is the last 14 games like the remaining 22 regular season games and hopefully upcoming four rounds of the playoffs are all nothing more or less then steps in the journey to the real goal. The only reason to mention "The Streak" when looking at any of these games is that in some cases it provides greater motivation for the Capitals opponents on any given night. The only real reason to celebrate any sort of regular season success is for the possible/arguable benefits that home-ice advantage may provide a team during the most grueling post-season quest in professional sports - the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Speaking of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Stanley Cup, there's also really no reason to talk much about that right now as well. It's only February, a snowy February at that here in the DC Metro Area, which further emphasizes it's a long way to June. In the 34 prior seasons of the Capitals existence they've never won the League Championship, they've only been to the finals once. This year's team is excellent, and they have been playing inspired hockey virtually the entire season. They've been doing that --- (you know what's coming) --- one game at a time. That's what they need to continue to do from now through the end of the Regular Season and then of course through the playoffs. The Canadiens, of any franchise in the NHL know this. There's no way you can be a professional hockey player on the Montreal Roster and not understand that, the history of the franchise and the pressure playing in the media circus that is the NHL in French Canada ensure you never forget it.

The Canadiens, who have been sputtering by with a slightly over 0.500 record and staying on the Eastern Conference Playoff Race bubble for most of the season, would like nothing more than to slay the dragon that the NHL Leading Washington Capitals are tonight. Further this is the fourth and final time the teams meet this regular season, Washington is 2-1-0 and Montreal is 1-1-1 in the prior meetings. Montreal has and is taking pride in the fact that during their prior meetings this season they've were pretty well able to contain Alex Ovechkin with team efforts. However, tonight, those efforts will be complicated by their current injury situation. Montreal has five players trying to battle back from their current injuries: Mike Cammalleri, Marc-Andre Bergerron, Andrei Kostitsyn, Paul Mara. and Benoit Pouliot. For Washington, Defenseman John Erskine is currently out with an injury. Perhaps more significant for motivation is this simple fact, the Canadiens need the points more, will that mean they'll actually want them more, or they will be able to capture them both tonight? That idea seems harder to grasp looking at the numbers, especially the 5 on 5 numbers, though that could be said of many teams in the NHL if you were currently comparing them to Washington. That, of course , is why the play the games on the ice.

The Caps left the DC Metro area yesterday afternoon to avoid any possible travel issues to Montreal today, looking out all our windows here in the DC Metro, that appears to have been a very wise decision. It also gets them banded together and gives them a chance to start the three game road trip off without incident. Given they have back to backs - tonight in Montreal and tomorrow night in Ottawa, avoiding travel complications through some smart planning was even smarter no matter how these games turn out. It should also help the coaching staff keep the team focused. In addition to the press buzz about the streak, several of the Caps key players have this little event looming in Vancouver starting next week and no body coaches, players of fans, want them to loose focus and start thinking about hem too soon.

Keys for the game tonight.

For Montreal: 1) Solid team defense, including having the forwards very involved and back-checking relentlessly when required to do so. 2) Their snipers Tomas Plekanec, Brian Gionta, to have good nights to make up for the lost goal scoring abilities and contributions of the injury depleted forward ranks, they may also need someone like Scott Gomez to up his contributions if they find themselves trying to keep up the the Capitals.3) They need solid defensive performances or better from both Andrei Markov and Hal Gill as these two munch both their own and many of Bergeron's usual minutes on the blue line. 4) Solid goaltending, I'd expect the Canadiens to give the start to Jaroslav Halak who despite loosing his prior start in Boston 3-0, still has a very good SV% (0.927 - 4th best in the NHL right now) through 29 games played in. Finally, 5) even with all four of hte above with the current injuries to their team, if the Caps play their game and do it well, Montreal probably needs a couple of bounces to go their way thanks to the hockey gods, unless Halak decides it's time for his fourth shutout of the season and makes that happen.

For Washington: 1) I've said it several ways above but focus and execute their game plan. 2)Along with maintaining their focus the Caps will likely need to play a patient disciplined game to win tonight. With the injuries Montreal has and their early discussions about team defense, that likely means the Caps will see stacked neutral zone traps as well as 1-2-2 traps often this evening. They'll need to stay with and execute their game plan all 60 minutes tonight as Montreal will be determined NOT to beat themselves. 3) Sound defense from the blue line corps and continued sound goaltending from Jose Theodore. Theodore has lots of reasons to want to have a good, solid game and I expect him to do so again tonight. 4)Second line and secondary scoring. Montreal has the last line change tonight, so they'll be able to get the match-up they want most of the time against Ovechkin-Backstrom-Knuble. However when they do, that means, especially with their injuries the other three lines should find themselves with more time and space. They need to "capitalize" on those opportunities. 5) Actually two final things a) come out fast, this is a road game and it'll be a capacity crowd cheering for their team and b) stay out of the penalty box, Montreal's power play is pretty good and even injury depleted, they have the guns to move the puck around and take advantage of power play opportunities.

Prediction: Caps 5 - Canadiens 2; Semin 2 goals including the GWG fifth goal an empty netter by Ovie with 1:45 left to play.

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Caps 4 - Canadiens 2; A Two Point Night

Well that was a fun one to watch. Nice job by Michael Neuvirth staying alert and not giving up any softies especially in the first period when the Canadeans only had three shots but two were good ones that required a focused goalie staying alert. Neuvirth finished the night with a solid W having stopped 24 of 26 shots on goal for a SV% of 0.923. Nice job by Captain Ovie and Mike Green playing solid games - Ovie was especially responsible playing great two way hockey and led the team in hits with 6; Green had an assist and was +2 on the night. Eric Fehr scored the second Caps goal of the night and is now goal and was . Of course good game by the third star of the game Tom Poti and super game by the second star of the game Alexander Semin who had two goals and the first star of the game Tomas Fleischmann who had a goal, two assists, centered his line and was 67% in the face off circle winning 6 of his 9 draws.

Of course the best thing about tonight was it was a two point night and the Caps arrested their slide at three losses.

Next up Ottawa on Thursday at Verizon Center...

LETS GO CAPS!!!

Day 3 of the 4 Day Weekend ... Recap of Caps - Montreal & Other Big News...

So far this weekend apparently the biggest news in the world is that there was an accident in Central Florida where the driver wrecked his SUV in Florida in an accident that did not involve any other vehicles but took place late at night but the Police Report says Alcohol was not involved, however no one is really sure why the car crash occurred or why the driver was going out at 2:30 in the morning, oh yeah and the driver of the vehicle was Tiger Woods. I mention it in case your local news didn't cover it and you didn't listen to CNN or any other news channels at all any time in the last 48 hours. My view is get a grip people, this isn't news, and who cares why he was going out at 2:30 AM - perhaps as the father of two young children he needed to take a run to the 24 hour Toys - R - Us or 7-11 for more disposable diapers or some such thing, or for whatever reason he wanted to go out for some air, who cares? I mean I turn on the TV to get some news and what do I get? News of the latest act of piracy off Somalia? News of anything to do with the numerous ongoing conflicts, droughts, famine or strife in the world? Scores of the more notable sports rivalries being contested this weekend? No, we get numerous reports that say the same non-news relative to Tiger wrecking his SUV. Give the guy and his family some privacy already, and use the bandwidth to pass on real news. Of course why focus on hard news like how many vessel crews are being held hostage in Somalia, or how many of our nations military are being shot at, or what the root causes and data are behind the continued world economic sluggishness, if you are CNN, when you can talk about a minor traffic accident involving a big celebrity? Rant over back to my other musings.



Well the Caps are once again atop the NHL's Eastern Conference after last night's Shoot Out win over the Montreal Canadiens, by virtue of their 36 points and game in hand on the Pittsburgh "Flightless Birds." In fact the Caps have the second most points in the NHL (36) just two fewer points than the San Jose Sharks who currently lead the league with 38. Using simple extrapolation the Capitals are on track for 112 points this season. Further Caps Star Alexander Ovechkin is on track to score 56 goals and 95+ points again this season. All is right with the world, except of course the large number of Caps who are "dinged up" right now, the lingering "Michael Nylander" situation, the continued issues with "closing out a win" and staying out of the penalty box in the third period. However all that doesn't really matter ... as several Caps including Eric Fehr, Alexander Ovechkin, Mike Green, Nicklas Backstrom and Semyon Varlamov made up their minds they were going to do whatever it took to come home from Montreal with Two Points.

The post game quote of the night has to be Nicklas Backstrom's comment: "The NHL is not easy." You gotta love the simplicity and accuracy of that statement.

Semyon Varlamov's SV% last night 21 of 24 for 0.875 wasn't close to his best statistical performance of the season, but with the Caps down 3-2 in the third he came up big several times as Montreal tried valiantly to put the game away, and on the shootout he showed his skill, athleticism and flexibility on all three Canadien attempts. The fact he did it in front of Russia's Olympic Coach, former CCCP goaltender great Vladislav Tretiak, couldn't have hurt the 21 year old rookie's chances of making the Russian Olympic team and going to Vancouver in February. Oh and Varlamov finished the night with the following interesting statistic - his regular season record is now 10-1-2, though he may be ready for a one game rest when they face the Carolina Hurricanes at RBC Center in Raleigh tomorrow night as he has now played the last four games in a row though he will have a day's rest today and the Caps have Tuesday and Wednesday off this week as well.

Eric Fehr on his game, in the paint, is money, plain and simple - 'nuff said. With Fehr in that role and performing, when you add Chris Clark, Brooks Laich, Mike Knuble, as well as occassionally Nicklas Backstrom, Brendan Morrison, Alexander Ovechkin and Tomas Fleischmann driving the net this year's edition of the Capitals is something akin to "Lions Storming The Gate" compared to recent season's past. And it all shows as of this morning the Caps have 7 players: Ovechkin, Semin, Laich, B-Mo, Flash, Fehr and Knuble on pace for 20 goal seasons. To date, twenty different guys wearing Capital sweaters have scored NHL goals this season and for much of the past two months we here in the blogsphere haven't felt the need to discuss a need for more "secondary scoring." This is a maturing, if not mature team clearly poised to take a run deep into the playoffs as long as they don't get "too cute."

Sure there's plenty to continue to worry about relative to the Caps but keeping things in perspective after last night's victory against the Canadiens the Caps again awoke to find themselves atop the Eastern Conference. Now as the San Jose Sharks have shown us all in recent past seasons, winning your conference in the regular season doesn't guarantee or portend much of anything with regard to playoff success but finding whatever you need to within yourselves to still win when maybe you shouldn't - that's something else...

Next up SE Division Rivals Carolina in Raleigh tomorrow night ...

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Caps vs. Canadeans Tonight at Le Centre Bell ... A Lookahead and A Review of the Season To Date

Tonight in Montreal the Capitals (aka the Red, White and Blue) take on Les Candeans (Le Bleu, Blanc, et Rouge) in the second of four regular season games and the Caps first visit to Montreal this season. The two teams met just eight days ago in DC with the Canadeans handing the Caps a 3-2 Loss at home in Verizon Center; how's that for motivation, Caps fans?

The story of tonight's game is both teams are coming into it pretty banged up. The Caps still have 6 players from the opening night roster who are doubtful, and they are still carrying Michael Nylander on the payroll. The Caps injury list currently reads as follows per Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post: 1) Alexander Semin, 2) Tom Poti, 3) Mike Knuble, 4) Shoane Morrisonn, 5) Boyd Gordon, and 6) Quintin Laing (over $8M of Salary Cap though with the rules and various people on LTIR the Caps are working quite hard to stay under the Cap). Add to the above Michael Nylander ($5.5M of salary, $4.875M of Cap hit) who isn't playing because the Caps are trying to deal him and Tyler Sloan who has returned to Calgary due the death of a close family member and you have eight players who were either potential opening night or were on the opening night roster out just 8 weeks into the season. Thankfully for us Washington fans, the Capitals are quite deep as has been noted around the league and despite the injuries that have plagued them most of this month, they are still 6-3-3 (0.625) for November.

The Habs have their share of players out as well. The injured or suspended Canadeans who won't be playing in tonight's contest consist of: Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez (possible return to the lineup tonight), Matt D'Agostini, Georges Laroque (suspended), Andrei Markov, Benoît Pouliot (recent pickup from Minnesota, possible but has yet to play a game for Montreal), Andrei Kostitsin (skating but listed as unlikely) and Jaroslav Spacek (who may return to the lineup tonight). In fact per Habs Inside Out, Canadiens head coach Jacques Martin has said he will use seven defencemen and 11 forwards because of the lack of healthy bodies.

This season so far for the Capitals has been a little up and down. The Caps opened the season with an 8-2-3 record and 19 points in October (0.731) and so far for November they are 6-3-3 (0.625). That's 14-5-6 on the season for 34 points and technically they lead the Eastern Conference though Pittsburgh also has 34 points, since the Caps have a game in hand on the Penguins. For the season the Caps are playing 0.680 hockey, that's on pace for a 111 point season, and even their more recent pace of 0.625 is on pace for 103 points. In their last game against the Sabres the Caps showed that even with this spate of injuries if they play disciplined hockey and within the abilities of the players available on the ice, on any given night, they can skate with and beat any other team in the NHL. As the injuries heal the results should also improve. However, as we've all seen as well this season, there are no "gimme" games in the new, improved, salary capped NHL. It continues to be a good season to be a Capitals fan but boy wouldn't $4.875M of salary cap space be nice if the Capitals can find a way to get it before the trade deadline, heck if he continues to play like he did against the Sabres, even keeping enough Cap Space to keep Karl Alzner up here in DC would be pretty nice too...

The rumour is that Semyon Valramov will again get the nod and start tonight, Varly has been quite hot lately and of course notched his first NHL shutout last game against the Sabres. It's also likely that Carey Price will again be in the nets for Montreal tonight, Price has been hot of late though he did apparently look human in the Hab's last game, a loss at Pittsburgh. The last time these two teams met, the Habs did a good job of keeping Alexander Ovechkin bottled up, expect Canadeans coach Jaques Martin to use the home ice advantage of last change to again do the same. However, I also expect the Capitals to play a more disciplined game, one like they played their last game against the Sabres when they used the 1-4 to hobble a speedy Buffalo team, especially if all the potential returnees to the Habs lineup appear on the ice in Montreal tonight. It's entirely possible that tonight's game ould be a goaltender's duel, if it is, expect the difference to be - - - Alexander Ovechkin, Chris Clark and Brooks Laich. The Habs kept Ovechkin off the board last game, if they can do it again and Carey Price stays pretty hot, tonight will be tough going for the Caps unless the Caps star responds and gets some drive to the net from Clark and Laich to keep some pressure on the Habs goalie.

It should be a fun game to watch. I'll be Rockin' the Red from the comfort of my den in Bristow, VA. How about y'all?

After musing, my prediction is Caps 4 - Canadeans 2. GWG - Brooks Laich.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

Caps 4 - Montreal 3 (SO)

Another two point night at Verizon Center for the Capitals. Though thanks to three Montreal Canadien power play goals this win didn't come easily for the Caps. The Canadiens got on the board first with a quick power play goals from There was a highlight reel goal from Christopher Higgins at the 2:33 mark. Then at the 10:07 mark Alexander Ovechkin scored another GGGRRREEEAAATTTT highlight reel goal. The Peerless has a good description and a link to a video of it that I can't duplicate or otherwise match. I'll just use the word that Ovechkin himself uses to describe things like this - it was really sick! and that's sick in a good way.

At the 13:42 mark the Capitals in the form of Nicklas Backstrom took a 2-1 lead when he scored a power play goal of their own - his 14th goal of the season. However the Caps then surrendered the lead, allowing the Canadiens to tie the game with another power play goal at the 17:03 mark of the first period by Andrei Kostitsyn. The score then remained tied through the entire second period and well into the third until Montreal took the lead at the 8:57 mark of the third period when Tomas Plekanec scored the Canadiens third power play goal of the night. While the Caps seemed to generally control the game more often then not at even strength it took them until the 17:21 mark to once again tie the game. At that juncture, David Steckel tied the game up with another even strength goal. The game went into and through overtime and ended in a shootout. The Caps first two shooters Aleander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom both put the puck past Carey Price while at the other end Jose Theodore "took care of business" stopping shots from both Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Markov.

Mystery of the night: 1) How Markov gets the first star of the game?

Next up the Colorado Avalanche on Friday evening at Verizon Center.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!