The Caps even missed the services of Mike Green for a couple of those games, and didn’t miss a beat.

The injury bug finally caught up with them when Mike Knuble was injured Friday night and absent from Saturday’s game in New Jersey.

Knuble hasn’t been the prolific scorer that Ovechkin is, but he’s a hard worker. He wears down opponents.  He finds the open slots, controls and moves the puck well, and if he sees a few inches of daylight, he’ll score on you.

The Caps still got good pressure on New Jersey. I don’t want to take anything away from the team. They fought hard against a rested New Jersey team, and a future hall-of-fame netminder in Marty Brodeur, but they missed Knuble who plays well from in front of the crease gobbling up rebounds for either redistribution, or second chance attempts.

Hopefully he feels better soon; and with that, let’s get to some recapping.

Wednesday, November 11^th, vs. NY Islanders – :08 seconds in and the Caps were up 1-0 thanks to Alex Semin. Six minutes later the Caps were down 3-1 and Jose Theodore was replaced by Semyon Varlamov. A period and a half later, the Caps were up 4-3, and with less than three minutes left in regulation, the Islanders tied the game on the power-play and forced overtime. After a scoreless overtime period, the game came down to a shootout. The Caps elected to shoot first. After the obligatory three rounds, both teams had scored a goal. With each stop of a Caps’ shot, it put all the pressure on Varlamov, as the Islanders could end the game with their next goal. Verizon Center was on it’s feet, and in the 11^th round it was Chris Clark that finally put the pressure on New York when he scored. Semyon held his team’s fate in his glove literally as he caught New York’s final shot and ended the game with a big win and a big grin! Washington would win 5-4.

The goal that tied the record – Alex Semin’s goal in the first :08 seconds tied a Caps record for the fastest first goal of a game that dates back to March 14^th, 1987.

Note to the fans – Shootout goals do not count for season stats or hat-tricks. Alex Semin’s goal during the shoot-out was in fact the third time he had put a puck in the net, but it doesn’t count as a “hat-trick.” This can actually have the unintended consequence of icing your own goalie, as he waits nervously while all the hats are cleaned up off the ice. Thankfully; it didn’t take long for the hats to be cleared, and I think Varlamov has ice in his veins.

The Goalie of record – After giving up three goals in the game’s first six minutes, Jose Theodore was given the night off. When Alex Semin tied the game at 3 early in the 2^nd period, it became Varlamov’s game to lose. He played 57 minutes (including OT) and stopped 25 of 26 shots surrendering his only goal while NY was on the power-play. Words cannot accurately convey how spectacular he was in the shoot-out.

Friday, November 13^th, vs. Minnesota – Coming into Verizon off a tough shootout loss in Tampa, the Minnesota Wild should have been exhausted. They started off strong outshooting the Caps 7-1 in the first half of the first period, but after that it was all Washington who outshot Minnesota 32-9 over the next period and a half. Cal Clutterbuck, who torched Washington last season for two goals, got his third against the home team as he put Minnesota on the board first just 1:31 into the second period. It was the first time in eight games that Washington hadn’t notched the game’s first goal. Defenders Mike Green and Brian Pothier scored two for the Caps to put them back on top and it was Brooks Laich with the empty netter that put the game out of reach. Minnesota would fall 3-1.

Varly is Gnarly – Varlamov stopped 55 of 57 shots in the 117 minutes he played this week. He is now 11-1-1 in regular season games, and 7-1-0 this season. He has a .912 save percentage and a 2.67 goals against average in his games this year.

On the bright side – The loss of Mike Knuble comes just as the Caps are about to welcome back Alex Ovechkin. This should leave room on the roster for the Caps latest call-up, Mathieu Perreault. In Perreault’s six games he has 2 goals and 3 assists and a 22% shooting percentage.

Saturday, November 14^th, @ New Jersey – Washington entered New Jersey tied for first place in the Eastern conference. Washington was riding a four game winning streak; New Jersey had won their last eight straight. Just as the game was five minutes old, the Caps had a 2-0 lead; unfortunately it would be all New Jersey from there. Bruce Boudreau was looking for his 100^th career victory but would have to wait a little longer as he watched New Jersey score five unanswered goals over the next 38 minutes. Washington, who had played pretty disciplined hockey over their last four victories, began to come apart as they pressed for answer goals. The Caps gave up several odd-man breaks, breakaway goals, and started committing penalties that greatly hindered their come-back effort. In the end, the Caps fell 5-2 and slipped to second in the Eastern Conference.

Random Scoring Stats – For the fourth time this season, the Caps scored on their first shot of the game. For the first time the season, the Caps found themselves down by as many as three goals.

Reaching a milestone – Caps’ Captain Chris Clark played his 500^th game Saturday night.

Coming Up – The Caps are hanging around in Jersey waiting for their matchup Tuesday versus the Rangers. Then they come back for a Friday night game versus the Canandiens, and immediately head to Toronto to face former Caps Coach Ron Wilson and his struggling Maple Leafs.

New York is always a tough opponent for Washington, especially in New York, but it is looking like the Caps are going to get some high powered help with the return of Ovechkin. Having a few days off before facing Montreal should help the Caps, but the overnight flight to Toronto could make that game a little more even than it would be ordinarily.

If I’m Coach Boudreau, I start Varlamov versus New York and Montreal, and give him a break Saturday by starting Theodore versus the Leafs.

All in all, it’s been a good week for the Caps, but now I’m off to write a ‘Skins blog as they finally put together a game to be proud of this week!

C-A-P-S Caps! Caps! Caps!

It’s another Monday, so it must be time for another Caps Recap!

After suffering through four straight losses, the Capitals have bounced back and added two more games to the win column last week and have now won four straight. This is certainly worth celebrating, but the fact is, the Caps are still not playing really good hockey. To say their power play is not performing would be an understatement; their power play has proven to be a liability as their opponents scored two shorthanded goals while the Caps went 0-11 on the power play last week alone.

I suppose you could say the Caps went -2 for 11 on the PP.

Something else that is interesting is that Caps superstar Alex Ovechkin was rendered without a goal in both of this past week’s contests. You might say that a large part of the teams woes have to do with the slump that Ovechkin finds himself in, which could have something to do with the absence of Alex Semin on the second line.

Superstars not withstanding; the Caps have seen their B-liner’s step it up and that’s what you need from a good hockey team. Their wins may not have been pretty, but you get no extra points for style.

Let’s get to the recap

Thursday, October 22^nd – Caps @ Atlanta – In keeping with their trend, the Caps jumped out to an early lead when Eric Fehr scored on an early breakaway just 2:02 into the game. Atlanta matched them step for step in the first period and both teams went into the locker-room tied at 2 goals apiece. In the second period, the Caps victimized Thrashers’ goalie Ondrej Pavalec by scoring three goals in :88 seconds and ending his night early. The Caps’ special teamers gave up a shorthanded and a power-play goal in the third period, but the team managed to hang on and eek out a 5-4 victory.

Dialing Long Distance – Midway through the second period, Jeff Schultz got the gift of a lifetime scoring a goal from 190 feet away. As he rounded his own net, he received a pass from Caps’ netminder Semyon Varlamov, and tried to pass the puck up the ice to Mike Knuble. As far as passes go, it wasn’t a very good one and never connected with Knuble, but it skipped it’s way up the ice taking an extremely lucky (or unlucky, depending on whom you were rooting for) bounce a mere seven feet from Thrasher’s goalie Ondrej Pavalec shooting right up over his glove and into the net.

Noticeably Absent – The Capital’s “Young Guns” (Ovechkin, Backstrom, Semin and Green) were each held without a point in Thursday’s game versus Atlanta (to be fair, Semin wasn’t playing due to injury). The Caps were 0-1 this year when their young stars were held scoreless, and went 1-9-1 in the few times that it happened last year.

Maybe it’s the name Alex… – With Alexander Semin out with an injury, and Alexander Ovechkin having trouble finding the back of the net, it fell to Alexandre Giroux to get an Alex on the score sheet. Giroux’s goal in the first period was his fourth ever NHL goal and it comes against the organization that let him slip away in the minors. Giroux played for the Thrasher’s AHL affiliate in Chicago for the first part of the ‘07-‘08 season where he was coached by the Thrashers’ current head coach, John Anderson.

Saturday, October 24^th – Caps @ NY Islanders – Caps’ fans who tuned in late may have been surprised to see their team behind after the first period. It’s the first time the Caps have trailed to start a game this season. The Caps struggled to find an answer all game and rotated several different forward through the Ovechkin-Backstrom line. The Caps still struggled on the power-play, and gave up their second short-handed goal in as many games. The Caps dug deep and finally found their goal scorer mentality and it was Mike Green that led the charge. Keith Aucoin tied the game up, and it was Brooks Laich that won the game in overtime.

That was ugly – This game should not have been as close as it was. The Caps came in with a 5-2-2 record to face an Islander team with only one win for the season. Senior Writer for WashingtonCaps.com had it right when he said “wins are like goals; you don’t ask ‘how,’ you ask ‘how many.’” If the Caps don’t figure out the ‘how’ and soon it’s going to be a long week.

For more Caps Coverage – check out this blog by Bosshog “Caps Steal One in Overtime”

Coming up, the Caps are bringing home the Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow night, and then it’s going to feel like Déjà vu as the Caps square off against the Thrashers (in Atlanta on Thursday) and Islanders (at Verizon Center on Friday) again.

With both of Washington’s teams facing a Philadelphia opponent (Redskins tonight, Capitals tomorrow, both televised nationally) it’s going to smell an awful lot like cheese-steak around here for the next coupla days.

Something tells me it’s going to be up to the Caps to split the difference.

C-A-P-S Caps! Caps! Caps!

This report was patently false, although there is a decent chance that Brash could be suspended for contact with Colton Orr during the pre-game skate and the viscious hit (although clean, IMHO) he put on Blair Betts during Game 6, a hit that resulted in a broken orbital bone for the Blueshirts top penalty killer.

From the NHL.com’s Rangers-Capitals blog:

ESPN erroneously reported that Mike Green and Brashear were suspended this morning. The Brashear news is a possibility, but not official. The Green report was shocking and completely untrue. I’m told that a fan posing as a Washington Post reporter called ESPN and told them Green and Brashear were suspended. ESPN put it on its bottom line ticker and reported it on SportsCenter this morning. It was completely untrue and they retracted it immediately. Green was laughing about it this afternoon.

If Brash can’t go, Captain Chris Clark would likely get the nod, with Michael Nylander an outside possibility.

On one side, there’s the young, four-year veteran who is regarded as one of the best young goalies in the NHL. On the other side is a raw but talented 20-year old prospect that is in line to be the future goaltender of his team who is making his first career playoff start.

Rookie Simeon Varlamov replaced Jose Theodore, who allowed four goals in Wednesday’s one-goal loss. The bold move was announced to the team Saturday morning.

Varlamov allowed only one goal in his impressive debut but for the time being it is overshadowed by the Game 2 loss and the two-game hole the team has dug itself into.

The deciding goal came with 12:16 to play in the first period. Varlamov failed to stop the puck from flying over his left shoulder once Rangers right winger Ryan Callahan fired the shot. He finished the game with 23 saves.

“He was phenomenal tonight. He did everything he could. There was nothing he could have done on the goal. It was a backdoor one-timer right under the bar,” defenseman Brian Pothier said. “He was solid. I don’t think he made any mistakes tonight.”

The Capitals tried everything they could to get a shot past the Ranger’s Henrik Lundqvist but were incapable of taking him out of his game. Washington continuously attacked the net, outshooting New York 35-24 but was unable to get anything to go through.

“It was just a matter of us finding a way to score a goal. We had a ton of chances. They blocked a ton of shots. We need to figure out some kind of recipe to get some goals,” Pothier said.

The lack of points was not the result of a lack of effort on the Capitals’ part. They have outshot the Rangers 70-46 in the series so far. That statistic and the fact that they are down 0-2 should say more about the performance of Lundqvist than it does about Washington’s offense.

“We played a great game, I thought. We made a mistake and they capitalized on it. We couldn’t penetrate their defense they had. They did a great job of blocking shots and Lundqvist is obviously an exceptional goalie so we need to figure out a way to get pucks through,” Pothier said.

The Capitals started the game fast and attacked the net as they tend to do but towards the end, passing miscues continued to hinder scoring chances.

Another factor in the two losses was the team’s failure to alter their regular season style of play to accommodate their postseason matchups, Mike Green said.

“I think we’re just so used to playing a certain way and now with playoff hockey the game changes a bit and we have to adjust. If you’re going to win you have to adjust.”

Washington, who boasts the NHL’s third best road record, will have to continue their playoff quest in New York’s Madison Square Garden on Monday. In order to be successful, they must find a way to solve the predicament Lundqvist puts them in on a game-by-game basis.

Ovechkin may be knocking off records held by previous Caps left and right, but Green’s achievement is one that even the Great-Eight doesn’t have yet. Green’s eight game goal scoring streak is the longest by a Capital since ‘86-’87 when Mike Gartner went on a nine-game goal-scoring run.

The Caps as a team did pretty well this week also, going 2-0-1 versus their three opponents. Unfortunately, thanks to their overtime loss versus New York, they have allowed the New Jersey Devils to catch up with them. They are now tied for 4^th in the league, tied for second in the Eastern Conference, but still hold a 13-point lead in the Southeast division.

Let’s get to the recap.

Wednesday, Feb. 11^th – Rangers Slip Past Caps in Shootout – The Caps returned to Madison Square Garden where they had beaten the Rangers 5-4 back on December 23^rd. The Rangers looked to beat up on the Caps as there were two fights before the game was even three minutes old. After two periods, both teams were dead-locked at four goals apiece. In the third period, the officials put the Caps penalty-killers to the test as they doled out 10-minutes worth of minor penalties to the visitors from Washington. The game would finally be decided by combination of a lucky bounce and a favorable interpretation of the rules.

Um, excuse me, Miss? – Ryan Callahan’s game-winning shot in overtime missed the net completely. It ricocheted off the back wall, hit Theodore from behind and slid into the net. The goal was initially waved off as a missed shot, but as soon as it slid across the line, the officials ruled it a goal. Ordinarily, this would be acceptable during regular game-play, but the shootout has different rules. For example, the shooter cannot go below the goal line (like to attempt a wrap-around) so if the puck misses the net, it should be the end of the play. Apparently, the officials in New York didn’t see it that way.

Saturday, Feb. 14^th – Caps Blitz Bolts 5-1 – This was a very special game for the Caps as many of their fathers were in attendance. It saw Mike Green break the NHL record for most consecutive games with a goals scored by a defenseman, but it was also the first NHL start for Michal Neuvirth. The Caps were never in any danger of losing this game as they gave their rookie net-minder a three-goal lead to protect in the first period. Tampa actually out-shot Washington for the first two periods but Neuvirth put together a solid performance even robbing Vincent Lacavalier on a late first period breakaway.

Show the Rookie some love – The Caps have now seen two of their rookie net-minders this season in Simeon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth; the two are a combined 3-0. Neuvirth had a 0.979 save percentage versus Tampa stopping 31 of 32 shots he faced.  Neuvirth faced down Vincent Lacavalier, Marty St. Louis, and Mark Recchi as if he’d been doing it for years and kept all three out of the net. Recchi has made a great career of scoring against the Capitals as he has the second most points by a single player versus the Washington Franchise with 108. To put that in perspective, Gretzky had 105 and Lemieux had 101 in their careers versus the Caps.

Sunday, Feb. 15^th – Caps Tame Panthers 4-2 – The Panthers may have ended Mike Green’s record setting streak, but were beaten by Washington’s top goal scorer. Alex Ovechkin got the scoring started when he sailed the puck past Florida Goalie Thomas Vokoun near the end of the first period. Florida began their comeback midway through the second period and had tied the game at two apiece early in the third. Ovechkin would go on to record a hat trick when he got the game winning and the coffin-nail goals in the game’s final three minutes.

Overshadowed stat – Alex Semin registered an assist on Ovechkin’s first goal of the night. This gives Semin his 50^th point of the season. Why is that such a big deal? Semin now joins Ovechkin (74 points), Backstrom (60 points), and Green (50 points) in the 50-point club. Washington is now the only team with four 50-point producers on the year.

The Wrap Up – Washington saw some significant improvement from their penalty killers this week allowing only one PPG on 16 power-play chances. I suppose you could say they have had plenty of practice as they averaged 5 penalties per game. The next thing they need to figure out is how to stay out of the penalty box. It’s no secret that I have no love for the on-ice officiating and feel the refs give the other teams the benefit of the doubt far more frequently than they do the Caps, Even so, home cooking can only account for so many penalties and there were plenty of examples of bone-headedness to be had from the Caps.

Considering the Caps played all three games on the road and came away with five points, I’d say they did pretty well.

Coming up – The Caps play three games this week, all in front of their home fans. Each of their opponents is floundering and have each lost more than they’ve won in their past 10 games as of this article. The Caps start their week off Wednesday with Montreal who is 3-7-0 in their last 10, but are still second in their division. Then they bring in the Avalanche with the same recent record as the Habs, and they finish their week with the Penguins on Sunday.

Washington lost their last meeting with Montreal, and are notorious for losing to mediocre Western Conference teams (see L.A.). Even though the Penguins are struggling this year, I wouldn’t count them out either. This is a clear example of a week that looks easier on paper than it will be on ice.

Home Cooking – The Caps will be seeing a lot of red here in the next few weeks as they play nine of their next ten games at Verizon Center. Washington is currently 22-4-1 when “Rocking the Red.”

Alex Ovechkin scored his 200^th career goal making him only the fifth player in NHL history to score 200 goals in his first four years. Mike Green broke a franchise record for consecutive games with a goal scored by a defenseman as he is currently on a six-game goal scoring streak.

The Caps did lose the services of Net-Minder Brent Johnson as he went in for surgery on a hip flexor that has plagued him all year. He is expected to be out for the next eight weeks, but may be back in time for the play-offs.

After starting the week off with a convincing win over New Jersey, the Caps had an equally convincing loss to Los Angles. The horrific play versus L.A. resulted in the return of fan favorite Karl Alzner from Hershey. The Caps defense improved dramatically as they bounced back to beat division-rival Florida in a low scoring affair Saturday night at Verizon Center.

Let’s get to some recapping.

Tuesday, Feb. 3^rd – @ New Jersey – In a game that meant the difference between 2^nd and 3^rd place in the Eastern Conference, the Capitals staved off the Devils in a 5-2 victory. They did this by jumping out to a 3-0 lead and going three for four on the power-play. New Jersey, who was fresh off comeback overtime wins over Boston and Pittsburg looked like they might do the same versus the Caps as the scored to end the second and begin the third periods bringing the score to 3-2, but it was Michael Nylander’s power-play goal, and Eric Fehr’s empty netter that finally tamed the Devils.

Perfect Timing – Michael Nylander hadn’t scored twice in a game since December 29, 2007. Nylander scored only his 6^th and 7^th goals of the season versus New Jersey and it’s appropriate that one of his two goals would be the game-winner. “He doesn’t like to shoot,” Washington’s Coach Boudreau said after the game. “We have a few of those guys, and then we have one guy who shoots every chance he gets. He makes up for those guys.”

Wow, that was fast – Brooks Laich scored the Capital’s second goal, just four seconds into the team’s second power-play opportunity.

Thursday, Feb. 5^th – versus Los Angles – The sellout crowd at Verizon Center had barely had time to find their seats before Alex Semin had scored the team’s first goal; just 0:15 seconds into the first period. Unfortunately, the Caps faithful had been in their seats for a while (and had watched the Kings score three straight goals) before Mike Green would score the second.  By the end of the second period, L.A. had a comfortable 4-2 lead. The Caps would attempt to stage a late rally, but it was too little, too late as they would fall to L.A. 5-4.

We’ve secretly replaced the Capital’s defense with Foldger’s Crystals – The Capitals looked sloppy and disjointed versus the Kings. Bad passing and worse turnovers seemed to be the name of the game. “The first two periods were as bad as we’ve played all year,” lamented Caps coach Bruce Boudreau afterwards. “They’ve got good speed, and they were coming up the middle well. Our guys were all over the place. We weren’t playing anywhere near what we’re supposed to be doing. That’s the frustrating part of the game.”

Bittersweet – Alex Ovechkin scored his 200^th goal in his 296^th game. It’s a huge milestone as he is now only the fifth to do so in league history. It’s a shame it had to come in a losing effort.

Saturday, Feb. 7^th – versus Florida – Florida may be a distant speck in the rear-view mirror as far as the Southeast point standings go, but that was no reason for the Caps to take them lightly. Following the pattern of the L.A. game, the Caps scored first, just 0:33 seconds into the game. The teams were deadlocked 1-1 after the first and second periods. It was Mike Green’s early third period, PPG that broke the tie. Florida was granted a golden opportunity late in the third as they were give the two-man advantage with Sergei Federov and Shaone Morrison called for penalties less than a minute apart. Morrison’s 5-minute major meant the Panthers would be on the power-play for the rest of the game.

The Caps had been on a 13-game streak where they had given up at least one power-play goal, but on this night the streak would be broken as it would be Mike Green scoring short-handed on the empty net to finally put the Panthers to bed.

Green Light – Mike Green is one game away from tying the league record for consecutive games with a goal scored by a defenseman. That record was established by Boston’s Mike O’Connell who tallied in seven straight games for the Bruins in January of 1984. O’Connell netted a career-high 18 goals that season. Green has now scored seven goals in his past six games, and currently has 19 goals on the season.

The Wrap Up – The Caps played well versus their Eastern Conference rivals, but not so much against a mediocre Western Conference Opponent. Nine of the Caps’ 16 losses have come at the hands of Western Conference opponents to whom they are 7-9-0. The Caps seem to play great against the top teams in the East, and look like they may be playing late into the play-offs, but they will need to figure out a way to put away the West if they want to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Coming Up – The Caps are going to be busy as they wrap up the month of February. They play three games this week; all on the road. They start off in New York this Wednesday versus the Rangers, and spend this weekend in Florida with back-to-back game versus the Lightning and Panthers. They return to Verizon next week where they start a five-game home stand and play six games in 11 days to wrap up the month.

The Caps are still 4^th in the league, 2^nd in the Eastern Conference and 1^st in their division, and are in no danger of losing their position to any of their next three opponents, but with New Jersey nipping at their heels, they will need to win versus all three.

I’m going to do things a little differently for this week’s recapping by giving you the good and the bad.

That’s good! – No Fly Zone – After the 7-1 thrashing the Caps had taken from the Flyers in their last meeting the Caps played a much more solid game of hockey this time. It quickly became apparent that the Caps were stressing defense this time around. After three periods, and the overtime the shots on goal were 34 apiece, and the score was still locked at 1-all. It was Victor Kozlov that scored the only goal in the shootout that sent the hated Flyers home with an OTL.

That’s Bad – Love for Ovie – Alex Ovechkin had scored a goal in each of the previous nine home games prior to the Flyers game where he did not notch so much as an assist.

That’s Good! – The All-Star Nod – Alex Ovechkin was officially named to the Eastern Conference All Star team this week. It was more of a formality as most knew he was going to be in last week, even if he was snubbed from the starting line-up.

That’s Bad – 8 is not enough – Ovie was the only Capital to get an All-Star invite, even with the great play of Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green this season. It’s still amazing to me that the Canadiens get four players in the starting line-up while they are ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference, and the Caps are lucky to get the League MVP on the team while they are ranked second only to Boston.

That’s Good! – Record shatters Record for Best Record – The Caps 27-11-3 and 57 points qualify for the best first half of a season in Caps’ history.

That’s Bad – What’s worse than getting a tie for your birthday? – Getting a loss. The Caps got blanked 3-0 on the 54^th anniversary of their bench boss’ birth when they faced Columbus at Verizon Center last week. I know you can’t get ties in the NHL anymore, but an OTL would have been better than a loss. Hopefully they do better when they play on my birthday on the 19^th.

That’s Good! – Healthy Returns – The Caps saw the return of Thomas Fleischmann and Sergei Federov this past Friday. Fleischmann apparently had the flu, and Federov was listed as injured for so long that he probably forgot why he listed as injured in the first place. I know I did. Was it something to do with his ankle?

That’s Bad – Check that net for shrink wrap – The Caps may have been shut out versus Columbus but it certainly wasn’t for lack of effort. Washington poured the shots on goal, and outshot Columbus 45-23. They had at least four shots ring off the post but nothing seemed to bounce the Caps way.

That’s Good! – The Capitals bounced back from their 3-0 loss by hanging four goals on their next opponent; The Montreal Canadiens.

That’s Bad – Unfortunately the Canadiens scored five. The Caps entered the third period with a 2-1 lead, but let the Canadiens score four goals in the third while only scoring two themselves. The game appeared to be headed to Overtime, but that chance slipped away with 00:21 seconds left in regulation.

That’s Good! – A pattern of Hope? – The Caps have been shut out three times this season. They have lost the next game after each shutout, but have gone on to win six of the next seven after that.

That’s Bad – Unfortunately the Caps face the Bruins (twice) and Redwings as three of their next seven opponents. Boston is currently ranked second in the league standings followed by the Detroit Redwings at third, and Capitals at fourth.

That’s Bad – Part Two – Who’s this friggin’ Guy? – The Caps only had to register a point to send their Coach Bruce Boudreau to the All-Star game as an assistant coach for the Eastern Conference. Montreal had to win to send their coach Guy (pronounced “Ghee”) Carbonneau. Bruce is going to watch the game at home with the rest of us; While Montreal gets yet another All-Star nod.

Funny how the All-Star game is being played in Montreal; The Montreal Canadiens already have four starters for the All-Star game even though they are the fourth place team in the conference. The game that decides which coach gets the nod is decided in Montreal. The Canadiens are given two 5-on-3 power-plays after the Caps get the go-ahead goal in the second period and convert for two goals to start the third period….

…I’m calling shenanigans!

The Wrap up – Even though the Caps lost their last two games, they really didn’t play all that bad. There were a few times where a guy might be out of position, and a couple of times where guys bumped into each other, but some of that is to be expected when you shuffle up the line combinations as the Caps did when they got Fleischmann and Federov back.

I’m not quite ready to hit the panic button just yet. Yes the Caps lost two in a row, but nobody wins them all. They are still in good shape and none of their rankings slid (they are still first in their division, second in their conference and fourth in the league). Their opponents did get to catch up on them a little though so they will need to get back on the winning track to keep their conference and league rankings in place. Otherwise, they are in no real danger in the Southeast as they still hold a 10-point lead there.

Coming up – The Caps start their week off tomorrow at Verizon Center when they welcome in the 21^st ranked Edmonton Oilers. Immediately after that they head up to Pittsburgh on Wednesday to face a Penguins team that has lost eight of their last ten games. They finish their week on Saturday by welcoming the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins to Verizon Center.

Final Thought – The Capitals are one superstar goalie away from being the best team in the league. It’s hard to say anything bad about the work that Johnson and Theodore have been doing as of late, but I’m not ready to consider them “franchise goaltenders” just yet. My blood boils when I consider the burn left by Cristobal Huet as he spurned the Caps for Chicago. The thoughts of what could’ve been will really drive you crazy.

The fact that Johnson and Theodore are playing so “on the bubble” makes it difficult to say the Caps should bring Varlamov up from the AHL for good, because he is still technically an unknown. So unless Caps GM George McPhee has any other magic tricks up his sleeve that can pull in a guy like Steve Mason or Roberto Luongo, I don’t think the Caps are true cup contenders this year.

This doesn’t mean that they won’t be fun to watch in the meantime, and you never know when it comes to George McPhee, we’ve seen him pull rabbits out of hats before.