They got two of a possible six points last week. That might be great if you were the last place team in the league, but when you’re riding high atop the NHL, two out of six doesn’t cut it. So what happened? Personally for me, I think the beginning of the end started with the emotional overtime win versus Pittsburgh.

After trailing 4-1, the Caps managed to battle back and win 6-5 and the celebration was akin to winning game seven. It was the second time the Caps had beaten Pittsburgh in their 14-game winning streak. After a bounce back like that, how could any team beat them?

I think the Caps began to believe their own press. Who needs defense when you can overcome a three goal deficit in the third period? When the Caps skated against Montreal, the Canadiens scored on their very first shot before the game was a minute old. The Caps didn’t get worried; they bounced back and scored one of their own. The Caps even took the lead to start the second period…but then they got sloppy. Montreal scored four goals in the second period and put Washington in a 5-2 hole. Sure, it didn’t help matters that the refs got together and waved off a goal without any form of video review, but when you give up four goals in a period, you have to recognize that you have a serious problem.

You wouldn’t pull your goalie for the whole game would you? Of course not! Why? Well sure, it gives you the extra attacker, and you have an offensive advantage, but it’s a lot easier for your opponent to score on you than it is for you to score on them. When you don’t play defense, and you’re not careful with the puck, you have left your goalie on an island.

The Caps went on their high scoring winning streak by being solid in their own end. It wasn’t just Theodore, it was defensemen being in the right position and sweeping rebounds into the corners. It’s not just the defensemen; forwards have to be back there to clean up the corners on the back-check. They can’t all be waiting at the blue-line for the outlet pass, they have to get back there and help clean up the boards.

In Montreal, the Caps made a last second score that forced overtime. Just like in Pittsburgh, they forced overtime through sheer will. They felt like the game was theirs for the taking…right up until Plekanec scored the game winner for Montreal with :08 seconds left in the overtime period.

So they lost, right? It had to happen sometime. The puck just didn’t bounce their way. They still bounced back from a three goal deficit, nothing to worry about, they’ll get ‘em next time, right?

Well, not exactly. Y’see, when the streak was hot, everyone wanted to be part of it. Now that the burden of the streak was over, they didn’t have all that pressure. So the next night when they went into Ottawa, they could make some changes. The Caps welcomed back Semyon Varlamov, and some guys with minor injuries decided to sit this one out. The Caps found themselves down 3-1 at the end of the first, but they rallied back to tie it 4-4 at the end of the second period.

It was time to turn on the offense. They had just scored three goals in Montreal in the third, and had scored two versus Pittsburgh in the third, and now they had their hot-shot goaltender back in net. Varlamov was 16-1-3 in the regular season, who needs defense when you’ve got him back there between the pipes?

Instead, the Caps gave up two goals early in the third, and even though Alex Semin became the third consecutive Capital to get a hat-trick in three consecutive games, Ottawa showed the Caps that the best defense is really to play defense.

The Caps had been handed their first regulation loss in 15 games; they lost 6-5.

The coach’s words were finally starting to sink in. You can’t expect to win if you let your opponents’ score five or more goals in a game. Sure it’s possible, the Caps had proven that versus Pittsburgh, but you can’t sustain it.

In the Caps’ final game (final game before the Olympic break) versus St. Louis, we saw more of a commitment to defense, but there were still some areas of concern; mostly in transition and puck protection. The Caps’ were turning the puck over way to many times in the neutral-zone creating odd man breaks going to other way. The defense was much more solid, but it’s hard to play defense when you give up a break-away or a two-on-one.

The Caps enter this Olympic break on a three game skid, so most of the team will have plenty to think about over these next two weeks.

Certainly, this isn’t the end of the world for Washington. They are still first place in the league, even if it is only by one-point. They still have a 13-point lead in their conference, and are in no danger of missing the play-offs. The Caps’ 27-point lead in their division is two points shy of being more than the combined margins of all the other divisions.

The Caps could lose more than half of their remaining games, and still win their division.

So, now we have the Olympics for the next couple of weeks. The media world is a-buzz about Team Canada. I’m so sick of hearing about Team Canada I’m ready to stick sharp objects in my ears to dull the pain. Personally, I’m wanting to hear more about Team Russia. With six current and former Caps on the team (Ovechkin, Semin, Varlamov, Gonchar, Kozlov and Federov) how could I not pull for them? Add to that Malkin, Datsuk, Kovalchuk, and Afinogenov, and San Jose Sharks’ (who happen to be second in the league) goaltender Evgeni Nabokov and it certainly looks like Russia is going to be hard to beat.

With the snubbing of Capitals defenseman Mike Green (the highest scoring defenseman in the league, mind you) and Vincent Lecavalier from Tampa in favor of “west coasters” I’m just this side of rooting against Team Canada. Who am I fooling; of course I’m rooting against Team Canada!

Sure, I’ll be happy if somehow Team USA surprises everyone and takes the gold, but my heart lies with the Caps, and Team Russia has the most of them. How could I root for anyone else?

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

At that point, the decibal level in the Verizon Center was deafening. In the arena, you could feel that something was going to happen for the Caps. When Sergei Federov, certainly no stranger to the playoff hero role, scored the game winning goal (and first of the series), the decibal level soared even higher, and remained there until well after the final horn blew.

Feds believed the energy from the crowd helped will the team to victory: “It was a great atmosphere all around. I’m sure any player who plays in an atmosphere like that would enjoy it and work hard and play hard… It really was an amazing experience.”

Bruce Boudreau agreed.

“The last five minutes after we scored,they never sat down, they never stopped cheering. If you look at the energy we had just in checking. The people brought that out. They wouldn’t let us not continue skating,”  Boudreau said, adding, “ it was really a thing to watch.”

Of course, going into the third period, it was an experience few thought would come to pass. For the first two periods, the Capitals were out-played and out-hustled. If not for the continued dominating play by the barely 21-year-old Simeon Varlamov, this game could easily have been 3-0  after five and a half minutes. 

In the first period, the normally gifted Washington offense had only managed two shots on the Rangers Henrik Lunqvuist. Luckily, one of them went in after deflecting off two Rangers defenders.

The second period was more of the same. It almost felt like the Caps were on penalty kill the entire period. Washington managed nine more shots on goal, but Lunqvuist looked to be back in form for this pivotal game 7.  The most telling stat of the second period was time of possession. While this isn’t an officially kept statistic, Mike Green mentioned in the locker room after the game that he felt like the Caps only had the puck for 2 of the 20 minutes in the period.

After the second period ended, there was a weird vibe in the air. Some thought that this series was set to end like last year’s opening round defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers. Still others thought that the Caps were lucky to be tied at 1, and that the third period was the Caps period, so anything could and would happen. Most though, believed the Capitals would prevail.

Whatever the vibe in the building, the vibe in the locker room was much like the last. In his post-game presser, Coach Bruce Boudreau, when asked what was said between the dreadful second period and the fateful third, quipped:  “One of the messages was ‘20 more minutes.’ How hard is that to work as hard as you can for one of the best feelings you’re ever going to have.”

Besides the motivation, the Coaching staff went to work, as well, trying to solve the dominating play the Rangers brought to the rink.

“We were used to them being a more passive team and they were very aggressive, in your face,” the Caps head coach stated. ”We had to change what we were doing and I’m not that sharp. I took me two periods to figure it out.”

Whatever was said or done, it paid off. The Caps came out in the third playing like themselves. The passing was crisp, the effort was phenomenal and the results were there. Everyone in the building began to feel like a Russian was going to send the Rangers packing. Of course, everyone assumed that Russian would be Ovechkin or Semin.

Enter Sergei Federov. As Feds skated down the right side, pulling up to look for the trailer on the play for a pass, he noticed several things. First, Wayne Redden was playing way off, quite possibly because the ever-threatening Ovechkin was on the left side of the net. Second, there was no trailer on the play. Third, the top-shelf glove side of Lunqvuist, perhaps the outstanding goalies only weakness, was beakoning him. He let the shot go, kept a longer follow-through to get the shot up, and watched as the puck soared into the net for the eventual game winner with just under five minutes to go in the third.

Fellow teammate and countryman Alex Ovechkin was the first on the scene leaping onto the 39-year-old’s back, squeezing him hard and slamming him into the boards.  Since Federov was the Red Wing that ended the Caps Stanley Cup hopes oh so many moons ago, perhaps this game seven winner will reverse the fortunes of this young, exciting team in their current pursuit.  

Regardless of kharma and the existential side of the meaning of this goal, Federov has brought something the Capitals haven’t experienced since that 1998 run to the Cup finals and never since the best owner in Washington sports bought this team: a playoff series win.

While many thought Ovie would play the role of hero, Boudreau was not as surprised. “Experience sometimes pays off. He knew what he had to do and… when to do it,” the Capitals coach said. ”That’s what makes him one of the greatest players ever.”

Washington Capitals fans everywhere sure think so.

It didn’t look good for the Red, White and Blue early in the contest. Just 50 seconds into the game, Ryan Suter put one in the back of the net, beating Jose Theodore on a wrister from just inside the blue line.

Then, about seven minutes later, all hell started to break loose. It started when Jordin Tootoo leveled Donald Brashear along the side boards. Brashear hit Tootoo, and then Matt Bradley took a run at him. At the 12:27 mark, Brashear went after Wade Belak and the two dropped the gloves. The two went toe-to-toe for a few seconds, and then for the first time I can remember since Brash joined the Capitals, he took a left to the chin and crumpled to the ice. Brash left the game with a sprained knee suffered during his collapse.

Three seconds later, Matt Bradley and Jordin Tootoo threw down just after the face-off to start play after the Brash-Belak bout. This one didn’t end much better for the Caps. Brads sustained a cut over his nose from a Tootoo head… or is it helmet butt. The right winger left the ice in a bloody mess.

At the end of the first period, the Caps found themselves down 3-0 — one on the score sheet and two in the fight card. It didn’t help that the Pred’s netminder Dan Ellis was standing on his head and Washington continued the pattern of missing the net or hitting a defender on every other shot that has contributed mightily to their recent skid.

The second period started out slow, but after the first minute or so, they started to get it together. Around the 4 minute mark, Wade Belak decided 1 5-minute major for fighting wasn’t enough, as he took on Caps big man John Erskine. This time, Erskine held his own (only his second fight of the entire season), fighting to a draw. This ended the boxing portion of the evening, and even though the Caps found themselves short-staffed and holding a record of 0-2-1 after their three bouts, the team really seemed to pull together after that.

Ellis continued his stellar play, but Backstrom put Washington on the score sheet late in the second with a beautiful follow-up on the rebound in front. The play started when Backstrom and Viktor Kozlov skated down the right side, while Ovechkin streaked down the left. Kozlov pulled up at the top of the circle and fired a beautiful cross-ice pass to Ovie, who had pulled up at the top of the slot on the left. While this was happening, Backstrom continued driving to the front of the net. Ovie fired a wrister, and Ellis gave up the rebound right on to Backstrom’s stick for the easy put-away.

The third period was more of the same, highlighted by great goaltending and physical play. The only excitement came late in the period, just after a Caps power play ended. Viktor Kozlov fired a shot on net that bounced off the upper leg of Tomas Fleischmann, who was fighting for position in front of Ellis. Flash’s leg was moving forward when the puck hit him. The play was reviewed and the goal washed out as a kick in. The play was far from cut-and-dry. Yes, Fleischmann’s leg was moving forward, but whether it was a deliberate kick or the product of his fight for position is questionable, particularly given the part of the leg that Kozlov’s shot hit. Unfortunately for the Caps, the call went the other way, setting up Feds’ historic game-winner.

One of the moves Coach Boudreau makes in overtime that I absolutely love is the insertion of Sergei Federov as a Forward-Defenseman. He is far from a liability in his own zone, and gives the Caps an extra forward in the offensive zone. This worked out brilliantly for the Caps last night.

Once again, Viktor Kozlov was the catalyst. Kozlov brought the puck into the offensive zone and passed cross-rink to Semin on the right side. Semin skated into the corner, and then passed back to Kozlov in the slot. Koz put the puck on the stick of Feds in front, who deked to the right past Dan Ellis and put the back hand into an empty net.

It took two beautiful goals and two ugly fights, but the Caps ended their losing ways. It’s better to slump in early March than late April, I guess. Hopefully, this will get the Caps back in their winning ways heading into the post-season.

On Expectations coming into the new season:

“Last year we came to camp hoping to make the playoffs but we weren’t sure where we were at. This year it’s a different feeling around here. After what we did last year we’re expecting to make the playoffs and not just expecting to get in, but expecting to do something when we get there.”

On how tough the off-season was after losing Game Seven of the playoffs during an overtime penalty:

“It’s tough to lose on a penalty call in Game Seven. I think it stung everybody pretty deep, and I don’t think anybody forgot that over the summer. It’s still pretty fresh in our minds, and we’ll come back with a vengeance this year, and we still feel we have something to prove.”

“That loss didn’t sit well with anyone. The way we were playing we weren’t scared of anyone, and we were gonna play Pittsburg [in the] next round if we had won that game and we weren’t afraid of that. We were looking forward to that.”

On coming into training camp without Olie Kolzig:

“It is [odd]. Since I’ve been here Olie’s been the calming/cool presence in the locker room, and he’s gone now. I had a great time with Olie. He really helped me my first years. [He is] a great guy to have in the locker room. I can’t say enough about him, he’s awesome. Every day [he] came to work hard. He was very professional. He’s also great with young guys, and helping us into the league.”

“You know now there’s some other veteran presences in there. We’ve got Sergei Federov back. We’ll have him for a full year, and he’s another guy the guys really look up to. There [was] a bit of a void when Olie [left] but we have other guys that can fill that.”

On Kolzig going to a division rival:

“I dunno, we get a chance to play against him. It’ll be interesting, but Olie had to do what was best for Olie, when it came down to it. Turned out the organization was looking in a different direction. So, y’know, as competitors we still wanna play the game we still wanna prove that we have something left. I think that’s where Olie’s at. It was fun playin’ with him, it was awesome playin’ with him, but now we get a chance to play against him, it’s gonna be interesting. [When I] go to his net, we’ll see if I get a stick in the back of the legs or something.” {laughs} “It’ll be a fun time.”

On the return of Nylander and Clark this season after spending most of last season injured:

“We missed those guys last year. That’s a lot of talent right there in those two guys. Brian Pothier’s another guy that we’re missing from our line-up, and having Nyles back and Clarkie back at full strength it’s really gonna help us. I think it’s gonna give us a lot more depth up front and also we get our Captain back. Y’know, you can’t say enough about Chris Clark; he’s the heart and soul of this team. He plays the way we wanna play. He’s hard-nosed, he plays every night, he competes and that has a trickle down effect to the other guys on the team, and we’re happy to have them both back.”

On what Alex Ovechkin can do for an encore this season:

“I don’t think Alex concerns himself with proving or trying to score more goals than he did last year [or] more points, that’s not what he worries about. Something you guys aren’t fortunate enough to see is how competitive [he] is behind the scenes, in the locker room, when we’re down a goal, how much he wants to win. He doesn’t care if he scores two goals in a game he just wants to win the hockey game, and that’s something you guys don’t have the luxury of seeing. He, I think, is going to measure himself, not so much by how many goals and assists, but by how the team does. That’s the type of guy Alex is, that’s why he’s a leader of this hockey team, and that’s why they signed him for thirteen years. He wants to succeed, he wants us to make a run in the playoffs, and ultimately I don’t think Alex will go to sleep at night until he’s won a Stanley Cup.”

On whether Alex Ovechkin should be named a team Captain this year:

“I don’t think so. I think it’s undisputed that Alex is the face of the Washington Capitals, and he’s a leader on our hockey team. Chris Clark is a veteran that’s been around and he knows how to handle a hockey team, and how to be a leader. Alex is a superstar; we all know that, but Clarkie has a great relationship (as does Alex) with all the players, just a bit more of a calming presence, and we missed Clarkie last year. We missed him sorely last year. We missed his leadership; we missed his on ice ability. Neither of those guys, I think, are too concerned with titles, and who has the “A” and who has the “C”. They both know their roles on our hockey team, and both guys I think equally just wanna win. They don’t care who’s wearing the “C”.”