So some national hockey pundits think that Capitals General Manager George McPhee overpaid to get Jason Arnott from the New Jersey Devils, eh? Two games after that trade, let’s check the ledger. #44 had an assist to set up the game tying tally on Tuesday night against the New York Islanders and on Thursday night Arnott scored the game winning goal, off of a super feed from Alexander Semin, with 5:19 remaining to give the Caps a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues. That’s two games, two big points, and two Capitals wins. Not to mention he has finally given Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau a second scoring line, something he hasn’t really had since Sergei Fedorov left town two seasons ago. The victory, combined with Tampa’s 2-1 loss in regulation to the Boston Bruins on Thursday, puts the Capitals (35-20-10) just one point behind the Southeast Division leading Bolts (the Lightning has a game in hand) and also a single point in back of the Eastern Conference’s fourth place team, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Here are the highlights, quotes, and analysis from a victory that gives Washington its’ first two game home winning streak since late November:

- I am going to start with a bad trend here tonight to make a point that Boudreau has been trying to make to his club for nearly two seasons: The Capitals have not held a lead after the first period in the past 10 games (h/t WTOPs Jonthan Warner) and the biggest reason why is this hockey team seems to think that they can come out on the ice and just out skill everyone and win. Well to quote the great Sundance Kid, “You figured wrong, Butch.” Washington continually tried to force things coming through the neutral zone and the result in the opening frame, time after time, was a turnover at the offensive blue line. When they do that the other team typically goes in transition the other way and gets an odd man rush and/or a quality scoring chance. It is a bad way to play hockey and in the playoffs, against a good team, it is a losing formula. In 2009, the Penguins sat back in their zone and waited for the Caps to try those cross ice passes just inside the offensive zone and then feasted on turnovers. Last season, the Canadiens took this idea a step further and put up a wall on their own blue line and dared the Capitals to dump the puck. When the Caps did what their coaches told them, they had success, but too many times they would not heed the guidance from their bench bosses and Montreal made Washington pay the steepest price, an early trip to the golf course.

“As a defenseman, I know it is not that much fun when you are turning and going to chase pucks all night and getting hit and having to chase forwards around. When you don’t turn it over at the blue line it makes it a lot easier game. You can look and make the plays back and you are not chasing the puck all night,” said defenseman Scott Hannan on why the style of play his team exhibited in the opening period on Thursday doesn’t work.

- Fortunately for Washington, they started getting the message in the middle frame and the pucks were going deep and leading to goals. Credit Matt Hendricks for starting the trend and it was his individual work that got the biscuit below the red line and that allowed Alexander Ovechkin (2 assists) to set up shop behind the Blues cage. From there, with Nicklas Backstrom covered in the near slot, the Great #8 sent a beauty of a feed to an all alone #23 in the slot and Hannan buried it like a 40 goal scorer would do, top shelf to tie the game at one. Washington’s second marker, which came after a bad play by John Erskine at the Caps blue line led to a BJ Crombeen tally, was another result of the puck getting into the zone without an offensive blue line turnover. John Carlson’s stretch pass hit Ovechkin’s skates on the left wing boards at the line and Mike Knuble gathered it in and tried to feed Backstrom. However, #22′s pass went up in the air and #19 baseballed it in the cage past Ty Conklin (27 saves) to tie the game up just 6:48 into the second stanza. Getting pucks deep wins games.

“Our whole goal was to get it deep and work them down low. I think when we did it, when we got the opportunities, we did a good job of it. When you’re winning battles, it all comes down in the end to one-on-one battles and I think both teams wanted the game. I thought we competed really hard,” added Boudreau on the key to the team’s success on Thursday.

“I thought we did a lot better job in the 2nd and 3rd [periods] of having a high guy. Getting the puck in deep and working from that we caused some turnovers which caused [Arnott's] goal. My goal is great work by the forwards down low and just hitting the open guy. That’s our strengths and when we play that way we are a tough team to beat,” added Hannan, who has quickly become a strong leadership voice in Washington’s locker room.

- The Capitals are a really big team now with the 6′ 5″ 220 pound Arnott in the second pivot position. Only Marcus Johansson and Marco Sturm could be considered undersized so as Hannan mentioned and Boudreau has been preaching, this Capitals club needs to play to their strengths and get the biscuit low, cycle it, which in turn wears down the opposition’s defensemen and forwards and leads to scoring opportunities. It sounds so simple but when you have the skill that some of the Washington players have, it is hard to learn to play that way.

“We talked about that before games and in practice, that’s the strength of our teams. We’ve got some big forwards and when you are getting the puck in deep and making those D turn all night, it might not pay off in the first period and the second but it is going to pay off in the third,” reinforced Hannon on how is club needs to play if they are going to go deep into the post season.

- Special teams weren’t the difference in this contest but Washington’s play there certainly helped the cause. The Caps killed off all three St. Louis power plays while the Capitals failed to score on their LONE man advantage. Once again, I am not sure what game the zebras (Marc Joanette and Kyle Rehman) were watching and their calls were inconsistent. Simply put, I hope the league says to the two of them, a la the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld: No playoffs for you…1 year…NEXT!

- Back to the Capitals power play because it was really good, for once. Boudreau and assistant coach Dean Evason put Jason Arnott on the point with Dennis Wideman and Ovechkin was moved to the half wall. Backstrom and Knuble were the other two forwards on the first unit on the lone man advantage and they had three golden opportunities, including a tap-in miss by #22 at the right post. That power play was very encouraging and I was hoping to see them get another attempt but the two blind dudes in stripes checked out.

- All Michal Neuvirth (25 saves) does is stop pucks. The 2006 second round pick is now 21-10-4 with a .913 save percentage and a 2.48 goals against average. The 21 wins is a record for a Washington rookie goalie. #30 had some rebound issues early on but he got stronger as the game wore on. The two pucks that got by him were not his fault, especially Alexander Steen’s early tap in after Jeff Schultz gave up too much room guarding against the speed of Blues power forward Chris Stewart. The line of Steen, Stewart, and Patrick Berglund is a very good one and their quickness gave Washington some problems. Steen hit the post early on during the Blues first power play. #55 and #4 on the Caps defense have been exposed recently by forwards with lots of speed so that is something Boudreau will need to address match up wise in the post season.

- In summary, the Caps third straight victory, their first three game winning streak since December 26 to January 1st, is encouraging and the new players have provided an added dimension and a spark. However, the wins have come against some of the bottom teams in the league. If the Capitals want to have success in the spring, the young guys need to learn to play to the strength of the team, their size, by getting the pucks in deep in the opposition’s zone. They will NOT win in April and beyond on straight talent and skill. Arnott and Hannan are two veterans who have been their before and combined with Knuble they need to continue to be leaders and pound the message home over these last 17 games on how the Caps need to play to reach their goal of a Stanley Cup. Playing that way is not easy and isn’t fun. It also is tougher on the body but if done right, the other team feels it worse. So my question to Hannan after Thursday’s tilt was how do you get some of these guys, who have been hearing the message from Boudreau for two years plus, to buy in?

“I don’t know. It’s just trying to drive that point home. That’s the big thing guys have got to learn to play that way, especially come playoff time, when you are playing against really solid teams if you start turning the puck over at the blue line, good teams are going to bury you with that,” finished Hannan.

Let’s hope that Ovechkin, Semin, and company finally buy in. We’ve heard the Great #8 mention it numerous times in his interviews, but saying it and doing it are two different things. If he does it, then hopefully others will follow.

Notes: Hendricks now has a career high 20 points (7 goals, 13 assists) with 17 games to go…Washington rallied to win the faceoff battle, they trailed 24-15 after two periods but won the draws on the night, 30-29 (Boyd Gordon went 12-9)…Wideman, Carlson, Karl Alzner, and Hannan all logged over 21 minutes of ice time while Schultz played 16:38 and Erskine received only 14:59 of playing time on the back line…Matt Bradley knocked Tyson Strachan to the ice in their first period fight in just three punches. TKO for #10…Semin was credited with two giveaways. He got banged up a bit late in period two, went to the locker room, but returned for period three…Backstrom took a slash to his bad thumb but never missed a shift. He is tough but he cut back on taking faceoffs after that with Arnott taking some of his draws then coming off once the puck switched zones…Washington’s next game is Sunday night in Florida followed by Monday’s big contest in Tampa…Braden Holtby was recalled from Hershey and backed up Neuvirth. Todd Ford was returned to the Bears.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: I will be on Japers Rink Radio on Saturday morning between 10am and 11am talking Caps hockey and providing an analysis of this week’s trades. You can listen on line by clicking here.

No Sidney Crosby, No Evgeni Malkin, No Mike Green, No Tom Poti, No Paul Martin, etc..it doesn’t matter, it’s the Capitals and Penguins and these two teams despise each other so everyone knew that the VERSUS game of the week was going to be can’t miss action on Monday night, and both teams delivered. Michal Neuvirth, who was called ”Shaky” by Pens Coach Dan Bylsma back in December during the HBO 24/7 series, stopped 39 shots to blank the Penguins for the second straight game. I imagine the Penguins 2009 Stanley Cup winning coach is regretting ever uttering those words now because Neuvy OWWWNNNSSS the Pens!

The victory for Washington, which completes a 10 day road trip at 3-2, gives them a 3-0-1 record against their archrivals this season and improves the team to 32-19-10 (74 points). They trail the Tampa Bay Lightning by a single point in the Southeast Division race but the Bolts have two games in hand.

Here are the highlights and analysis from an intense hockey game that was decided by an Alexander Ovechkin power play goal:

- The Caps won tonight, but let’s be honest, they did not play very well overall. They were severely outworked by what some may call an AHL team in the first period and as a result were shorthanded three times to just one for Pittsburgh in that stanza. In the second frame they came out and took the play to the Penguins and grabbed the lead on Ovechkin’s rocket. Washington had the better personnel on the ice tonight with all of the injuries for both teams but hard work will even things up quickly, and that is what happened on Monday night. In the third period, the Pens outshot the Caps 14-3, but many of those were from the perimeter as the Capitals were employing their defensive scheme that is working and frustrates the opposition. Overall the shots were 39-24 in favor of Pittsburgh, with the Caps winning the middle period, 14-7 and 1-0 on the scoreboard, which was the final tally.

- As I mentioned above, the Capitals had the better talent with guys like Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, and Nicklas Backstrom on the ice. The Great #8 turned in a hard working performance while the other two did not play well. Backstrom did have a big shot block in the closing seconds but he just doesn’t look like the strong on the boards and confident #19. I wonder if that shoulder injury he suffered last spring is still a factor or perhaps it is holding back his ability to gain upper body strength because he just doesn’t look like the same elite player? I am a big Backstrom fan and I’d like to be wrong on that analysis and hope that #19 is simply saving himself for the playoffs, but still, his recent play is a concern for me right now. As for Semin, I am not sure he broke much of a sweat in 17 minutes of hockey. He routinely turned the puck over in the offensive zone with too many moves and he was not physical at all along the wall like he can be when he puts his mind to playing hockey.

- But when Neuvirth is playing as well as he did tonight, it doesn’t matter. #30 was outstanding and he controlled the Penguins shots giving up very few rebounds. His positioning was superb as well. In addition, his defensemen were very good in front of him by letting their net minder see the shots or if that was going to fail, blocking them. I thought Jeff Schultz, Scott Hannan, Karl Alzner, and John Carlson were really good on the back end tonight and they had to be. Each played over 21 and a half minutes as Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau wisely did not put the John Erskine and Tyler Sloan duo out too often (played 12:12 and 11:29, respectively).

- Up front Boudreau got a really solid game from rookie Marcus Johansson, who had the first assist on the Ovechkin power play tally (Mike Knuble had the other helper). MJ90, who is only 20 years old, will occassionally get taken off the puck fairly easily due to his youth and lack of size. However, he is finding a way to fight through that and make a difference. He is a guy who the Caps bench boss is not afraid to put out in his own zone in a close game, which the same cannot be said for Mathieu Perreault (only 8:09 of ice time, but he did get banged up early on too in this one). I don’t think Johansson is a 2nd line center right now and certainly not the guy there for the playoffs, but he can be effective on the 3rd line, provided he still has something left in the tank after this long rookie regular season, which is his first on North American rinks (Sweden has larger rinks and therefore, less contact).

- Boudreau made a very wise move using his timeout with just over 16 minutes left in the third period as his club was running around in their own end and had just iced the puck. After that the Capitals gave up some shots, but not many quality chances as they were content to get the puck to the red line and dump it deep. With that strategy a depleted Penguins lineup had to bring it the length of the ice to score, and they couldn’t do that leaving the fans at the CONSOL Energy center with nothing to cheer for on the evening, other than perhaps a Ryan Craig-Matt Bradley fight, but from my vantage point, #10 defeated the Pens call up in the bout. Craig went after Bradley after the Caps winger absolutely PASTED cheap shot artist Matt Cooke into the right wing boards in period two.

- In summary, this was a win at the end of a long road trip that solidifies the Capitals as a playoff team. Now it is all about positioning in the standings as well as waiting to see what General Manager George McPhee will do to improve the squad before next Monday’s trade deadline (2/28 at 3pm).

Notes: The Caps lost the face off battle 36-33 (Backstrom 13-17)…the Caps thwarted all three Pittsburgh power plays and scored on one of their three. However, before the Great #8′s laser, the Pens had two good shorthanded chances, including a Jordan Staal breakaway…DJ King was a late addition to the lineup because the scrappy Matt Hendricks was out sick (thanks to the awesome WashingtonCaps.com beat writer, Mike Vogel). King played only 4:25 but on one of his early shifts, he and his linemates at the time, Dave Steckel and Bradley, had two good chances to score…Ovechkin had 8 shots on goal, 10 that were blocked, and he threw four hits…the Pens traded d-man Alex Goligoski to the Dallas Stars today for winger James Neal and blue liner Matt Niskanen. I give the Penguins a strong edge in that move…next up for the Caps are the New York Rangers on Friday night at 7pm at the Verizon Center. The Rangers are 2-1 against Washington this year with their last victory coming right before the All Star Break in the gimmick.

There are now three sure things in life: death, taxes, and the Caps will lose in the shootout. At least that is what things must feel like to Washington Capitals fans as their team jumped to an early 2-0 lead, made some boneheaded decisions in a poor middle stanza, played a strong third period and overtime session, only to lose again in the gimmick, 3-2, to the Montreal Canadiens at sold out Verizon Center. Brian Gionta was the Habs hero on Tuesday night potting two goals in the second frame on odd man rushes and then he had the only tally in the shootout. This Caps loss was their eighth straight overtime or shootout loss and they have lost three straight tilts, with two coming in the gimmick. The good news for Washington is that they did pick up a key point in the standings over the teams that are chasing the Caps for second place in the Southeast Division, the Atlanta Thrashers and the Carolina Hurricanes, who both lost in regulation on Tuesday. The Caps are now 7 and 8 points ahead of the Thrashers and Canes, respectively. They trail the red hot Tampa Bay Lightning, who blanked the Flyers 4-0 tonight, by five points in the Southeast Division race.

Here are the highlights, quotes, and analysis from another loss for the offensively challenged Capitals:

- We will start with the good: Semyon Varlamov (36 saves) and Washington’s penalty killing unit (6 for 6 in 10:06 of SH time). The only two goals Varly allowed were on a two on one and a breakaway, both to the Habs captain. #1 faced numerous quality chances as at least half of his defensemen made some terrible errors at critical junctures in this hockey game. If not for some superb goaltending in the first and primarily in the second period, Montreal may have won handily because the Caps stopped playing for the next 30 minutes after they raced to a 2-0 lead in the opening 10 minutes. As for the PK, the NHL’s 2nd ranked unit got stellar goaltending and they did an excellent job of forcing the Canadiens to shoot from the perimeter.

- Mathieu Perreault (1 goal, 1 assist in 13:53) had his usual “sparky” type of game coming off of a recall/break. #85 made a super defensive play in the neutral zone to break up a potential Montreal two on one rush and then skated in and beat Carey Price (27 saves) from a poor angle through the five hole. He also played a big role in the Caps second goal, which came on the power play by Mike Knuble. However, #85 still struggles to be consistent at this level due to his size and he was fading as this contest went on, according to Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau.

“He was good, but he looked tired. He hit a wall a lot of times and his shifts were short. But he made the most of them. It’s been a long time between points and goals for him,” commented the Caps bench boss on Perreault, who hadn’t registered a point in his previous nine contests.

- The quote of the night in my book is the following:  “I think 100 percent commitment from everybody. I think at times we have it and at times we don’t.” That came from the Caps Matt Hendricks when asked what the team is missing right now and he is dead on. Want to know where you can start on calling players out on not giving the 100% commitment the whole game? Alexander Ovechkin. Yes, the team captain did not have a consistent contest and he was badly outplayed by the guy wearing the C from the other team. I realize that the Great #8 and his club are not going to shut up the critics until they do something in the playoffs but bad habits die hard and Ovechkin is doing too much floating in his own zone these days. On offense, he is trying to do too much on his own. I think the hopefully imminent return of Alexander Semin will help that though, because Alexander the Great rarely has any time or space on the ice these days because the opposition knows that there are very few other Capitals forwards who can hurt them. The dynamic changes a bit with #28 and if GM George McPhee can add another center and perhaps another winger between now and the trade deadline (February 28th) then the offensive zone could open up more for #8 and his teammates.

- Washington, with its lack of firepower up front, has changed its style in the last two months to be a more defensive team so when they jumped out to a 2-0 lead they got a bit careless trying to increase that margin. It is okay to pressure and not back off, but some guys made bad decisions and that cost the team the game. John Erskine pinched in the offensive zone on the first Habs goal and John Carlson made a “rookie” decision on a drop pass that lead to Gionta’s breakaway marker. There were others to blame as well on those plays as numerous forwards did nothing to help out their blue liners on those goals. Still, when you are winning and struggling to score, you have to play smart and the Caps hockey IQ was low in period two on Tuesday night.

“{Tonight} wasn’t a letdown as much as it was mistakes. We made two bad mistakes and it’s in our net. We’re playing desperate. We killed off {several} penalties. They {Montreal} took it to us. We battled and we lost in the shootout. I wish we could’ve scored a little bit more,” was Boudreau’s take on the Caps shootout loss.

“I felt like they didn’t really pressure us as much. I didn’t feel that offensive kind-of pressure [the Capitals had] last year or other games against them,” was Montreal forward Tomas Plekenac’s thoughts on how Washington played.

- Finally, this was not the reason Washington lost the game but it certainly contributed to the defeat: the officiating! Blind, clueless, inept, out of touch, inconsistent, one-sided, etc. You can pick any of those terms and more, some of which are four letter words, to describe the absolute joke and disgrace of a performance from the Dan-Dan twins tonight. Both Dan O’Halloran and Dan O’Rourke (get me Mickey or P.J. next time!) missed so many infractions against the Canadiens that it might be wise for Terry Gregson in the NHL Officiating office to check and see if the Dan-Dan (or should I say Dumb-Dumb?) twins didn’t fly directly in to DC from Vegas this past weekend. Those two clowns sure looked like they had money on the Habs. It would take far too long to list everything they missed but a good place to start would be the Pittsburgh Steelers like tackle and hold in the slot on Nicklas Backstrom in period two right before the Gionta breakaway and the Hal Gill smothering of the puck in the crease with two seconds left in OT. That should have been a penatly shot! Of course the Caps likely would have not converted, but that is not the point. They also missed a Roman Hamrlik cross check on Brooks Laich (who took three minor penalties) right before #21 tripped a Montreal player, giving the Canadiens a key late power play. The Habs carried the play but there is NO WAY the power play time should have been 10:06 to 4:01 in favor of the guys from Quebec.

Notes: Semin was a game time scratch, hopefully he can go against the Lightning on Friday night in the Caps next contest, which is in Tampa…on defense, the Caps miss Tom Poti’s skating and puck moving skills, but only if he is 100% healthy. Erskine struggled tonight for Washington…the Caps won the faceoff battle 31-28 with Boyd Gordon going 11-6…I am not sure if he got hurt or he was benched, but Marcus Johansson, who drew the 1st power play for Washington, only played two shifts in period three and only 8:01 for the game. The Caps are just too small up the middle with both MP85 and MJ90 playing center…Jay Beagle was recalled from Hershey on Tuesday while Perreault had been recalled on Monday. Neither player suited up for the Hershey Bears in their two weekend games (the move did save salary cap room)…Michal Neuvirth backed up Varlamov with #30 healthier and Braden Holtby back in Hershey for the AHL All Star game that was played on Monday night.

Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals should petition the NHL to play every game on Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC). The Great #8 notched a hat trick in Toronto on Saturday night in a Caps 4-1 victory that was closer than the final score. Ovechkin also had two goals in his last game on HNIC back in October against the Calgary Flames giving him five on the season on the #1 Saturday night show in the Great White North. Braden Holtby received his second straight start and turned in his best performance in seven appearances this season. #70 stopped 35 shots, including several quality chances when the outcome was still in doubt. Matt Hendricks added the other tally on a beautiful breakaway in which he deked Leafs goalie J.S. Giguere to the ice and deposited the biscuit in the basket on the backhand. Washington improves to 27-14-8 (62 points) and are just a point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Southeast Division.

Here are the highlights and analysis from a hard fought Caps victory:

- As good as Holtby was, you have to start with Ovechkin on this night. The Great #8 scored his first two goals thanks to some simplification in his game. On the first tally, which was the only marker by either team in the first two periods, Ovechkin came hard from the goal line to the slot and nicely deflected a Jeff Schultz point shot by Giguere. His second goal came after Mike Green’s slapper from inside the blue line hit Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf and bounced in the slot right to Alexander the Great and #8 quickly put it five hole to give the Caps a 2-0 lead early in the third period. His hat trick came late into an empty net but it was not a simple one, the Great #8 used his speed to blow by the Leafs defender, who tried to hook him (delayed penalty was being called), then Alex cut to the middle to fake out the other Leafs defender, and he slid the puck into the open cage for his first hat trick of the season. In addition to the goal scoring, Ovie had one of his better games on defense. His hustle on the back check allowed him to apply back pressure to the Leafs forwards and he was able to strip a Toronto player of the puck on occassion. Perhaps his biggest defensive play came inside the four mintue mark when he went down on the ice to block a Maple Leafs point blast. It was a clear message being sent by the Captain that each player had to do their best to help Holtby and the team win.

- Holtby was fabulous, and he got better as the game went on. He gave up a couple of rebounds early on but the Washington defense did a good job of clearing them. Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel of the Leafs will be having nightmares about #70 for quite some time. Holtby stopped Bozak on several occassions, including a shorthanded breakaway in period two when it was a one goal game. Kessel was robbed by Holtby with the glove late in the contest with the Leafs keeper on the bench. #81 appeared to have an easy goal on a great cross crease feed but the young man from Saskatchewan stuck out his glove and caught it on the goal line to preserve the victory. Holtby made 18 saves on 19 shots in the final period and in two starts on his second recall, he has stopped 59 of 61 shots overall. Yes Caps fans, your club is loaded with good goaltending.

- Hendricks goal 8:14 into the third period was the one that really cemented this victory for Washington. The scrapping forward, who was bloodied in a fight with Mike Brown in the first period, stole the puck from the Leafs defensemen at his own blue line and raced in all alone on Giguere, who at one time was one of the best netminders in the league. The fake shot, deke, and backhand finish was something you’d normally see from a 50 goal scorer but on this evening it was #26 doing the damage and that marker made it 3-1 and took a ton of pressure off of the Caps. From there on out, Washington played their trapping style very well and they were content to chip pucks out of their zone and dump it deep in the Leafs end to make them skate through a wall of Caps just to get a shot off.

- Another strong point for the Capitals in this tilt was their penalty killing unit, which is ranked third in the NHL. Toronto received three power plays, all in a whistle happy first period, but only mustered four shots and were kept off of the board. The Caps have now killed off 14 straight power plays in a row and 20 of their last 21 shorthanded situations.

- It wasn’t all roses for the Caps on this night, their power play was pretty awful in two attempts as they were sorely outworked by the Leafs penalty killers. In addition, defensemen John Erskine (-1) had a rough night getting caught pinching in at the point a couple of times and his failed clear led to the only Toronto tally. Finally, the faceoff battle went to the Leafs, 32-26, as Brooks Laich (6-3) and Dave Steckel (4-2) were the only Capitals to win more than they lost from the dot. Nicklas Backstrom (2 assists, +3) was 3-10.

Notes: Blue liner Scott Hannan had another good game and he covered several times for Erskine’s mistakes. Unfortunately he couldn’t do that on every shift and he ended up -1 for the first time in 15 games…Karl Alzner and John Carlson were both +1 and had another strong game logging close to 19 minutes each. Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau put that duo out against the Leafs top line as much as possible…Ovechkin now has 19 goals on the season with 33 games to go…Green was named as an alternate captain for next weekend’s All-Star game…the Hershey Bears won 5-1 at the Giant Center over Rochester on Saturday night. Andrew Gordon scored and was named the game’s number one star…next up for the Capitals are the New York Rangers on Monday night at the Verizon Center at 730 pm. The game will be televised on VERSUS.

The Washington Capitals have been accused in the past of being unable to win 2-1 games. Cross that item off the criticism list because the Caps raced to an early 2-0 second period lead, allowed a breakaway tally by  Michael Grabner in the middle frame, then put their defensive system to work in the third period en route to a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday night. It wasn’t pretty hockey and it was boring to watch, at times, but there are no style points in the NHL and as a result, the Caps exit Long Island and the Nassau Coliseum with the two points they wanted to grab on the second tilt of their three game road trip. The win pushes the Capitals overall record to 26-14-8 (60 points) and they still trail Tampa Bay by a point in the Southeast Division since the Bolts knocked off the Atlanta Thrashers, 3-2, in a shootout.

Here are the highlights and analysis of an “ugly win” over the young and pesky Islanders:

- Last time Braden Holtby was recalled to Washington he started with a bang by winning his first two appearances (one in relief and one as a starter), played well in an OT loss in Buffalo, and then imploded in two road tilts at Atlanta and New Jersey. #70, after those two defeats back in November, went back to Hershey and worked hard on his game posting several shutouts with the Bears while awaiting his next recall. Well the phone rang once again and Holtby was coming up to “The Show.” To top things off, he would start in his first contest with the Capitals on this recall due to minor injuries to Michal Neuvirth (sent back to DC after Tuesday’s OT loss in Philly) and Semyon Varlamov (dressed as the backup goalie on Thursday night). The result was a very solid 24 save effort from the young goalie from Saskatchewan. Holtby did not make some of the mistakes he made in his last two disastrous NHL starts, such as overplaying the puck or over challenging the shooters, and he looked very comfortable and in control during all 60 minutes. The only tally he allowed was to Grabner on a breakaway at 5:15 of the second period. Kudos to Braden for keeping a good attitude and showing once again that he has NHL game.

- Towards the end of the second period in the OT loss to the Flyers on Tuesday, Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau put Jason Chimera on the top line with Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom and it worked well against a very good Philadelphia club. On Long Island on Thursday, the Caps bench boss kept that trio together and it paid dividends as the Great #8 set up both Chimera (1 goal, +2) and Backstrom (1 goal, 1 assist, +2) for easy goals. For the most part this line dominated on the ice, except for some shifts towards the end of period two and in the final stanza where I thought Ovechkin (2 assists, +2) tried to do too much himself in the offensive zone and he also floated a bit in his own end. However, when the Capitals needed a key defensive play late in the game, the Great #8 cleared the puck off of the boards and down the ice without getting whistled for icing. That play by the team captain sealed this victory. For Backstrom, his tap in from the crease on a rebound of Ovechkin’s power move and shot on net, was his first tally since December 1st in St. Louis when had two goals (a 21 game drought). Adding Chimera to the line has been a great move because #25′s speed seems to open the ice up for the other two. In addition, Chimera is not afraid to go to the net and that is where he scored the Capitals first goal on Long Island.

- The Caps were fortunate to only give up one goal and once again they can thank their stellar penalty killing unit. Washington took six careless minors but the shorthanded crew was outstanding only allowing eight shots on goal over the 12 minutes. The Islanders moved the puck well, at times, on the man advantage but they could not solve Holtby. New York took only two penalties and they held the Caps to just four shots on those two man advantage situations. It is a good thing the Capitals did not need a power play goal to win on Thursday because once again they struggled to get pucks to the net on their PP opportunities.

- On the backend, the Capitals got very good performances from all of their blueliners. The Mike Green-Jeff Schultz pairing logged the most ice time and weren’t on for a goal against. John Carlson had an assist on the Caps second goal but was beat on the Grabner breakaway and #74′s usual partner, Karl Alzner, was +1 in 17:51 of ice time. Scott Hannan (+1) had his 14th straight contest with the Caps without being a minus player. If you watch #23 closely when he is playing you will see that he is a great communicator and is often talking to his d-partner. Hannan does a great job with this and he appears to be getting more and more comfortable with his role on this team. Finally, John Erskine was even (other d-man on the ice on Grabner’s goal) in 15 minutes of action dealing with a minor lower body injury (d-man Brian Fahey was recalled from Hershey in case #4 could not play).

- From the dot, the Caps once again dominated winning 34 of the 55 faceoffs taken. Boyd Gordon went 12-2 and Backstrom was 10-4. #1 NHL faceoff man, Dave Steckel, won four of his five draws. Only Marcus Johansson (-1) at 0-6 and Jay Beagle (1-4) struggled on draws.

- In summary, a win is a win is a win, and the Capitals will take it. However, if they are going to compete against the elite NHL clubs they need to find a way to get more offense going. They should get a boost once Alexander Semin returns to the lineup but the glaring need on the club still remains the second line center position.

Notes: Tomas Fleischmann, who was traded to Colorado in exchange for Hannan, was declared out for the rest of the NHL season Thursday due to a pulmonary embolism. Flash had been scoring consistently for the Avs…forward DJ King played only six shifts and logged 3:25 of ice time…next up for the Caps are the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday at 7pm. The Leafs have given the Capitals fits over the last two seasons and both contests this year at the Verizon Center went to the shootout.

With 20 minutes to go in Sunday’s contest against the Ottawa Senators, the Washington Capitals were trailing 1-0, and were staring at the possibility of their seventh shutout loss of the season. However, the Caps ramped up their intensity big time, became more physical, and played arguably their best 20 minutes in a long time, scoring three goals, including John Carlson’s game winning goal on the power play, en route to a much needed 3-1 victory. The win halted a three game losing streak and vaulted the Capitals (25-14-7) back into a tie for first place in the Southeast Division with the Tampa Bay Lightning (26-15-5). Both teams have 57 points.

Here are the highlights, quotes, and analysis from the victory, the Capitals league leading 13th win of the season after allowing the first goal to their opponent:

- Carlson was voted the number one star of the game, but my top performer was Michal Neuvirth (22 saves). #30 was one of the few players to show up when the puck was dropped and the only tally he allowed, to Mike Fisher in a goal mouth scramble after Mike Green failed to clear the biscuit from the door step just 1:12 into the game, was not his fault. With the Senators carrying the play in the first period, they outshot Washington 9-5, Neuvirth shut the door on Ottawa giving his club a chance to regroup for period two and get their legs going. But the second period was a struggle early on again for the Capitals and in that stanza the two time AHL Calder Cup winning goalie made the save of the game on Filip Kuba. Kuba pinched down into the slot and he took a perfect centering feed on his forehand and fired it towards the top left corner of the cage. The calm and collected Neuvirth quickly lifted his blocker and deflected the puck to the corner to thwart what would have been a seemingly insurmountable two goal hole for Washington. You’ve heard me say this many times this year and I will say it again:  the Capitals do not need another goalie because Neuvirth and Semyon Varlamov have been outstanding this season. Varly is 8-6-2 with a .926 save percentage while Neuvy has gone 15-6-4 with a .912 save percentage. Those are some fantastic numbers.

“Our defense did a good job clearing pucks after that (the first Ottawa goal), not giving any second opportunities and Neuvy (Michal Neuvirth) held the fort,” commented Brooks Laich on how his team was able to stay in the game until they could break things open in the third period.

- The third period effort is something that many fans expected to see more of from Washington this season. The Caps skated hard and their aggressive forechecking in the offensive zone was back. In fact, the first goal was set up by a big check on Erik Karlsson by Alexander Ovechkin behind the Sens net. Karlsson, while being hit, sent a wobbly pass to Chris Phillips on the other side of the cage, but with Marcus Johansson bearing down on him he tried to hit Daniel Alfredsson up the middle of the ice. However #4′s pass missed #11 and went right to Laich in the slot and #21 buried it top shelf, far post to tie the game up. That goal, Laich’s first in 13 games, really energized the Capitals and their fans as the building started rocking again.

- Just 43 seconds later Milan Michalek cross checked Karl Alzner in the back in the Caps zone sending #27 flying head first into the boards. It was an extremely cheap and dangerous play and Alzner stayed down for an extended period, then went down the tunnel after being helped to the bench. Clearly the call should have been a five minute major for boarding but the zebras, Ghislain Hebert and Bill McCreary, only gave Michalek two minutes for cross checking. Washington’s struggling power play then finally found a  way to connect as Nicklas Backstrom won the faceoff back to Carlson and #74 blasted it by Elliott (23 saves). The goal, which only took two seconds of time, came just 45 seconds after Laich had tied things up. The Caps would then add an insurance goal with 6:29 left when Jason Chimera scored from the goal line by banking the puck off the back of Elliott, who went down too soon on the right post. That tally involved a lucky bounce but the hard work of Alzner on the boards provided #25 with the opportunity to send the puck on goal.

“Sometimes you try to bank it off them (the goalie) and that time I did and fortunately it went in. Nine times out of ten, it doesn’t go in. Fortunately it worked out,” said Chimera on his sixth goal of the season.

- Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau once again mixed up his lines with Eric Fehr out of the lineup due to a shoulder injury (likely 3-4 weeks) and Andrew Gordon recalled from Hershey. Boudreau put Johansson with Ovechkin and Laich and that line played fairly well, especially in the third period. Johansson was +1 in a career high 22:16 of ice time. He had a couple of golden opportunities, including a perfect set up from Ovechkin in the slot, but he couldn’t connect. MJ90 is getting better along the boards, he actually was credited with two hits in this tilt, but the one thing he needs to really work on is his shot. We need to see more of it and the shots need to be quicker, harder, and on target.

- In addition to the forward line juggling, two of the defensive pairs were switched with Jeff Schultz going back with Green and Scott Hannan played the right side while John Erskine was flanked to his left. Hannan had another strong game in 17:32 of ice time. The 52-55 pair looked like it was headed for a disastrous night after allowing that first goal just 72 seconds into the game but they steadied themselves as the contest went on. The best defensive pair was once again the Carlson-Alzner duo. #74 was +1 in 21:07 and had the game winning goal while King Karl was +2 and had an assist in 19 minutes and 50 seconds of ice time. Alzner, who was shaken up a bit from the dirty hit by Michalek, did come back in the game missing at most one shift.

- One thing Washington did well the entire contest was win faceoffs. The Caps, who are ranked third in the NHL from the dot at a 52.8% success rate, won 43 of the 62 draws in this game. Boyd Gordon was an amazing 8-0 and Backstrom went 13-6. Faceoffs played a huge role in the outcome and the Senators bench boss took notice.

“They [face-offs] are huge. Both [third period] goals were off of a lost face off,” said Ottawa Coach Cory Clouston.

- So a bad week for the Caps, one in which they went 1-2-1, ends up on a high note. They still are not scoring many goals and this was the 16th time in the last 17 games that they have failed to notch more than three tallies but over the last 14 games they’ve only given up 28 goals (just two per game). There are 43 days left before the trade deadline for GM George McPhee to set his roster up for a long playoff run. Based on what I’ve seen over the first 46 games, I think the team is solid in goal and on defense but the forward crew needs upgrading in order to get two lines scoring, something you absolutely have to have to advance in the post season.

Notes: Along with Fehr being out, Alex Semin, Matt Bradley, Tom Poti, and DJ King were also out of the lineup due to injury while d-man Tyler Sloan is in Hershey for a conditioning stint…Green led the team with five hits but he also got rocked hard by Nick Foligno into the back boards right before he took an interference penalty with 33 seconds remaining. Hopefully #52 didn’t reinjure his shoulder on that hit…the Caps now embark on a three game road trip with the first stop in Philadelphia on Tuesday night. I will be covering the game in person and will bring you quotes, highlights, and analysis from a battle against the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference…by the way, please check out Japers Rink Radio, I was on with hosts Stephen Pepper and Russell Waxman for the last 25 minutes of this past Saturday’s show. We touched on all things Caps hockey.

Capitals goalie Michal Neuvirth received his first start since the Christmas break but his outstanding play (37 saves) was not rewarded as the Caps took too many penalties that resulted in three power play goals for the Florida Panthers, who won, 4-3, in overtime at home on Tuesday night. Washington rallied from an early 3-0 deficit in this one, but their inability to convert on the power play, and their own penchant for heading to the box on this night, eventually cost them. Nonetheless, the point they picked up moves them to 24-12-7 and puts them in a tie with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Southeast Division with 55 points. On Wednesday evening the Caps and Bolts will face off in Tampa with the victor taking over the top spot in the division.

Here are the highlights and analysis of Washington’s first of six games on the road in the Sunshine State this season:

- I get it, the Southeast Division is better this year, but if you don’t show up in the first period, and the Capitals as a group collectively failed to move their feet in that opening stanza, you are going to make it easier for a less talented team to gain a victory. That is what happened on Tuesday as Washington was outshot 20-7 and fell behind 2-0 heading into the first intermission. The Nicklas Backstrom boarding penalty, after a questionable delayed infraction on Mike Knuble was being whistled, was a terrible one, although David Booth did a nice job of selling it. Florida scored on the ensuing 5 on 3 when Karl Alzner left his feet (bad move) to try and block the pass and Mike Santorelli banged it home from the doorstep. Santorelli has been very impressive in these two games between the two squads. That makes two games in a row that #19 has taken a bad boarding penalty and he needs to clean that up.

- The Panthers scored three power play goals but the improved Washington shorthanded unit was put in BAD spots on all three. The first two were 5 on 3 tallies and the third, the game winner in OT, was on a tougher to defend 4 on 3 marker. However, the Caps had that thing killed off until Matt Hendricks decided to try a fancy and stupid backhanded play up the right wing boards. The result was a turnover and disaster as the Panthers won the game just seconds later. That whole power play was set up by another bad backhanded play, that one coming from Mike Green, who for some crazy reason backhanded the puck right up the slot forcing #52 to then take down Corey Stillman as he was about to get a quality chance in front. Simply put, the Capitals were lazy on those plays and several others for getting rid of the puck on their backhand in dangerous situations. They should know better and I hope Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau goes through the tape tomorrow morning and shows his crew ALL of the lazy plays that allowed a less talented Panthers team to steal a victory.

- I said this a few games ago and I will say it again: Blow this power play configuration up! Simply put, the top skill guys for the Capitals are downright horrible with the man advantage because they do not want to work hard and simplify in those situations. Alex Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Green all want to continue to try and make the perfect play instead of getting the puck in the middle of the ice at the top of the point and blasting away. I watch game after game of other teams doing this, it is no secret how to score and Boudreau and assistant coach Dean Evason keep telling those guys to do what I am saying, but they aren’t listening. My opinion:  Sit those guys on the bench and send out some guys who will shoot the puck and crash the net. You can’t get any worse results right now. Washington’s power play carded a big freaking donut hole on Tuesday in five chances. That is UNACCEPTABLE!

- On the positive side of the ledger, the team came back hard and gained a point, but it never should have been like that at all and the players can thank one guy, Neuvirth, for that point because it could have been worse than 3-0 at the game’s midpoint. Marcus Johansson (2 goals) had a super game as well using his speed to help get Washington back in this one. The night would have been perfect for #90 had he gotten more wood on a point blank shot from right in front of Tomas Vokoun (30 saves) in the last 10 minutes. MJ90 would have had a hat trick and the Caps would have likely stolen a victory but #29 got his glove on a shot that the young Swede would love another crack at.

Notes: The Caps have lost their last five contests that have gone to the extra session (three OT losses & two shootout defeats)…Alex Semin, who was hurt (lower body) in last Saturday’s game against Florida, did not make the two game road trip and Brian Willsie was recalled from Hershey. #24 had an assist in 6:15 of ice time…The Caps lost the faceoff battle, 34-32, and top draw man Dave Steckel was only 11-9. Many of the losses were at the beginning of special teams play giving the Panthers an advantage right off the bat in each of those situations (Backstrom was a pitiful 5-12 on faceoffs), allowing the Panthers to win the special teams play, 3-0…D-man John Erskine (-1 in 13:27) returned to the lineup in place of Tom Poti, who was deemed a healthy scratch, but healthy he ain’t, #3 is still trying to get his wheels back…Knuble had the Caps second tally on a super feed from the Great #8…Ovechkin and Green were announced as participants in the NHL All Star game today while goalie Braden Holtby, blue liner Lawrence Nycholat, and winger Andrew Gordon, all Caps players with the Hershey Bears, were named to the AHL all star squad.

Andrew Raycroft of the Dallas Stars stopped 37 of 38 shots and received some help from the referees as an apparent Capitals game tying goal was waved off with eight seconds left in regulation to end Washington’s winning streak at four games. The Caps, who were shorthanded four times in the middle period and twice in the third, lost 2-1 and fell to 18-7-2 on the season. They still lead the Southeast Division by seven points since both the Tampa Bay Lightning and Atlanta Thrashers also were defeated on Thursday night.

Here are the highlights of a tilt that was difficult to watch because the ice in Texas was so horrible and the zebras were nearly as bad:

- On the wiped out Caps goal with eight seconds left, Alexander Oveckin is in front of the cage making contact with d-man Stephane Robidas. Neither player is touching Raycroft and as Washington is about to fire the biscuit into the net, Stars defensemen Karlis Skrastins comes sliding in from the right post and bangs into his own goalie. The Caps score and raise their sticks but referee Dan O’Rourke waved it off immediately and when the face-off was moved outside the Stars zone, Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau went postal on the zebras and earned an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. That was simply the culmination of a frustrating night in which it seemed everything was let go in the opening stanza then every ticky tack call in the book went against Washington in the middle frame. The Caps would kill off the first three Stars man advantages but they finally tired out and Mike Ribeiro scored to give Dallas the lead on their fourth power play of the second period.

- The Caps, who outshot the Stars 38-21, would pressure hard in the final stanza and on their second power play of the period and third of the night, they finally scored as Mike Green carried the puck in from the right point and made an outstanding pass to Mike Knuble in the slot, who buried it into a vacant left side of the net. Overall the Stars had six power plays (although the last one was for 8 seconds) while Washington just had three in a disturbing trend that continues to see the Capitals come out on the short end of the stick from the referees.

- Michael Neuvirth got the start in net after Semyon Varlamov had played the previous night in St. Louis (Caps won 4-1). #30 made several big stops in this tilt but the game winning tally is one he would like to have back. Brandon Segal received a cross ice feed from Brendan Morrow and Karl Alzner reached out trying to block the shot and the puck may or may not have nicked #27′s stick on the way to the cage. Nonetheless, the biscuit eluded Neuvirth top shelf and the Stars jumped back in front just 20 seconds after the Caps had worked hard to tie this one up. It was a goal that cannot be allowed in that situation.

- From there Washington stormed the castle but just couldn’t solve Raycroft. They also missed the net several times too. Part of that may have been trying to pick corners because the Stars goalie was playing well and the other part could have been the bad surface. Hockey Night in Canada’s Jeff Marek tweeted that the ice in Dallas was the worst he’s seen all year in the NHL. Passing was difficult and both teams suffered from players overskating the puck or having it stick to the ice. Is Fred Biletnikoff in charge of the zamboni at American Airlines arena? Inquiring minds want to know because it sure looked like the ice was covered with “Stick ‘Em.”

- Scott Hannan made his Caps debut on defense and he played solid, although it was his penalty that resulted in the Stars first tally. #23 blocked four shots in 19:02 of ice time. He looked comfortable in Boudreau’s aggressive system, which is different than the one he played in with Colorado.

Notes: Washington won the face-off battle, 30-28, and this was the 14th straight contest in which the Caps were 50% or better on draws, so much for those struggles from the dot we heard about after just first four tilts into season…Matt Hendricks fought Segal (won the bout, too) and also drew a penalty. #26 does all of the little things and it is clear why Boudreau and GM George McPhee wanted this type of player on their squad…Eric Fehr had the second assist on the Caps only goal…Ovechkin fired five shots on net, had four attempts blocked, and missed the cage on three other tries in 22:27 of ice time…Tom Poti did not play due to a bad groin and John Erskine appeared to injure his leg in the first period. #4 left for awhile but returned and logged only 11:23 of ice time…next up for the Capitals are the Atlanta Thrashers at the Verizon Center on Saturday night at 7pm. Atlanta had their six game winning streak snapped by the Pittsburgh Penguins and Sidney Crosby’s hat trick, 3-2, on Thursday night.

Before Wednesday night, the Washington Capitals last victory in St. Louis came with Jim Schoenfeld as the head coach and David Poile as the General Manager (1996). Thanks to Semyon Varlamov, who was outstanding in goal tonight with 37 saves, the Caps eight game losing streak at the Scotttrade center is now over. Nicklas Backstrom had two goals and an assist as Washington got some revenge on Blues goalie, Jaroslav Halak (22 saves), who had stoned the Caps in their opening round playoff loss last spring when he was with Montreal. The victory on the road pushes the Caps to 18-6-2 overall and they’ve won four straight with Varly in the cage after he returned from a lengthy absence due to a groin injury. Washington leads the Southeast Division by seven points over Tampa Bay and the Eastern Conference by four points over those two teams they don’t like from Pennsylvania.

Here are the highlights and analysis of a rare road win in the “Show Me” state:

- Typically the Caps play some of their best hockey in front of Varlamov. Tonight was not one of those games as the Blues carried the majority of the play but #1 had the backs of his teammates and he made several super saves. His positioning was excellent and he had superb rebound control. Varly also is bigger than both Michael Neuvirth and Braden Holtby and he plays like a big goalie. That forces opponents to try and pick corners. The result is that they often miss the net.

- Washington is banged up on the back line and it is a good thing they made the Tomas Fleischmann for Scott Hannan trade now. Hannan, who sat out this one so he could learn the Caps system by observing from the press box, is slated to make his Caps debut in Dallas on Thursday evening (830 pm on Comcast). He will be needed big time because Tom Poti, who helped set up the second goal for Washington, did not play in the third period (logged only 11 minutes of total ice time). In addition, Mike Green appeared to be favoring his right shoulder quite a bit but he gutted this tilt out. John Carlson got banged up right before the Blues only tally with 31 seconds left in period two, but he managed to persevere. John Erskine also took a hard hit in the back by Brad Winchester in the final stanza and looked to be in some pain.

- Backstrom, Alexander Ovechkin, and Mike Knuble were the Caps best line on Wednesday and they were +2 each. It was Knuble’s hard, low shot on Halak that rebounded off of the goalie’s pads and right onto the stick of #19, who buried it to give Washington a key two goal cushion with just under 13 minutes remaining. Nicky also made a super feed to Brooks Laich on the power play in the first period to start the scoring (Alex Semin had the second assist on a gorgeous cross ice pass). Backstrom’s last tally came via an Oveckin pass with the net empty. The Great #8, who has not scored a goal in eight games, has eight assists during that drought, including seven during the four game winning streak. It was a very smart play by Oveckhin to get the puck to Backstrom for the tap in and close this game out with 35 seconds remaining. Sure he could have fired the biscuit into the empy cage to stop his personal goalless streak, but instead he showed his unselfishness, maturity, patience, and commitment to winning. That is what  a team captain does and it is so clear that Alexander the Great is not concerned at all with his individual statistics, he is only focused on winning despite what some of those biased analysts in Canada will try to tell you. Despite the focus on the team, Ovechkin is now 3rd in the league in scoring with 33 points (8 points behind Sidney Crosby and 7 in back of Steve Stamkos).

- Another game, another one in which the opponents get more power plays than Washington. The Caps received two early power plays and tallied on one of them but after that the Blues received four opportunities with the man advantage. St. Louis carried the play but the zebras missed some calls on the Blues, including an obvious stick slash when Ovechkin had a scoring chance. Oh well, like Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau said after Sunday’s win vs. Carolina, “I’ve given up trying to understand [the officiating].” St. Louis went 0 for 4 on the power play and Washington did a great job of being aggressive and forcing the Blues into some turnovers. Varlamov was also what he needed to be: the Caps best penalty killer.

Notes: The Caps won or tied the faceoff battle for the 13 straight contest (33-30) and they did it without their best draw man, Dave Steckel. Matt Hendricks, who seems to do all of the little things that help you win, was 10-3 while Boyd Gordon went 11-6…#39 sat so that DJ King could get a game and #17 had an assist on Washington’s second tally which was credited to Gordon when Halak fumbled the puck into his own cage…Green played 25:24 to lead the Caps in ice time…Boudreau did a nice job of rolling the lines and with the Caps going against Dallas on Thursday he needed to be able to do that for the second half of the back-to-back games. Varlamov’s goaltending really helped that cause…one would expect to see Neuvirth in the cage in Dallas…Washington returns home to the Verizon Center on Saturday night when they take on Atlanta for the third and final time in the regular season. The Thrashers are currently riding a six game winning streak but have lost both tilts at the Phone Booth.

Is there any doubt about who rules the Southeast Division? The Washington Capitals hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning, who were riding a five game winning streak and had closed within four points of the 1st place Caps, and promptly buried them, 6-0,  behind Alexander Semin’s third hat trick of the season, and second in as many tilts against the Bolts. Semyon Varlamov made 17 saves for his third career regular season shutout  and Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Marcus Johansson had two assists apiece in this white washing of Steve Stamkos and company. The Caps are now 16-6-2 and lead the Southeast Division by six points over the Bolts, who have a game in hand. They also lead the Eastern Conference over the Philadelphia Flyers by a point.

Let’s get to the highlights, quotes, and analysis from a 60 minute Capitals effort:

- Goaltending and special teams were the big difference in this contest. Tampa’s netminding duo of Mike Smith and Dan Ellis are average, at best, and both of them saw the ice in this tilt.  After Johansson cleanly won an offensive zone draw against Stamkos, John Carlson lasered one into the cage to make it 1-0 just 3:09 into the contest, a lead Washington would take to the dressing room. But Karl Alzner took an uncharasterically bad penalty for interference against Steve Downie with one second left in that stanza and that set Tampa up for the first of two early second period power plays. That is where the game really turned for the Caps as they would kill both of those thanks to some great work by Boyd Gordon, Semin, and the entire PK unit. In addition, they did a super job of not letting Stamkos get set up for his vicious one timer from the left wing circle.

- Shortly after the Caps thwarted those two Bolts power plays, Smith couldn’t handle a point shot from John Erskine and it trickled by the shaky net minder to make it 2-0. That goal definitely hurt the Lightning, still they pressed on and opened the game up. That is where they got burnt as Semin made a nice back check to help Washington take the puck away from Tampa and he and Johansson went 2 on 1 the other way. MJ90 then made a gorgeous pass to #28, who rammed it home on the one-timer for his first marker of the night.

- Then Semin would complete his natural hat trick in just 4:29 with two power play tallies (fastest NHL natural hat trick since Bobby Ryan of Anaheim on 1/9/2009; h/t @capsmedia). With Mattias Ritola in the box for tripping, Ovechkin had his point shot blocked but he gathered in the biscuit and slid it over to Backstrom in the right wing circle. #19 then went cross ice to Semin who one-timed another by Smith to end his evening. Stamkos, who was downright awful on Friday, was called for interference and then Mattias Ohlund tripped Oveckhin in the neutral zone to give Washington a 5 on 3. It took only 19 seconds to connect as Ovechkin slid the puck to Backstrom, who then made a sweet cross crease pass to Semin. #28 had the puck almost on the goal line but rifled it top shelf on a sliding Ellis. It was an amazing display of skill by both Backstrom and Semin to put Washington up 5-0 and effectively end the contest at 11:21 of period two.

- Overall the Caps would go 2 for 4 on the power play while they held the Lightning to no goals in five attempts. Even after yielding those tallies to the Caps the Lightning are still killing penalties at an 87% clip, tied for 3rd in the league. They are also fifth in the NHL with the power play at 24%. So the outstanding special teams performance by Washington came against a strong opponent in those categories.  The Caps are 4th in the NHL at 24.1% with an advantage and their much improved shorthanded unit is now up to eighth in the league at 84.3%.

“We played good defensively. Power play works good. PK [penalty kill] did an unbelievable job. I think we play a good 60 solid minutes,” said Ovechkin on the Caps keys to the victory.

“I don’t know if it was perfect, but it’s as good as we’ve played all year. When you score a couple on the power play and you kill a 5-on-3, I thought it was a good game by us,” said Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau on the effort by his club, who totally dominated the Lightning in all facets of the game.

- Varlamov’s best save of night was early in the contest when Martin St. Louis had a chance in the slot after moving around Alzner. After that he didn’t have to do a whole lot in this one as Boudreau said afterwards that his team was determined to play a very good game. But a team’s good play or bad play is often based on the confidence they have in their goaltender, as anyone who has played this great sport will tell you. I think it is no coincidence that their two worst games of the season, in Atlanta and New Jersey, came with rookie goalie Braden Holtby struggling in the cage early on while some of their better contests, such as the last two tilts, have been with Varlamov, their #1 goalie, between the pipes.

“When you get some goals against you early it takes the wind out of your sails some time. I think the guys were pissed. They were ticked off, we took a lot of flak this week and that is a proud bunch in there. The week is not over yet but they knew they were better than what they showed and they knew they were better than what people were saying about us. So I think they dug deep and we’ll try to dig deep again on Sunday,” said the 2007-08 Jack Adams award winning bench boss on the mind set of his club since losing three in a row.

- Carlson and Alzner continue to shine as a defensive pair and Boudreau spoke glowingly of the two young defenseman for their efforts on shutting down the Stamkos-St. Louis-Downie line. Tom Poti, in just his second contest back from injury, added a goal as well and was superb all evening.

“[Carlson] and Alzner, for a 21 year old guy and 22, having the duty of shutting down that line did a real good job, and Carly adds that offensive element as well. I thought he was at his best tonight,” started Boudreau on his two rookie defensemen, “I was really impressed with Tom, just his demeanor and you could tell his experience back there when he got the puck he made the right plays he did the right things with it. We missed him [while he was out],” finished Boudreau on #3.

- The 20 year old Johansson continues to get better and his play is making Tomas Fleischmann more expendable. MJ90 played a big role on the first and third goals and overall he logged 12:31 of ice time, including 1:53 on the power play (2nd unit). He is a very good skater and just needs to keep improving his play along the boards, particularly behind the net where he gets taken off of the puck fairly easily when he doesn’t move his feet. As for #14, he was scratched today with the return of Mike Knuble (fractured jaw). Fleischmann has really struggled this year and part of his problem is his lack of physical play. He has not been finishing his checks on the forecheck at all and when opposing defenseman feel no threat, it is much easier for them to clear their own end.

- We’ve blogged in the past about the clean hit and then the subsequent fight that occurs. Tonight Erskine made a good solid shoulder check on Nate Thompson and #44 went awkwardly into the boards and stayed down. The zebras, who did a great job on Friday night, did not call a penalty. However, a few minutes later the Bolts Ryan Malone decided to take exception to the hit on his teammate and went after #4. Erskine proceeded to pummel the former Penguins forward. Erskine, who was drafted in 1998 by Craig Button’s Dallas Stars scouting staff in the 2nd round (39th overall), is “pretty tough” as an NHL scouting director told me last season.

Notes: The Caps held Tampa to their lowest shot total of the season (17)…Washington is now a league best 11-1-1 at home…Semin is second in the NHL in goals to Stamkos (21 to 17)…the Capitals are 11-0 when #28 scores a goal and 12-1-2 when he registers a point or more….Brian Fahey, who was paired with Erskine, had his first NHL point (an assist) in 11:21 of ice time in his best game as a Capital…the Caps won the faceoff battle, 33-27 and have been at 50% or better for 11 straight games (last season their longest such streak was seven games)…Next up for the Caps are the Carolina Hurricanes at the Verizon Center at 5pm on Sunday…down on the farm the Hershey Bears buried the Syracuse Crunch on the road, 5-1. Andrew Gordon had two goals and was the game’s number one star while Mathieu Perreault added a tally and two assists. Dany Sabourin won in Syracuse for the third straight time in three tries this season. The Bears host Adirondack at 7pm on Saturday at the Giant Center.