Tim Thomas didn’t win the Conn Smythe Trophy as 2011 Stanley Cup Playoff MVP for nothing and on Sunday at the Verizon Center he showed once again why the Boston Bruins are the defending NHL Champions. Thomas’ stellar play in goal (35 saves) propelled the B’s to a 4-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Super Bowl Sunday.

Despite the loss, there were a lot of positives once again for Washington (27-21-4). They outshot Boston, 36-30, but more importantly, they had a slight edge in scoring chances despite trailing 2-0 after 40 minutes. Alexander Semin had a clean breakaway that Thomas thwarted and Alexander Ovechkin missed a mostly open net in period one while the Bruins converted on a Dennis Wideman mistake in the Caps end that left Milan Lucic all alone in front of Tomas Vokoun (26 saves) and they notched a Brad Marchand tally when Washington had three players behind their own net to Boston’s lone Patrice Bergeron. Somehow #37 was able to get the puck to #63 at the side of the net for a tap in with Karl Alzner, John Carlson, and Brooks Laich all in the vicinity of the Bruins center. Getting both defensemen caught behind the net is a no-no in hockey no matter what the system, but especially in a man to man defense, and that mental mistake was costly.

This contest was different than Saturday’s tilt in Montreal where there wasn’t a whole lot of skating room on the ice. With both teams having played on Saturday the game was more open and it was entertaining hockey. An undermanned Capitals squad managed to hold its’ own against the defending champs and if not for Thomas this game could have easily been a Washington victory.

“Yeah, we did have some good [chances]. Thomas played a pretty good game. He made some big saves as he usually does. It’s frustrating when you see that you do have a chance to score and it doesn’t go in. Ovie had that open net and I don’t know exactly what kept it out there. It’s gonna happen, that’s a good team over there. You can’t really give them a whole lot without paying for it. For what we did give them we paid for it,” added Alzner.

The really bad news for the Capitals is they may have lost another one of their top players when Laich crashed hard into the boards with Dennis Seidenberg in period two. #21 went to the ice and crawled towards the Washington bench before being helped through the door and then down the tunnel. Amazingly the assistant captain came out to test his leg at the next timeout but he immediately went back down the runway to the locker room. Brooks will be re-evaluated on Monday and based on the replay his left knee is likely the issue.

With Nicklas Backstrom already out due to a concussion and no true second line center on the roster the Laich situation, if serious, could be a killer for the Capitals playoff chances. But injuries are a part of sports and guys like Marcus Johansson, Mathieu Perreault, and Jeff Halpern will have to step their respective games up even more. In addition, General Manager George McPhee will have more pressure on him to add some forwards at the trade deadline, which is just three weeks away (February 27^th). Mike Green’s successful return from surgery is another key piece to the playoff puzzle since having 52 in the lineup changes the entire dynamic for the Caps on the back end.

But back to today’s game, Thomas was superb and when a goalie is on, he is tough to beat. That was the case with Boston today, as it was last June when #30 was the difference between the B’s and the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Capitals had their chances on Sunday and could have moved back into first place in the Southeast Division with a victory. Now they’ll have to wait until Tuesday night’s game against the Panthers at the Verizon Center to try and do that again, and likely without one of their leaders and top players in Laich.

Notes: Marcus Johansson had the only Capitals goal with just under eight minutes to go. MJ90 actually was trying to pass to Joel Ward but that attempt hit Seidenberg’s skate and went in the net…speaking of skates, it sure looked to me that Tyler Seguin’s goal, Boston’s third, went in off of his skate. #19 appeared to have turned his skate to accept the pass and the biscuit banked in off of it. It may have hit his stick but the baffling thing to me was why the game wasn’t delayed while the replay was thoroughly reviewed by the supposed wizards in Toronto?…not only is the lack of centers hurting Washington’s ability to break out of their own zone, it is really starting to show up in the faceoff column. Boston demolished the Caps from the dot, 43-24…Dmitry Orlov, who broke his nose when hit by the puck in Montreal on Saturday, took another one to the face on Sunday. Talk about bad luck!

In pro sports, good teams find ways to win the games they are supposed to win. On Sunday evening the Washington Capitals did just that, defeating the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1, to move back into first place in the Southeast Division for the first time since November.

Alexander Semin scored on a wicked top shelf shot past Cam Ward (22 saves) and rookie Dmitry Orlov scored his first NHL goal when he alertly jumped up into the play to bang home a rebound of a Jason Chimera shot. Sandwiched in between was a Carolina power play goal that resulted when both Dennis Wideman and Roman Hamrlik scrambled around in front of Tomas Vokoun (43 shots). But Vokoun would stand tall down the stretch and his pad save on Jeff Skinner late in regulation was a thing of beauty and the type of goaltending you need to win games.

Some will call this an ugly win, but just ask the Baltimore Ravens what ugly wins get you, they just won ugly on Sunday and will go to Foxboro to play for the AFC Championship.

Tonight, the Caps won ugly and are now back in the driver’s seat in the Southeast Division. They are winning the games they need to win, even with number one center Nicklas Backstrom still out of the lineup.

The Caps, despite getting outshot routinely, are finding ways to win on home ice. They are 9-1 in their last 10 games at the Phone Booth. Their record improves to 24-17-2 (50 points) to lead the Southeast Division, something not lost on head coach Dale Hunter.

“It was a big game here tonight we knew it was. We talked about it to get back on the top of the standings in our division. It was an important win for us,” added Hunter.

Next up for Washington are the New York Islanders at the Verizon Center on Tuesday, another team they are supposed to defeat, but one who knocked off the Detroit Red Wings this past week.

Will the Capitals be able to find a way again? We’ll see, but if Vokoun keeps playing the way he’s done lately, the Caps will be tough to beat.

“Sometimes those are better games for goalies. At the start, they threw a lot of pucks at me, not great chances, but it gets you into your rhythm. After that, it felt good to get some saves on the board. Games like that, they’re fun for the goalie. You are a part of the play a lot. They’re not easy either, but I’d take a game like that, then a game with 15 shots and 10 scoring chances,” finished Vokoun, who is in a nice groove at this point in the season.

Notes: Brooks Laich had an apparent second period goal overturned due to incidental contact with Canes goalie Ward. I disagree with that call…Skinner, who just returned from a concussion for this tilt, played more like Matt Cooke down the stretch than the skilled player he can be. #53 dangerously tripped Wideman late in regulation then swung his stick at Jeff Halpern like he was Cal Ripken on the final faceoff of the game. Skinner did not receive a penalty on the night, go figure?!…the Caps won the faceoff battle 32-28 and Laich went 14-12…Alexander Ovechkin and Marcus Johansson assisted on Semin’s beauty of a goal that knocked the water bottle behind Ward up in the air. #28 is a Canes killer…the Capitals had 13 giveaways and only attempted 32 shots to 69 for Carolina, they will need to improve on those statistics if they want to increase their chances of winning on Tuesday, or any other night…h/t to the Caps awesome PR staff for sending me the post game quotes.

With the Washington Capitals hitting their season midpoint, it is time for my fifth annual Caps mid-season grades and analysis. It’s been a rollercoaster ride for the Capitals in 2011-12. This Caps squad that added goalie Tomas Vokoun, defensemen Roman Hamrlik, and forwards Joel Ward and Jeff Halpern during the summer, shot out of the gate 7-0 but an injury to Mike Green coupled with some poor defensive zone play and shaky goaltending sent the team reeling for several weeks. That swoon ultimately led to the firing of Bruce Boudreau. Enter new coach Dale Hunter, who changed the defensive system switching from zone to man to man, and the Caps became a team that was better at keeping the biscuit out of their own cage but saw the offense struggle early on while the team focused on a defense first mentality. In Hunter’s scheme, the offense is created from defense, primarily from transition. Over the last couple of weeks the team has executed those tactics much more effectively and the result has been victories in five of the last seven games. The goals against average, which was 3.32 in 22 games under Boudreau, has declined to 2.47 in 19 games with Hunter.

Washington heads into the season’s second half at 22-17-2 (46 points) which is good for 8th place in the Eastern Conference and 16th overall in the NHL. For comparison’s sake, at the halfway point last season, the Caps were 23-12-6 (52 points) but there were some obvious holes on the roster, with second line center being the biggest. On trade deadline day in 2011 GM George McPhee would make some super deals adding defensemen Dennis Wideman and center Jason Arnott and the Caps went on a tear to seize the top seed in the Eastern Conference for the playoffs. However, both Arnott and Wideman were injured down the stretch and Washington couldn’t get past the second round of the playoffs, getting swept by the Bolts in four games. There were some who felt that McPhee needed to make a coaching change immediately after the second round loss to Tampa Bay but the GM said late this fall, just after switching to Hunter behind the bench just 22 games into the season, that he didn’t want all of the blame for the postseason failure to fall on Boudreau. But clearly Boudreau’s message was falling on deaf ears as a team that played super defense in the second half of 2010-11 became irresponsible in their own zone in the early part of this season.

The old adage, “Defense Wins Championships,” is spot on and Hunter has this team more focused in this area but there are still issues, especially when the club goes on the road. Washington is 15-5-1 at the Verizon Center but a terrible 7-12-1 away. If this Caps team is going to make a second half push to climb up the overall standings, then the road record must improve. The Capitals have not looked the same away from DC and their play in their own zone has been atrocious at times, case in point being this past Monday night in Los Angeles. From the defensemen to the centers to the wingers, the Caps must do a better job with their breakouts because they are making far too many giveaways that lead to more shots, chances, and zone time for their opponents. This Capitals team used to pride itself on being a puck possession crew but due to their own zone struggles, they end up wasting lots of time and energy just trying to get past the blue and red lines. That zaps energy and the ability to use their size and skill in the offensive zone.

Injuries have been a factor in the struggles, Green has pretty much been out since the start of the year and as a result Dennis Wideman and John Carlson have had to take on more minutes. In addition, the absence of 52 exposed the lack of speed that Roman Hamrlik, Jeff Schultz, and John Erskine possess. The good news is that Hamrlik has turned his game around with the new man to man system under Hunter but the other two aren’t even getting a sweater with the recent recall of Tomas Kundratek from Hershey. Assistant coach Jim Johnson is clearly trying to find the right combination on the back end and I wouldn’t be surprised if McPhee adds a defensemen at the trade deadline. In addition, the second line center problem has risen to the spotlight again, especially with Nicklas Backstrom out of the lineup the last three games due to the cheap shot to the head he took from Calgary’s Rene Bourque. Once again, I look for GMGM to address the center position, and possibly another forward slot at the trade deadline. The Capitals have two first round draft picks this year so the GM could decide to use one of them to upgrade the current roster.

To sum up the first half of the year, the coaching change was necessary but it clearly hasn’t solved all of the team’s issues and the personnel will need some upgrades by February 27th. Several players also need to execute better than they did in the first 41 games.

Speaking of players, it is time to move on to the individual grades, which are based on the expectations for each at the start of the season (after the opening night roster was announced). They also take in to account each individual’s yearly salary cap hit:

Top of the Class

Jason Chimera (A) – 14 goals and 7 assists put #25 on pace for a career high in offensive production. In addition, his offense has not come with a drop in defensive zone play as he is +6. Chimera has been excellent using his speed to get around opposing defenders to create offense or simply wear down the other team.

Karl Alzner (A) – The defensive defensemen is a +10 with much of his ice time coming against opposing number one forward lines. Sure there have been nights when #27 has had a rough matchup, but all year long he has been the club’s steadiest blueliner. Add in the fact that King Karl is getting more involved offensively, his 1 goal and 11 assists give him 12 points, the same total he had all last season, and he has really amped up his game in just his second full year in the NHL.

Nicklas Backstrom (A-) – Arguably the team’s MVP so far because he is so valuable on a team that is weak up center ice after #19. 42 points in 38 games for a team that has shifted to a defense first mentality is impressive. It is clear that Nicky got himself in supreme shape this past offseason and his strength on the puck is back this season. It is a shame that he is out right now, for who knows how long, due to Bourque’s reckless cheap shot.

Honor Society

Dennis Wideman (B) – with Green out #6 has been asked to be the team’s ice time leader on most nights. He has picked up the offensive slack notching eight goals and 21 assists, which helped put him in the all star game. Wideman overall though, is a -3, and that needs to improve. He has a tendency to overplay opponents in his own zone which breaks down the entire defensive system when it happens.

Tomas Vokoun (B) – 17-10 with a .915 save percentage are good numbers. He’s had some great games, the two victories over Pittsburgh spring immediately to mind, and some poor outings, such as the night against the Flyers when he couldn’t stop a beach ball. #29 was plagued by the bad goal a night blues for a while in the middle of the first half but he seems to be snapping out of it. For the Caps to get where they want to be he needs to be at the top of his game down the stretch and in the post season.

Jeff Halpern (B) – #15 is 217-148 from the faceoff dot (59.4%) and is the team’s best drawman. Slated to play on the 4th line, the Potomac native has worked himself up the depth chart with solid two way play. He has 3 goals and 8 helpers but is a +4.

Dmitry Orlov (B) – started the season in Hershey but because of the lack of mobility on the blue line, the 2009 2nd round pick was summoned to “The Show” and has acquitted himself so well that it is unlikely he goes back to the AHL. He has six assists, but is -3. He has great wheels and a surprising physical presence on the back end. If he can start hitting the net with his shot the Capitals offense would get a great boost.

Marcus Johansson (B-) – MJ90 has had an up and down first half but his numbers are decent: 9 goals and 15 assists. He is a -2 and surprisingly has had some rough nights in his own zone, something that was supposed to be a rarity for the normally solid defensive pivot. This kid will continue to get better and unfortunately he is forced to play center on one of the top two lines too often. In my book he is a third line center and would be one of the best in the NHL in that role, but he also has shown he can be a decent winger, with the right center (Backstrom).

John Carlson (B-) – #74 has been very inconsistent this season. At times he has been one of the best players on the ice and in other games he has looked lost in his own zone. The system change may have hurt him more than any other d-man because he is still learning how to take time and space away from opponents. Offensively though, he has been there with five goals and 17 assists. I’d like to see him get more power play time.

Cody Eakin (B-) – I didn’t expect the 2009 3rd round NHL pick to spend much time with the Caps this year but due to injuries, a friendly contract that allows him to go up and down without having to clear waivers, and his speed, he’s played in nearly half of the tilts. He has been most effective when using his speed to beat opponents and when he hasn’t done that he has looked overmatched and benched in some games, as a result. Personally I’d rather see him play 20+ minutes a night in the AHL to properly develop his game. He just isn’t physically big enough for the NHL, at this time.

Average Joe’s

Troy Brouwer (C+) – #20 has 11 goals and 20 points and has been a real solid net presence. He also has done a good job of being physical in the offensive zone.

Roman Hamrlik (C) – #44 really struggled under Boudreau and part of that was a lingering groin issue. However, with Hunter’s system he is in familiar territory and doesn’t look like he is skating in concrete, like he did early on.

John Erskine (C) – Started the season on IR due to a shoulder injury. Last year he was one of the best players in the first 41 games but when you can’t lift and work out in the offseason due to an injury it really sets you back. #4′s main role appears to be spot starts where his phyiscal presence is needed. His best games seem to always be against the Rangers.

Joel Ward (C) – Needs to score more than five goals in the second half. His skating is a little worrisome, not sure if he was out of shape or he had an injury but he doesn’t look as quick as he did in the 2011 playoffs when he was a Nashville Predator. His +5 rating saves him from a worse grade.

Michal Neuvirth (C-) – #30 really struggled in the first part of the year before improving once Hunter took over. At one point Neuvy was the #1 goalie but he let in a couple of bad ones in Buffalo the day after Christmas and it’s pretty much been the Vokoun show ever since. 5-7-2 with an .886 save percentage are not good numbers at all, although he is over 90% since number 32 took over.

Brooks Laich (C-) – Another guy, because of the holes up the middle of the ice, gets forced to play out of position. I see #21 as a 2nd or 3rd line winger where he can use his size and drive to help the Caps break out of their zone. As a pivot he just doesn’t have the hands to be effective coming out of his own end. You’ll never get a bad effort from the fan favorite but at the dollars he’s making the Caps need more than a point every other game and a -7 rating. More production please Brooksie.

Alex Ovechkin (C-) – 17 goals, 16 assists, -8. We’ve seen good Ovie and bad Ovie this year. Most of the bad came under Boudreau but he has 0 points in the last three games after 9 in the previous 6. The good news is he was all over the ice against the Penguins hitting and creating chances on Wednesday night. That is the Ovechkin the Caps need to win games. If he doesn’t have it, the Capitals usually lose. The Gr8 needs to continue to improve in his own zone, if he bears down more the breakaways and odd man rushes will come in bunches each night.

Not Making the Grade

Alexander Semin (D) – Was super in the first five games before becoming a penalty machine and a scapegoat for Boudreau. Under the new regime he seems more energized and had six really good games in a row before getting injured in Columbus. If he can get healthy again he can be dominant in this system where he is, in my mind, the best winger at getting the puck out of the Washington zone. But only 10 goals in 37 games is not cutting it, the Capitals need more from this supremely talented player who is making $6.7M.

Matt Hendricks (D) – 1 goal in 37 games is not good for this fourth liner. If he plays like he did against Pittsburgh on Wednesday night he’ll get more ice time and his production will improve. He has to play physical to be effective.

Mathieu Perreault (D) – 3 goals in 26 games is way under where I thought MP85 would be. He has not been the sparkplug that he had been in the past and perhaps his size is why he just isn’t going to be consistent at the NHL level?

Mike Knuble (D) – 3 goals in 41 games for the aging winger. #22 has definitely lost a step and that has cost him lots of ice time. Can he find the fountain of youth once again in the second half?

Whereabouts Unknown

Jeff Schultz (F) – Is this the same guy who was +50 just two years ago? #55 has lost foot speed and confidence. He looks clumsy and a step behind when he plays. I am not sure he is with this team much longer and at $2.75M against the salary cap he is an expensive scratch each night.

Incomplete: Mike Green, Jay Beagle, Sean Collins, DJ King, and Tomas Kundratek

Management Grades

Bruce Boudreau (D) - The likeable Gabby eventually ran out of things to tell his club and they tuned him out. He and assistant coach Bob Woods couldn’t get the defense to be better and as a result it cost them their jobs.

Dale Hunter (B) – Dale brought in a radical system change with arguably some personnel that aren’t exact fits. But when you see the turnaround a guy like Hamrlik had and the goals against dropping so significantly, even with some shaky goaltending early in his regime, it was definitely the right thing to do tactically. The team is becoming a harder club to play against but they still lack some sandpaper type grit. He has definitely turned Semin around and Ovechkin is buying in too. His success rides on Vokoun, the play of 8 and 28, and the personnel tweaks he works with McPhee on to upgrade the roster by the end of February. Another Hunter strength is he is a man of few words so his message is easy to receive. He also stays on an even keel, which is good for the players as they don’t waste energy on emotional issues.

General Manager George McPhee (B) – It is hard for GM’s to do anything in the first half of a season but he did the one thing he had to do, switch coaches. Going forward until trade deadline day are critical times for McPhee. He has to find a way to get some better fits for what Hunter wants to do to be successful in the spring. His off season moves are looking better after a rough first 22 games, especially with Hamrlik’s improved play and the fact that Vokoun has stolen some wins. Still, he has that nagging second line center issue that he will have to address again by the end of February.

In final analysis, over the first half of the sesason there were nights when the Caps looked like they can play with anyone in the league, but on other occassions they were run out of the barn. Those games came mostly under Boudreau but Monday’s loss in Los Angeles was a bit of a scare. Hopefully fatigue was to blame for that one. Going forward this team has a lot of work to be done to get where they want to be. The execution needs to be markedly better and personnel moves will be needed if they want to compete with the likes of Boston. If that doesn’t happen then the ownership will likely take some drastic measures after the season is over. I don’t think anyone wants that to happen.

It wasn’t textbook hockey and it certainly wasn’t pretty, but the Washington Capitals found a way to get a win over their archrival Pittsburgh Penguins at the Verizon Center on Wednesday night. Tomas Vokoun turned in a superb goaltending performance stopping 30 shots and Jason Chimera continued to march toward a career high in goals by notching the only tally in a 1-0 Caps victory, his 14th of the year.

With so many top players out of the game due to injury (Sidney Crosby, Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green, Jordan Staal, and Kris Letang) combined with the short turnarounds these two teams faced (Caps took the redeye back from LA on Tuesday morning while the Pens played Tuesday night), it was no surprise that the game lacked energy and intensity in the first 40 minutes. The Penguins actually carried much of the play getting 10 more shot attempts and holding a 20-12 advantage in shots on goal. But the only thing that mattered was the scoreboard as Chimera scored after Joel Ward and Jeff Halpern forced Evgeni Malkin into a turnover at the Washington blue line.

Under coach Dale Hunter, the Capitals are focused on limiting or even better, eliminating, odd man rushes and although the Penguins had the shots advantage, they didn’t get any odd man breaks. The Caps did, and Chimera was able to go in one on one on Marc Andre-Fleury (19 saves) and he beat him with a quick shot. Washington’s 1-2-2 defense was mostly effective at keeping Pittsburgh to the outside and when the Penguins were able to penetrate it through the first two periods Vokoun was a wall in net.

In the third period the Caps found some energy and dominated the first 16 minutes. Alexander Ovechkin (0 points) was all over the ice setting up his teammates for chances and getting some of his own, but Fleury was brilliant to give his club a chance. Even though Pittsburgh basically threw the kitchen sink at the Caps in the final four minutes, the uptick in effort in that final frame was really needed from Hunter’s crew. In the previous two games against the Pens, which saw the teams split one goal contests, Pittsburgh was the more dominant team. So it was imperative for the Capitals to take over at that point, and again, if not for Fleury, Washington wins easily.

Still of concern to me though, is the Capitals struggles to find consistency coming out of their own zone. Clearly with #19 out the biggest weakness for Washington is up the middle of the ice. Brooks Laich, Marcus Johansson, Jeff Halpern, and Mathieu Perreault were tonight’s pivots and in my opinion, none of them are currently first or second line centers. Compounding the center problem is the wingers are making poor decisions with the puck which is leading to too many turnovers. Part of the issue for the defensemen are the forwards are simply not doing the little things to help them get the puck out and going in transition. It is a situation that led to numerous breakdowns out in California and the only way to fix the center/winger problem this year is a trade (or two) by General Manager George McPhee.

The Caps are clearly a different team at home and they’ve won seven of their last eight at the Phone Booth, outscoring their opponents 28-13. Fortunately for them they have three more games at the Verizon Center over the next six days with the Lightning on Friday, the Hurricanes Sunday, and the Islanders on Tuesday night. Wednesday night’s win puts the Caps in just eighth place in the Eastern Conference so it is very important that they rack up more points on this stay in DC. The Capitals have struggled mightily on the road and they still have four games scheduled against the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins, who look even better this year than last. So it isn’t going to get any easier schedule wise for the Caps after the next three tilts.

But for tonight, a win over Pittsburgh has to feel good, no matter how they got it. Good goaltending is the most important thing in hockey and Vokoun seems to be getting into a groove (I don’t put the left coast losses on him, at all). Now they just need to get the entire squad playing like they did for most of Wednesday’s third period on a more consistent basis.

Notes: Matt Hendricks only played 7:44 but had one of his better games of the season with a fight win over Craig Adams and a post hit…the Caps won the facefoff battle, 25-20, and Jeff Halpern went 10-2, including several big defensive draws late in the contest…the Penguins didn’t get a power play all night while Washington went 0 for 2 with the man advantage…Malkin was 3-11 on faceoffs…Ovechkin had 4 shots on net and 3 hits…Backstrom was put on IR retroactive to last week.

The Washington Capitals are starting to parlay a months worth of learning new coach Dale Hunter’s philosophy into winning hockey games.

On Friday night at the Verizon Center the Caps used the formula that worked well against the New York Rangers in Wednesday’s victory once again versus the Sabres. Washington won 3-1 over Buffalo via a fast start that led to an early goal, solid goaltending, and scoring from their top line in transition. At times the team struggled to get the puck out of its’ own zone against a feisty Sabres crew, but the team persevered by playing decent defensive hockey and Tomas Vokoun (25 saves) made timely saves. More importantly, the Washington number one line of Alexander Ovechkin (two goals), Nicklas Backstrom (1 goal, 1 assist), and Alexander Semin (two assists) is heating up and when the stars start scoring goals, it makes winning much more achieveable.

Hunter spent much of his first 30 days on the job trying to find the right line combinations and he seems to have settled on a strategy that former Caps coach Terry Murray often used back in the early 9o’s by putting his best offensive players together on one line and then loading up another line with solid checkers to match against opponents top unit.

“They’re very good players and they’ve played together before and we put back a checking line together and we put a scoring line together. So it’s just that combination, I guess,” added Hunter on his current line combo strategy.

Former coach Bruce Boudreau would occassionally put 8-19-28 together but it became a crap shoot, because the trio had a habit of not carrying their weight defensively. Hunter seems to have those guys buying into using solid defense to set up their deadly skill that can really shine in transition. All three Washington tallies came on the rush against Buffalo and Sabres goalie Ryan Miller (18 saves) had no chance on any of the goals. The passes that Semin and Backstrom made tonight were of the “Wow!” variety and with the Gr8 potting two goals, you can finally see confidence coming back and the pressure to produce releasing from those guys. Simply put, by playing well in their own end they are setting themselves up to be creative on the rush and the goals are starting to come. When that happens the game is a lot of fun and usually leads to a hot streak.

“We just have to play it simple. We made pretty plays by our simple plays. We just have to continue what we do right now. It’s nice when you make some pretty plays and when you score the goals. Especially when the team needs it. It’s pretty good,” said Ovechkin on why his line is starting to score multiple times a night.

When I watched the line closely the last two games, Backstrom is the first key to the defensive success. #19 is doing a good job of winning the one on one battles with the opponents center. The next critical thing is for the wingers to be in the right spots and make the correct play coming out of the zone. I was very impressed with Semin’s ability to do this on Friday night. He has the skill, but more importantly the patience and smarts on where to put the puck coming out of the zone to generate opportunities. Sometimes he chips it off of the boards allowing Ovechkin to slide over and get the puck and other times the defense becomes so aware of his skill that he simply waits for the opposing d-men to back off and then he either skates it out or finds a seam for a breakout pass. He was the best Capitals winger at getting the biscuit out of the Washington end in this one. As for Ovechkin, his defense is getting better but he is best suited to be the first guy out of the zone for the pass that gets the defense on its’ heels.

This was still no easy victory. The Sabres carried the play from the midpoint of the game until about seven minutes remained in regulation. Buffalo did what a lot of teams want to do to the Capitals, which is get the pucks deep and make the Washington defensemen and forwards chase. Much was made of Rangers coach John Tortorella’s “they don’t want to defend” remark the other night but what Torts was saying was the Caps have great skill up front and are very comfortable with the puck so you have to make them work to get it. Heck what top line in the entire NHL wants to play defense? Buffalo was pretty good getting the puck below the goal line but Washington countered by keeping the Sabres to the outside and the most important aspect of winning hockey, good goaltending, helped get the Caps the results they needed in their zone.

So the Caps have now come out strong in three straight home games but in the two road games last weekend, they fell behind 3-0 and 4-0, respectively. On Saturday night in Columbus they have a chance to show that they can use this formula on the road and be successful. It is one thing to dominate at home and get early energy from the friendly fans, but going on the road and getting a lead is a much harder feat. If the Capitals want to climb up the standings and reclaim their “elite” status, they need to start doing that on Saturday against the Blue Jackets.

Notes: Ovechkin’s first goal, on the power play, was the result of a fortuitous bounce. The Gr8 was passing to a streaking Brooks Laich on the rush but the disc hit a Sabres defender and went by Miller. Good things happen when players put pucks and bodies to the cage…The coaches made a smart personnel change right before the game clinching third goal with 5:50 left in regulation. The Sabres were really on Washington for the better part of the final frame but right after one of his checking lines had a good shift to stem the tide, Dale had the top line on the ice for a neutral zone faceoff, originally with Dennis Wideman and Roman Hamrlik. But then he pulled 44 off and trotted out Dmitry Orlov and #81 would use his great skating ability to get the puck out of Washington’s zone to Semin, who then made a behind the back through the legs pass to Backstrom, who hit a streaking Ovechkin for the nail in the coffin…the Laich, Jason Chimera, and Joel Ward line with the Karl Alzner/John Carlson d-pairing did a lot of the matching up against Buffalo’s top unit of Tomas Vanek, Jochen Hecht, and Jason Pominville in the second half of the game. It was a tough assignment and the Sabres had the puck for most of the time on ice, but they only managed one tally (Hecht from Vanek and Pominville in the second period)…Cody Eakin was in the building and officially recalled from Hershey after the tilt. It appears that one of the forwards is hurt and may go on injured reserve. My guess is it is Mathieu Perreault, who took a stick in the abdomen in Buffalo on Monday…It will be interesting to see who is in net for Washington in Columbus. Vokoun is hot but you don’t want to wear a guy out on back to back nights. In addition, Michal Neuvirth was really playing well before his bad first period on Monday that came after two days of no practice and a horror show travel day. My gut tells me that Neuvy gets the call on Saturday in Ohio…the Caps won the faceoff battle 33-27.

Originally published on March 28, 2010, I think this is appropriate for this week’s game. (nja)

Twenty-six years ago today I awoke to see my father crying in my kitchen in Dundalk. It was one of two times that I ever saw him cry. The Baltimore Colts’ infamous ride of the Mayflowers out west on I-70 just two months after I started interning at The News American defined the end of my childhood at 15 and the beginning of my lifelong education about money and the real world of sports for the remainder of my sports fan and business life as a journalist.

It’s been a tumultuous quarter of a century plus a year for my feelings of anger, anguish, desperation, loss and bad vibes about the Colts leaving Baltimore on March 28, 1984. My Pop died in 1992 and never got to see the Ravens come back to town to avenge the loss of the horseshoe. I never got to go to one more football game with my father. And over the years, it’s really been a civic badge of honor to hate on all things Irsay and Indianapolis.

I’ve been to Indianapolis more times than I can count since 1996 – always for a football game or the annual March combine. There’s never been a time that it hasn’t taken me 15 minutes on the ground there to get ill seeing the horseshoes and “Go Colts” kind of marketing that is ubiquitous in Indy from the minute you land at the airport. It drives my wife batty — my almost irrational instant anger, ranting and self-inflicted torture when I’m in Indianapolis. I’ve always figured that I’d proudly be like the old dudes in Brooklyn, still pining away about the Dodgers 50 years later.

Here’s an example:

It’s taken me years of internal therapy and self soothing to calm myself when I see the game day experience there in Indy as those Midwestern hillbillies parade around in my father’s stolen laundry. In many ways, our “friend” Merton From Indianapolis (and no, none of us has any idea who he is or where the whole gimmick started – honest to God!) sort of exemplifies the entire experience of dealing with their fans when you travel to the “friendly heartland.”

My loathing of all things Irsay and Indianapolis is a bit legendary – there are plenty of pictures of me carrying Bob Irsay’s head on a stick through the streets of Indy — and my rants and raves throughout the 1990s are all very “on the record” and still accurate. What happened to this community at the hands of Bob Irsay and how I saw it affect my father and the psyche of the citizenry here will never been forgotten. The degrading and demoralizing “begging” to get back into the league that fell on Herb Belgrad. Paul Tagliabue’s “build a museum” expansion declaration in Chicago. All of it…I’ll remember those feelings and emotions for the rest of my life. Most Baltimoreans older than me — and I was born in 1968 – still can’t begin to imagine a world without the Colts of that generation. If you’re from Baltimore, sports is etched into your DNA.

(And if you doubt those feelings, imagine how you’d feel if the Ravens packed up and left tomorrow morning and never played another game here? For you young’ins that’s essentially what happened here in 1984…)

But after long and careful consideration – and as today’s 26th anniversary of the dastardly

In the world of sports, often times we see plays made, typically by superstars, that change the course of a game or even a season.

Who can forget Jack Nicklaus’ near ace on the 16th hole at Augusta in 1986 that led to his Masters win or Mario Lemieux’s goal against the North Stars in the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals?

Tonight Alexander Ovechkin may not have made a play that carries the significance of what Nicklaus or Lemieux did, but for the Gr8 and the Washington Capitals, his highlight reel tally in the third period, that broke a 2-2 tie to lead the Caps to a 5-3 victory in Ottawa, could be one that turns the whole season around for Ovechkin and his club. It was a vintage Ovechkin goal at a crucial time. The Caps were possibly on their way to their sixth straight road defeat, losing their fourth game in five contests under new coach Dale Hunter, and falling to .500 on the season. But as the saying goes, “Great players do great things at big times” and Alexander the Great delivered when his team needed him badly. It was Ovechkin’s first goal under Hunter and only his ninth of the year in 27 games.

What makes this goal even more special is that Ovechkin played perhaps his best contest of the season. He had numerous scoring chances but Senators goalie Craig Anderson repeatedly denied him, including twice in tight after the Gr8 had skated around Senators defensemen. The key words in that previous sentence were “skating around Senators defensemen.” You see the Gr8 has been criticized for trying the same move over and over that routinely has led to blocked shots or poke checks by opposing defensemen, which often send the puck back the other way. Hunter appears to be getting Ovechkin to buy into the idea of using his speed and size to go wide on opposing d-men. As a result, the Gr8 had seven shots on net in eight attempts, many of which came via going down the boards instead of cutting to the middle after crossing the blueline.

When you go back and watch some of Ovechkin’s best goals, many of them have come off of the rush via defensive zone turnovers. The ones against Montreal in 2008 and Buffalo in 2009 come quickly to mind. But something happened to the Gr8′s ability to go from defense to offense during the latter stages of Bruce Boudreau’s tenure in DC and everyone started wondering what has happened to the Gr8. But under Hunter, we are starting to see the Gr8 improve his defensive zone effort and create plays in transition. He still has a ways to go in that end but this is very encouraging.

Not to get lost in Ovechkin’s heroics on Wednesday night were several other comeback performances from the Caps and that to me shows that this club is working hard and more importantly, getting mentally tougher. When the Senators scored two late second period goals to go up 2-1, how many Capitals fans thought, “Here we go again?!” It was easy to think that way given how the team had fallen into a pattern of giving up goals in bunches to lose games over the last month or so.

But on Wednesday, this team took on the resolve of ole number 32 and kept battling. John Carlson didn’t let a poor play on the Senators second goal bother him (to be fair, Dennis Wideman was the primary culprit on that Sens tally) and he finished with a goal and two helpers. Tomas Vokoun (31 saves) had been really struggling and he was partially to blame on all three Ottawa tallies but when Joel Ward took a bad penalty late in regulation he and defensemen Karl Alzner played incredible while shorthanded to preserve the victory. Is this a game that #29 can build off of to get on a run in net? Hunter sure would like to see one of his goalies step up and take over.

Not to be lost due to all of the talk about rebound performances, though, is the play of Nicklas Backstrom (1 goal, 1 assist) and Alzner (27:40 of ice time, +2). #19 and #27 have been the leaders from the Capitals this season from an effort and consistency standpoint and Hunter is smart to increase the number of shifts they get, because when you are trying to turn things around, you have to play the guys who are getting it done the most. Dale’s decision to put Alzner back with Carlson has helped #74 improve his game and they are once again Washington’s best defensive duo.

After a great first period by Washington that yielded no goals, the premise of another Caps disappointing road loss appeared on the horizon after 40 minutes with Ottawa up a puck. But a sweet goal by Backstrom off of a feed from Brooks Laich evened it up setting the stage for Ovechkin’s master piece that will make all of the highlights on television and the internet Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

It was a goal the Capitals had to have. It is also the kind of tally that can bring a struggling player new found confidence. It is the type of play that often changes the entire attitude for a team and provides them with a spark necessary to go on a winning streak.

Will this goal by Ovechkin against Otttawa be just that? Stay tuned.

Capitals versus Penguins usually brings out the best in both hockey teams and on Thursday night, that was the case for 40 minutes. But Chris Kunitz outworked Marcus Johansson in the Washington zone, John Erskine lost his balance then fell, and #14 shot a soft one by Tomas Vokoun (33 saves) for the game winner just 2:36 into period three and the Pens shut it down from there. The 2-1 victory for Pittsburgh is the Caps fourth straight loss and they fall to 12-11-1 overall. They are currently in 10th place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Here are the highlights, quotes, and analysis of Pittsburgh’s first victory over the Caps in regulation since March of 2008:

- Washington played with a lot of energy in this one and Alexander Ovechkin had 10 hits as the Capitals out banged the Penguins 43-28. After two periods the shots were 25-15 in favor of the Pens, but the quality scoring chances were razor close at 12-11 in favor of the visitors (h/t Neil Greenberg, @ngreenberg on Twitter). It was a game that could’ve gone either way heading into the 3rd period but when Vokoun couldn’t stop a Kunitz knuckler, it allowed the Penguins to shut the game down in a style they are extremely good at playing.

“They had the lead, they didn’t have to do anything, they just chipped and chased and played safe,” said Caps Coach Dale Hunter on the Penguins third period tactics.

- Washington’s best period was the middle frame when they really got their forecheck going. The team was also a bit unlucky too as Nicklas Backstrom hit the crossbar on a great feed from Ovechkin that would’ve given the Caps the lead. The hard forecheck is something Hunter likes to do and Penguins Coach Dan Bylsma commented on it that afterwards.

“There’s about [the Capitals] that is scary with the skill that they bring. I thought today, especially starting in the second [period], they came at us hard and forechecked hard and were tough to handle that way. They were very aggressive on the forecheck and getting to the offensive zone; that might be something we haven’t seen,” said the Pens Stanley Cup winning bench boss.

“It’s pretty disappointing when you lose that kind of game…We just didn’t score on the chances we had. We hit the post, I missed an empty net and [Marc-Andre] Fleury made a couple of great saves, ” added Ovechkin.

- Chimera continues to play well and he now has 10 goals in 24 games, easily putting him on pace for a career high. #25 scored after Joel Ward outworked the Pens defender to the puck to wipe out a potential icing call. Those two, along with Brooks Laich, continue to form a super checking line. Unfortunately the Caps are having trouble finishing plays and that was a big reason they lost this one.

“It can’t be down the line. It’s got to be now. We got to get people stepping up and scoring some goals, doing the little things. It was a good game overall. They had a lot of shots but a lot of them were outside. It’s a tough way to lose, but we got that kind of effort, it’ll be better. We came out pretty good. If we keep effort like that, the wins will come,” said Chimera.

- Here’s Sidney Crosby’s numbers tonight: 20:21 of ice time, 3 shots on goal, 2 giveaways, 6-16 on face-offs and -1 overall. Nice work by Karl Alzner and the rest of the guys on #87, who had his five game points scoring streak halted. Sid the Kid had 4:17 of power play time but Washington did a great job of killing off the three Pittsburgh power plays. Hunter noted that he has stuck with Dean Evason’s plan on the penalty kill.

“I left it the same. I like aggressive, no time, no space. Dean’s (assistant coach Dean Evason) been doing it, so I left it with him, they had a good record last year. Just had a couple bad games this year out west but other than that, it’s been good.”

- At the end of the night, Caps fans are likely discouraged that they aren’t winning or scoring goals but if they continue to improve in their own end and keep up the energy level those will come. This team was really playing poorly and giving up lots of chances towards the end of Bruce Boudreau’s tenure so you can’t just flip a switch and turn it on. Bad habits die hard. What is concerning is the lack of speed in some areas. Hunter likes to play an aggressive system and you need speed to execute that. Some personnel tweaks may be needed and I’m sure the new coach and General Manager George McPhee will discuss it. The good news is the trading deadline is still nearly three months away (February 27th).

Notes: Congratulations to Boudreau on getting the Anaheim Ducks head coaching position…Washington buried the Pens at the faceoff dot, going 37-17. Backstrom was 14-2…Wideman led the Caps in ice time with 26:02. John Carlson logged 25:25 and Alzner (+1) had 21:35…Ovechkin played 19:22 while Alexander Semin only got 12:45. #28 played hard but he needs someone to get him the puck. Johansson is not cutting it as second line center right now…Greenberg had the final quality chance total at 19-14, meaning the Pens had a 7-3 advantage in the final frame…the Caps next game is Saturday night at home against the Ottawa Senators.

“Baby steps,  I’m doing the work!”  – Bill Murray in What About Bob?

Baby steps. That is where the Washington Capitals are right now after losing 2-1 to a very good St. Louis Blues team at the Verizon Center on Tuesday night. Nicklas Backstrom scored an early goal on a nice feed from Alexander Ovechkin but defensive zone breakdowns led to two Blues tallies to spoil Dale Hunter’s coaching debut. The Caps are now 12-10-1 and will face Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night in DC.

Here are the highlights, quotes, and analysis of a game that saw the Blues improve to 8-1-2 since they hired Ken Hitchcock to be their new coach:

- The Caps played with energy tonight, but it wasn’t focused in the right places. They didn’t get enough phyiscal pressure on the Blues defense and they weren’t getting to the front of the Blues net to create in close scoring chances. They started slow and got better as the game went on, which is understandable given the system tweaks and emotional roller coaster they have endured in the last 48 hours with the coaching change. However, it was not enough to get a victory.

“It happens with transition. They don’t have it down pat yet and I think they got better as the game went on and they competed real hard. That’s the most important thing and that’s what you need to [do to] win,” commented Hunter on his teams execution on Tuesday.

“When you play for a coach for four or five years, you get used to certain things and when somebody else comes in and switches it up, some things on the ice just become second nature and now you have to think a little more and adjust on the fly a little more. The habits of work ethic, supporting the puck, moving your feet, getting pucks out, getting pucks in, those sorts of habits should stay with us. [We’ve] just got to try to pick up a few more good ones,” added Brooks Laich on how the change behind the bench impacted the Caps play.

- On the first Blues goal, both Joel Ward and Jason Chimera made costly giveaways on the same shift and the result was a TJ Oshie tally that tied the game up just five and a half minutes after the Capitals had grabbed a first period lead. The game winning goal came off of a big Tomas Vokoun (28 saves) rebound and Dennis Wideman missed the puck above the crease trying to tie up Patrick Berglund. #21 moved the puck to Matt D’Agostini who took the biscuit around the cage and wrapped it home 8:54 into period two. That would be all St. Louis goaltender Jaroslav Halak (18 saves) would need to prevail at the Verizon Center once again. Defensive zone lapses have been something that has plagued Washington this year and it cost them again. Overall though, the Caps did a better job of limiting odd man rushes, something Buffalo and other opponents have feasted on recently against them. So despite the breakdowns, there was some improvement in the defensive play of the Caps on Tuesday.

“I thought we limited chances pretty well, better than we have in the last two weeks. We still have room to improve – the goals against. Our two mistakes, our line was on for one of them. That puck [has] got to get out twice, we didn’t get it out and it winds up in the back of our net, so it’s baby steps,” added Laich, who was the center with Ward and Chimera on the first goal.

- Alexander Semin (2 shots, 3 takeaways, only 1 giveaway, no penalties) had one of his better games since early in the season. He worked hard and competed on the boards. Hunter put him on the ice in the final minute and he nearly helped get Washington the game tying goal by out battling a couple of Blues in the corner. #28 had only 14:37 of ice time and his Russian friend, Ovechkin, only logged 16:46 but #32 had some good logic on why the Gr8′s ice time was what it was.

“In the second period there were a lot of penalties and he wasn’t killing, so he didn’t play as much. I thought he was pretty much out there a lot in the third,” said Hunter.

- St. Louis is really playing well and they do a great job of skating and taking away time and space. They put enormous back pressure on the opposition and it is easy to see why they are rolling right now. They deserve a lot of credit for why the Caps were held to only 19 shots.

“We played a heck of a hockey game. We created a lot of scoring chances. We didn’t give up anything in two periods. We created a lot for ourselves and we’re starting to dial in the way we need to play to win hockey games. When you play this well, it’s a good feeling,” said Hitchcock, a Stanley Cup winning coach with the Dallas Stars in 1999, after the contest.

- So the Caps recent losing ways continue but there were some things to like in this game. Hunter was fairly upbeat afterwards with his final analysis and Ovechkin wasn’t hitting any panic buttons either.

“Next step [is] to play hard like we play tonight, especially in the third period. I think, I would say, energy was there, we make some hits, we did what he [Coach Dale Hunter] ask us to do and I think if we going to play the same way we going to get some success,” finished the Gr8.

Once again, baby steps.

Notes: The Caps had 8 shots in the last 20 minutes after getting only 11 in the first 40. Backstrom had a great chance to tie it up late with Vokoun pulled but couldn’t connect…Washington lost the face-off battle 22-21 but that was decent considering they lost eight of the first 11 draws…Marcus Johansson sustained a hand stinger in period two and missed a lot of time. He played only 11:02 as a result…John Carlson led the team in ice time with 23:30 but he did go back lazily late in the third period to allow a Blues forward to beat him to the puck and wipe out what would have been icing. I imagine Hunter will let #74 hear about that one…St. Louis out hit the Caps 35-32. Ovechkin had 4 hits as did Chimera…the Blues went 0 for 4 on the power play. The Caps were 0 for 1 in only 20 seconds of man advantage time…after the game the Capitals announced that former Washington defensemen Jim Johnson will take over for Bob Woods as an assistant coach. Johnson’s job is obviously to get the defensemen to play better.

Jason Chimera tapped home a great Dennis Wideman feed 1:52 into overtime for his second marker of the night to give the Washington Capitals a 4-3 overtime victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Thanksgiving eve. Chimera, who’s season high for goals is 17 when he was with Columbus (2005-06), now has eight in just 20 games (h/t John Walton). The hard working, up tempo victory for the Caps is their second straight win and improves their record to 12-7-1. They are 8-1-1 at home this season.

Here are the highlights, quotes, and analysis of the Caps 116th straight sellout at the Verizon Center:

- Oh, where to begin?! There were so many players that performed well on Wednesday that there is no doubt that this was one of the best team efforts of the season. The Caps were moving their feet and pressing the pace all 60+ minutes. It was a fast game and the Capitals showcased their speed. Their puck support and positioning was outstanding, for the most part. The team clearly built on the things they did right on Monday night and they used their size to wear down the Jets. The Caps were credited with 35 hits compared to 27 for Winnipeg and they outshot them 37-25 on the night.

“[The Capitals] played with a lot more emotion. They got energized by scoring early. They got energized by the crowd. They got energized by physical hits. They played hard and they played with some emotion to the game and it showed,” said Winnipeg Coach Claude Noel after the contest.

- Alexander Semin (1 goal, +2) was put in the press box on Monday night and he responded with arguably his best game of the season. He did not take a penalty and skated hard on every shift. He also scored the first goal after a super backhanded feed from Alexander Ovechkin (1 assist, +1, 5 shots on goal, 4 hits). John Carlson also should get credit there for a super long break out pass. It actually looked like #28 was having fun in this game and he appeared confident on the ice. He gets a chance to build on this strong performance on Friday, against a New York Rangers team he has historically owned.

“I think he was in the game today. He used his size [and] his skill. You can see how he was a little bit hungry today, ” said Ovechkin on the effort of his Russian teammate.

- In the post lockout NHL I maintain that there is no substitute for speed. Solid skating allows a team to gap up and support the puck, and Washington was very good at this in this game. Up front the Caps have several who are fleet afoot to include Chimera, Marcus Johansson (1 assist), and Cody Eakin but it is on the blue line where they have struggled recently without Mike Green. Since Dmitry Orlov has been called up from Hershey for the last two games, that has started to change. #81 is an outstanding skater and he was even better in his second NHL game. He had the hit of the night, a great hip check on Blake Wheeler, and he also got his first NHL assist on Nicklas Backstrom’s goal that made it 3-2. After 11 minutes and change against Phoenix, the young Russian blue liner received 14:31 of ice time and he was +1. The future looks really bright for the 2009 2nd round choice, who will make his share of mistakes, but his presence and speed has resulted in far more good than bad in the two games he’s been up in “The Show.”

- Jeff Schultz is a lightning rod for criticism from Caps fans and he has struggled quite a bit recently, however, the last two games he has upped his play and his breakup of a Winnipeg two on one tonight in OT directly led to the winning goal. #55 has had two straight solid outings. He only had 13:28 of ice time, but he was a +1.

- Washington’s penalty kill played a huge role in the victory as they successfully killed off an 80 second five on three penalty in the middle frame. Schultz, Brooks Laich, and Matt Hendricks did some great work, that included a long stretch where #21 didn’t have a stick. But Tomas Vokoun (22 saves) made some big stops during that time, including one on Nik Antropov in tight, to preserve the Caps one goal lead at the time.

“Big turning point in the game. I thought. You know it got the crowd really engaged in the game and it got the bench really up. They did a great job out there. [Assistant coaches] Dean [Evason] and [Bob Woods] Woody do the video with them. [Explaining] what to do and [what] the [visiting] team’s tendencies [are], but it’s something you can’t practice because it is all about blocking shots and the last thing you want your team in practice to do is break an ankle or something blocking shots,” said Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau on the importance of that successful shorthanded situation.

- On the down side, Vokoun looked shaky at times and he was out of position on the third goal. He also caught a break when Evander Kane hit the crossbar shortly after the Jets tied the game at three. On the Jets first goal, Ovechkin made a bad decision to chase the puck in the neutral zone when Roman Hamrlik was already there and that led to a two on one break that Andrew Ladd buried. Winnipeg’s second marker came from a d-zone giveaway and then a fortuitous bounce that gave Kyle Wellwood an open net. In that instance Vokoun was a little overly aggressive going down on the original shot.

“It’s been tough with all kinds of rebounds going right to their [Winnipeg] sticks. They made a nice play on their first goal, two-on-one. The second goal, it goes right to their guy and he puts it in an empty net and before you know it they have two goals and have barely touched the puck. Those are tough games for goalies. We battled hard all game,” commented the Czech net minder on his evening.

- At the end of the night though, this was an even better victory for Washington than Monday’s against the Coyotes. The work ethic was there for the second straight game and the team was able to keep up a feverish pace for the entire contest. They still have some things to clean up, especially in their own zone with coverage, but overall they are definitely getting better and a big part of that is the skating, which leads to hits that wear an opponent down and puck support which creates turnovers and transition.

Notes: Mike Knuble appeared to give the Caps a 4-2 lead but his goal was washed out when the zebras ruled that Hendricks had incidental contact with Ondrej Pavelec (33 saves)…Kane has been a Caps killer over the last 7 contests between these two teams but tonight he was held in check. #9 went -1 in 18:49 of ice time with only two shots on net. Washington did a great job of shutting him down…Joel Ward was scratched for missing a team meeting (see Accountability)…Mike Green is still out injured and has not practiced with the team since going down 12 days ago…the Caps won the faceoff battle 31-26 with Jeff Halpern winning seven of his nine draws…Troy Brouwer had 10 hits…Zach Bogosian hit Eakin in the head in the second period with a hard shot up high. #4 made the hit with his arm tucked in but it looked like a head shot to me…the Capitals were 0 for 3 on the power play…Johansson’s hustle was a big factor in the OT winner as he beat a Winnipeg player to the biscuit, which cleared the way for Wideman (team leading 26:10 of ice time) to have an open lane in the slot.