Biron Dead-On, Series Tied 1-1

If only Alexander Semin's shot doesn't hit the post and finds it's way in, and if only Matt Cooke converted his two chances wide open chances in front of the net, then maybe the Caps find to way to win again and take a 2-0 series advantage into Philly. But that didn't happen, a combination of bad luck on the offensive side and great goaltending on the part of Martin Biron led to a Flyers shutout win and a series now shortened to a best of five. (Photo by Len Redkoles/Getty Images)

Heading into Tuesday night's contest, the Caps main focus needs to be on converting their power play chances, controling the puck on their way into the offensive zone, and preventing the home run pass on the defensive end.

As a result of today's events, a couple of lineup questions to ponder:

Jeff Schultz made his first career postseason appearance after missing game one and was clearly rusty. With as well as Steve Eminger played while Schultz was out, does Boudreau put Eminger back in the lineup for game 3? Might be a good idea.

A lineup change I would definitely like to see is Eric Fehr taking the place of Tomas Fleischmann. Fehr size and play in the corners would be a good matchup against this physical Flyers team.

Overall, the main thing the Caps have to do is just relax. This is going to be a long and tough series. Nobody expected them to win this series in four. One thing is for sure, this team will definitely be prepared for game 3, and having won both contests in Philly during the regular season, they should know what to expect from the Philly faithful.

Vanek's Contract Offer Should Serve as a Warning

If there's anything that Kevin Lowe's insanely overpriced offer to Buffalo's Thomas Vanek has accomplished, it put the rest of the league on notice. The restriced free agent market, which for so long was dormant, is alive and kicking once again.

General Managers around the league have been put on alert. What for so long seemed like a gentleman's agreement between teams not to bid on each other's restricted free agents, is no more. The message is clear, draft picks be damned.

So with Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Shaone Morrisonn, and Mike Green among others set to become restricted free agents next season, George McPhee you have been adequately forewarned.

Caps/Sabres Preview

Washington Capitals (26-34-13, 65 points)
at
Buffalo Sabres (46-19-7, 99 points)

Television: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: Sportstalk 980-AM
Gametime: 7:00 PM ET

It feels as though the season has been reborn again. The Capitals head into tonight's game in Buffalo riding a two game winning streak in which they dominated playoff caliber teams from Toronto and Tampa Bay. Back-to-back home wins included a 7-1 drubbing of the Lightning thanks to a breakout game from winger Tomas Fleichmann and the second career hat trick from Alexander Semin.

In one game Fleichmann doubled his scoring output for the entire season at the NHL level tallying a career high four points. It's the type of game the entire organization has been waiting for from the talented Czech prospect. He has proven at the AHL level that he is a dynamic player that has the ability to take control of a game. His problem has been transferring that production to the NHL level and securing a permanent spot with the big club. Hopefully, he will continue to build on his excellent game against the Lightning and provide the Capitals with another scoring option to complement the Alexs'.

The current win streak just happened to begin with the return of franchise goaltender Olie Kolzig, who has shown no signs of his knee injury that kept him out of the lineup for the past month. He clearly is the glue that keeps this team together.

The Sabres on the other hand have lost three consecutive games at home as they look to secure the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. Goaltender Ryan Miller has struggled lately posting a 1-3-2 record with a 3.38 goals against average since stopping 29 shots in route to a 4-1 victory in Tampa March 5th.

The game also marks the first time Danius Zubrus will play against his former team. In his 9 games in Buffalo Zubrus has scored twice while averaging 18:22 of ice time in more of a checking role than he was used to with the Capitals.

Another win from Washington and things will certainly begin to get interesting as the Capitals look to finish off the season as they did last year, on a high note.

Road Woes Continue

Loss is Caps 14th out of their Last 16 Games Away From the Verizon Center

Toronto Maple Leafs 3, Washington Capitals 0
Boxscore
(Photo Courtesy of Frank Gunn/AP)


After his streak of 26 straight starts was snapped last Saturday, Andrew Raycroft came into tonight's game refreshed and it showed. He made several remarkable saves on the way to stopping 24 Washington shots while recording his second shutout of the season.

A solid defensive first period for the Caps ended with a Kris Beech hooking penalty as the period expired. After a Shaone Morrisonn holding penalty on Johnny Pohl the Maple Leafs were given a two man advantage in the first minute of the second period. While the Caps were able to kill off both penalties, Toronto was able to crack the scoreboard shortly thereafter courtesy of a lucky bounce.

Pohl led the break into the right side of the offensive zone and fired a shot on net. Frederic Cassivi was able to make the blocker save, but the rebound deflected off of Darcy Tucker's right arm and into the back of the net. It was Tucker's 20th goal of the season in his first game back since missing time with a foot injury. Yanic Perreault added his 20th goal of the season as well and his 1st since joining the Maple Leafs for his third tour of duty 11 minutes later giving them a 2-0 lead.

An Alexei Ponikarovsky deflection of a Nik Antropov shot from the point stretched the lead to 3-0 just 2:47 into the final period. Both Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin had numerous scoring opportunities in their bid to get Washington back into the game, but neither was able to beat Raycroft.

The Caps continued to struggle on the power play as they had a hard time bringing the puck into the offensive zone the entire night. They failed to convert on all five of their opportunities.

Frederic Cassivi was the bright spot on the evening stopping 28 of 31 shots in his first start of the season in the NHL this season.

Overall, despite the lack of offense it was not a bad outing tonight for the Capitals. The better team was able to get the breaks and came out on top. It was as simple as that.

Game Notes:

Dave Steckel, who was recalled today from Hershey, was on the lineup sheet but did not see any ice time.... Kris Beech was the Caps leader in faceoffs as he won 9 of 15 draws for 60%.... Brian Muir was a healthy scratch.

Monday Morning Thoughts

Let's face it, this team is in dire straits right now. Not only is it going to be hard for this team to win games the rest of the season, it's going to be hard for them to even be competitive.
(Photo Courtesy of Jason Cohn/Reuters)

Last Thursday night's surprising performance against a streaking Lightning team provided a glimmer of hope, that this team could still string together some solid games and at least continue their reputation of being a hard working team that is tough to beat. But injuries to Matt Pettinger and Boyd Gordon that night severely depleted an already thin lineup. The result was a 6-2 trashing at the hands of the N.Y. Islanders Saturday night that saw the Caps over matched by the playoff bound team. And the team was hit by the injury bug again as Kris Beech left the game after a blocked shot hit his left knee.

It's hard to believe that an injury to Beech could be so devastating given the fact that he was a regular healthy scratch earlier in the year. But with the recent trades and roster moves, Beech ended up centering the team's first line between Ovechkin and Semin. Now the Caps are left with just 2 regular centers, Brian Sutherby and newly acquired Jiri Novotny, on their roster.

Their schedule will only get tougher from here on out. Nine of their next thirteen games will be played away from the Verizon Center where the Caps are 2-12-1 in their last 15 road games. Plus they are coming off of a winless (0-2-2) homestand.

What once looked like a season that was going to be much improved over the previous one, now even that is in question. With 16 games to go Washington needs 10 points to match it's total of 70 last year. That might be a hard number for this team to reach.

Caps in the news:

Prospect Mathieu Perreault is having an excellent year in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The Daily News, a Halifax newspaper, reviewed the league's season and gave out awards. Perreault was recognized multiple times.

BEST PLAYER: Tie, Mathieu Perreault (Bathurst) and Thomas Beauregard (Bathurst), three votes - The Q is divided on who is the better player, but Perreault, the playmaker, and Beauregard, the trigger man, form a devastating line. They're the highest-scoring duo in the Q, with 106 goals and 125 assists for 230 points in just 64 games. Other: Withheld.

BEST PLAYMAKER: Mathieu Perreault (Bathurst), five votes - The Washington Capitals draft choice (177th overall in 2006) has 76 assists in 61 games. His slick passes have helped Q goal-scoring king Thomas Beauregard net 70 goals. "He'd make any player score goals," one GM said. Others: Withheld.

BEST STICKHANDLER: Mathieu Perreault (Bathurst), five votes - As clever a playmaker as Perreault might be, the five-foot-nine, 155-pound centre is equally adept with the puck on his stick. He can flat-out dangle and makes defenders look silly. Others: David Perron (1), withheld (1).

MOST DANGEROUS ON POWER PLAY: Thomas Beauregard (Bathurst), five votes - Beauregard is the centrepiece of the league's best power play, which operates at better than 26 per cent. He leads the division with 26 power-play goals and has an uncanny knack for finding open ice in scoring areas. Others: Cam Fergus (1), Mathieu Perreault (1).

Another Loss in the Standings and the Lineup

Center Kris Beech is Lost to a Leg Injury After Blocking a Shot in the Second Period
New York Islanders 6, Washington Capitals 2
Boxscore
(Photo Courtesy of Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

If there was anything worse than losing tonight's game in a blowout fashion, it was the realization that the Capitals lineup will be even further depleted following the loss of center Kris Beech. Coming into the game with 7 defenseman and only 11 forwards dressed the team finished up with only two healthy centers in Jiri Novotny and Brian Sutherby.

But even with Beech in the lineup for a period and a half the Capitals were no match for the playoff bound Islanders. The game was never in doubt as the team from Long Island jumped all over them from the get go. They scored their first three goals of the game on the power play thanks to goals from Mike Sillinger, Miroslav Satan, and Marc-Andre Bergeron. That was on the way to building a 5-0 lead before the Caps were finally able to strike back.

Goals by Brian Pothier, on the power play, and Brian Sutherby, even strength, just 34 seconds apart swung the momentum squarely in the their favor half way through the third period. For Pothier it was only his second goal of the season and his first since January 1st. Sutherby on the other hand, has been on a role as of late, notching his 4th goal in his last 7 games.

Even with Washington's late surge, the game was never really close and Ryan Smyth's 1st goal as an Islander with 2:54 remaining sealed the deal for New York as they won soundly 6-2.

Alex Ovechkin was held scoreless ending his three game goal scoring streak despite leading the team in ice time with 26:21. Alexander Semin was also held scoreless despite 25:28 in ice time. The increased ice time should only be a sign of things to come as the team's lineup keeps getting thinner due to injuries.

Game Notes:

Alexandre Giroux provided a nice spark to the lineup in spite of only playing 9:26.... Sutherby continued his good faceoff performance as of late winning 11 of 19 draws on the night.... Novotny also won 8 of 12 faceoffs.... Frederic Cassivi replaced Brent Johnson in net during the third period. It was the second time this week he's come into a game in relief.

Caps/Islanders Preview

New York Islanders (32-23-9, 73 points)
at
Washington Capitals (24-29-12, 60 points)

Television: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: Sportstalk 980-AM
Gametime: 7:00 PM ET


Richard Zednik will not have to wait long to make his return to the Verizon Center as he and his new teammates from the New York Islanders travel to Washington tonight. The game will mark the end of Washington's current four game homestand. They'll begin a stretch that will see 9 of their next 13 games on the road when they visit Toronto on Tuesday.

The Islanders were one of the biggest buyers at the trading deadline as they picked up Zednik along with Alberta native and former Oiler Ryan Smyth. The moves signify the club's intentions of making a serious run in the post-season this year. Before Thursday night's loss against St. Louis in overtime, the Islanders had won 4 games in a row and 6 of their last 7. As of today they find themselves in seventh place in the conference and in the middle of a highly competitive race with Carolina, Montreal, and Toronto for one of the final playoff spots.

As if the Caps were not short handed enough following their trades of Zednik and Zubrus at the deadline, the team lost two more of it's regular forwards in Thursday night's shootout loss to Tampa. Matt Pettinger is likely out for the season with a broken thumb, while Boyd Gordon is out at least two weeks with a knee injury. That leaves the team with only three healthy centers as they chose to only recall Alexandre Giroux from Hershey. The Caps will now dress 7 defenseman and just 11 fowards as the extra ice time will most likely go to double shifting Ovechkin and Semin.

Ovechkin now has 8 points in his last 4 games after putting up only 2 points in his previous 9 games. It seems like his slump is behind him now, which is good news for the Caps because besides Ovechkin and Semin, the only players to dress tonight that have more than 20 points on the season are defenseman Brian Pothier and center Kris Beech.

The key to the game will be whether or not the Caps supporting cast can contribute offensively and whether the Caps defenseman can shut down the Islanders newly acquired snipers.

Capitals Fail to Finish Off Lighnting

Caps Blow a Two Goal Third Period Lead and Once Again Fall in a Shootout
Tampa Bay Lightning 5, Washington Capitals 4 F/SO

Boxscore
(Photo Courtesy of Nick Wass/AP)

First, I just want to say that as I write this I am not feeling too good. So bear with me if I ramble a little bit. Now, after the disclaimer, on to the recap:

Coming into tonight's game, given the circumstances surrounding both teams, you could not have asked for a better performance from this Capitals team.

After going through the first ten minutes of the game without recording a shot, the Caps made their first flurry count. Shaone Morrisonn continued the team's recent trend of offensive production from their defenseman when he broke the scoreless tie at the 11:35 mark. His slap shot from the point as their power play expired beat goaltender Johan Holmqvist thanks to a screen in front from tough guy Donald Brashear. It was Morrisonn's 3rd goal of the season, a new career high for the 24-year old blue liner.

After a Vinny Prospal sharp angle goal tied the game, Washington was able to build a two goal advantage in the second period. Center Jiri Novotny tallied his first point in his Capitals' debut on a wonderful setup pass to Alex Ovechkin, who wristed home a wicked shot into the top right corner. The goal was Ovechkin's 38th of the season and extended his current goal scoring streak to three games, as it seems his slump is well behind him now.

Later in the period the Caps received a gift from the Lightning after a miscommunication between Holmqvist and his defensemen led to a Matt Pettinger goal. Holmqvist seemed to be trying to play the puck following his save on a Boyd Gordon shot, while his defensemen thought his intentions were to cover the puck. The result led to the loose puck finding the stick of Pettinger who converted on his second attempt at the net for his 15th goal of the season.

But the Capitals could not hold off the high powered Tampa offense and three critical plays saw the Caps trailing for the first time in the game with 3:18 remaining in the third period.

First, they allowed the Lightning to cut the lead to one with just 28 seconds remaining in the second period. In a 2 on 2 situation, Ruslan Fedotenko beat Erskine with a lateral move and snapped the puck past Brent Johnson.

Second, with the Caps on the power play and only eight minutes remaining in the game, a pass back to the point bounced over the stick of Brian Pothier and sent Martin St. Louis in on a breakaway. The puck ended up rolling off his stick, but he was able to recover and feed Vincent Lecavalier who finished off the play for his NHL leading 42nd goal of the season.

Lastly, a Novotny and Fleichmann collision in the neutral zone lead to another 2 on 2 situation. St. Louis this time was the beneficiary of a Lecavalier pass as he tipped it past Johnson for his 39th of the season and a 4-3 Lightning lead.

Washington would respond however, thanks to two Tampa penalties in the final minutes of the game, giving them a seldom seen 6 on 3 situation after they pulled Johnson for the extra skater. The first penalty went to Cory Sarich on a delay of game in his own defensive corner. He had lost his stick and presumed to cover the puck with his glove leading to the penalty. Fourty-one seconds later Eric Perrin hooked Alexander Semin to set up the three man advantage.

The Caps would make them pay as a Semin backdoor pass to Kris Beech was inadvertently deflected past Holmqvist by Lightning defenseman Nolan Pratt. Semin's 33rd goal of the year tied the score at 4 with just 11 seconds remaining. And following a scoreless overtime that saw power play opportunities for both teams, we were once again headed to the dreaded shootout.

While it was definitely entertaining, it was another frustrating outcome for Washington as they failed to score on 10 straight attempts, and dropped their record to 1-10 in shootouts on the year. Both goalies were spectacular in the shootout as the lone goal was scored in the 10th round by Nick Tarnasky.

For the first time this season Ovechkin was not among the Capitals first three shooters. However when neither team was able to score, he was the first one out in the sudden death attempts. Ovechkin's miss dropped him to 1 for 11 on the season in shootout opportunities.

After the six attempt, which was unsuccessful by Kris Beech, Glen Hanlon made some interesting choices with his last 4 shooters. Ben Clymer, Brian Pothier, Donald Brashear, and Matt Bradley are all not known for their goal scoring prowess. And they all made pathetic attempts by not even making any moves and just trying to beat Holmqvist with straight shots. All the while Pettinger, who has been one of their most successful shooters, sat on the bench. I wonder what was behind that move?

Still, even with another shootout loss, you have to be impressed with the Capitals performance tonight. They were able to take a two goal lead on one of the hottest teams in the NHL, and didn't panic when they fell behind late in the third period for the first time. Hopefully they also learned something along the way to help in their development process.

Game Notes:

Brian Muir was the only healthy scratch. Chris Clark and Eric Fehr continued to be medically scratched.... RW Jason Ward and LW Karl Stewart, who were acquired by the Lightning at the trading deadline, made their debuts tonight.

Caps Get the Bounces, End 7 Game Losing Streak at the Meadowlands

Team Gets Their First Victory Over the Devils Since March 29, 2002
Washington Capitals 4, New Jersey Devils 2
Boxscore
(Photo Courtesy of Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Playing without their top two right wingers, Chris Clark and rookie Eric Fehr, and facing arguably the best goaltender in the game in Martin Brodeur, the Caps prospects for success in New Jersey had to be glim.

Coming into today's game my key to victory was for the Caps to get some lucky bounces and get on the board first. That's exactly what they were able to do as just 8:43 into the first period defenseman Milan Jurcina took a nice feed from Alexander Semin, and wristed a shot from the point that found it's way through the traffic in front, courtesy of Ovechkin and Beech, and past goaltender Martin Brodeur. It was Juricina's 1st goal with the Capitals and 3rd of the season as he was on his way to another quality outing, leading the team in ice time with 25:46. The goal was subject to debate by Capitals commentators Joe Benenati and Craig Laughlin throughout the game as it was originally credited to Ovechkin, while Benenati believed it should of belonged to Beech. In the end though it was awarded to Jurcina.

Washington did an excellent job in the first period of shutting down the Devils attack and staying out of the penalty box. The 8 shots New Jersey was able to get on net only seemed to build the confidence of goaltender Brent Johnson as he appeared to be on top of his game.

The Capitals continued to put on the pressure in the second and were able to extend there lead to 3-0 following goals by Semin and Pettinger just two minutes apart. Semin scored the Caps second goal of the game on a short side breakaway thanks to an end to end pass from Kris Beech. As he approached the net, Brodeur went for the pokecheck and Semin was able to beat him with a nice backhand into the top of the net. Pettinger provided the third goal of the game shorthanded on a perfect lead pass by Boyd Gordon off the side boards that sent him in on a breakaway. Again the backhand was the choice of attack and Pettinger and able to roof the shot over the goaltender's blocker side. Gordon's assist was his 6th shorthanded point of the season tying him for second place in the NHL behind only the Lightning's Martin St. Louis who has 7.

Halfway through the second period the Caps were on the verge of extending their lead to 4 on the power play when Brodeur was able to make back-to-back quality saves on both Ovechkin and Zubrus as Washington's power play was expiring. On the counter attack the Devils were finally able to beat Brent Johnson as New Jersey's resident tough guy Cam Janssen rifled a slap shot from just inside the Capitals blue line and into the back of the net. It was Janssen's first career NHL goal.

Washington was able to reestablish their three goal lead in the third period as Tomas Fleichmann would tally his first career NHL goal. He took a breakaway pass from Gordon as he exited the penalty box and beat Brodeur's poke check with a backhand shot that deflected off of the goaltenders stick and floated into the net. Fleichmann had a solid game taking Eric Fehr's spot on the team's second line. Besides his goal, he was +2 defensively and had 2 hits and 4 shots on goal in 13:23 of ice time.

That goal would be the icing on the cake as the Devils were only able to beat Johnson once more after a lucky bounce resulted in an empty net opportunity for Jay Pandolfo making the final 4-2. Johnson made some key stops in the remaining minutes to deny the Devils of pulling any closer.

John Erskine provided the physical highlights of the game with several big collisions recording 3 hits on the night and winning a fight with the Devils' Cam Janssen with five minutes remaining in the game. He used his reach and strength advantage to continuously hit Janssen with solid rights.

Donald Brashear acquitted himself well in his first game on the top line and had an excellent scoring chance denied by Brodeur in the closing minute of the opening period. He had a wide open shot from the right circle courtesy of a nice cross ice pass from Ovechkin. His high wrist shot was thwarted by Brodeur as he stacked his pads while diving across the goal.

Entering the game the talk was that New Jersey would start goaltender Scott Clemmensen in tomorrow's game at the Verizon Center in order to give Brodeur some much needed rest. But with the result of today's game those plans might change. No matter who is in goal, the Caps will need every bit of the effort they showed today in order to come out victorious again at home.

Game Notes:

Ben Clymer (healthy), Eric Fehr (lower back), and Steve Eminger (healthy) were the scratches.... Brent Johnson won his first career game over the Devils. He is expected to get the start again tomorrow with Frederic Cassivi continuing to back him up.

A Weekend to Forget

It was not the best of days for the Washington franchise yesterday as both of their affiliates joined the Capitals in loosing despite the fact that they all outshot their opponents. The Caps outshot the Penguins 31-25 before falling 3-2 in the end, the Bears outshot the Hamilton Bulldogs 32-22 even though they lost 5-2, and the Stingrays outshot the Florida Everblades 30-29 in spite of the fact that they were never really in the game, losing 4-1. Out of the three teams, the only one to record a point in the standings this weekend was South Carolina with their shootout loss to Florida on Saturday night.
(Photo Courtesy of Jason Cohn/Reuters)

The Capitals played pretty well overall in the nationally televised game on NBC. They once again shut down their opponents top guns, as they did in Tampa on Thursday night when only a five minute let down in the beginning of the second period lead to two Vincent Lecavalier goals. Evgeni Malkin scored on his only good opportunity of the day, a hard angle shot from the corner that I'm sure Brent Johnson would like to have back. Sidney Crosby was held in check, posting only a secondary assist on the Penguins first goal of the game, a Mark Recchi power play goal.

On the other hand the Caps once again had trouble putting the puck in the net. They hit the crossbar twice with shots in the third period including one from Alexander Semin on his penalty shot opportunity when he had a wide open net after completely faking out Penguins goaltender Jocelyn Thibault. Semin summed up the feelings of Capitals fans everywhere afterwards by looking towards the ceiling in disbelief. Alex Ovechkin was quiet again recording 5 shots in 19:44 of ice time, but never really threating Thibault. It is now safe to say that Alex is in a big slump as he has just 1 goal and 1 assist in his last 7 games. Kris Beech, Ben Clymer, and Steve Eminger were the healthy scratches again. In the meantime, Washington is now 1-11-1 in their last 13 road games. It may be safe to finally say it's time to look forward to next season.

The Hershey Bears lost their second consecutive game on Sunday. They followed up a sub par effort in a 3-1 loss against the Albany River Rats on Saturday night, with another dreadful outing against the Hamilton Bulldogs yesterday losing 5-2. Maxime Daigneault struggled for the Bears in his first start in goal since returning from a high ankle sprain as he allowed 5 goals on just 22 shots. Two quick goals by Michael Lambert and Mikhail Grabovski in the beginning of the second period had Hershey trying to play catchup for the rest of the game. Joey Tenute provided the only highlights in the game for the Bears netting both of their goals as he now has 17 on the season. Mike Green tailed his first assist of the season with Hershey, but he also had a -3 defensive rating on the day. The Bulldogs triumphed despite playing without their All-Star goaltender Jaroslav Halak, who was in the process of winning his first career NHL start for the Montreal Canadians 3-2 over the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Bears have now lost both of their games since Frederic Cassivi's recent recall due to an injury to Olaf Kolzig, leaving them seven points behind the division leading Norfolk Admirals. Their record on the season without Cassivi on the roster dropped to 10-8-0-2, while they are 22-4-5-3 while their number 1 goaltender is on the active roster. They will have to do their best without him, as he will be with the Capitals for at least the next 3 weeks as Kolzig recovers from his knee injury.

The South Carolina Stingrays finished up a weekend they would soon like to forget, loosing to the Florida Everblades for the second time in two days at the North Charleston Coliseum. Goaltender Daren Machesney started in goal for the second consecutive game after being reassigned to the team earlier in the week. He ended up being pulled from the contest in the second period after allowing 4 goals on just 11 shots. Davis Parley shutdown the Everblades the rest of the way, stopping all 18 shots he faced, but the lead was too much to overcome for the Stingrays. The weekend results dropped South Carolina into a tie with the Charlotte Checkers for fifth place in the South Division with 57 points. They now trail the division leading Texas Wildcatters by 12 points. With their six game home stand now over, the Stingrays will travel to Augusta to take on the Lynx Tuesday night, gametime 7:35 PM ET.

Caps Steal A Point in Tampa

Zubrus Ties it with 15 Seconds Remaining, But They Fall to 1-8 in Shootouts this Season as St. Louis Nets Game Winner
Tampa Bay Lightning 3, Washington Capitals 2 F/SO
Boxscore

A gutsy all around effort allowed the Caps to escape Tampa with a point against one of the hottest teams in the NHL. Tampa entered the contest having won 13 of their last 16 games, while the Capitals had lost 10 of their last 11 on the road.

Those story lines did not carry over into the first period as the Capitals got off to a good start and their sound technical play led to one of their best all around periods of the season. After a good forechecking shift by rookie Eric Fehr caused Lightning defenseman Dan Boyle to take a holding penalty, Alexander Semin continued his good play against Southeast division opponents. Just 4 seconds into the power play opportunity, following a Danius Zubrus faceoff win, Semin fired a shot that deflected off a Lightning defenseman and through the pads of goaltender Marc Denis for his 30th goal of the season and a 1-0 Washington lead. He now has 17 goals and 28 points in 21 games against divisional opponents this season. The Caps also played well defensively, holding Tampa to just 8 shots and took a lead into the first intermission.

The second period however, resembled more of the recent poor play of the Caps on the road. Just 13 seconds in, the team was called for too many men on the ice. After surviving the penalty Brent Johnson immediately sent the team back to the box after playing the puck in the trapezoid area behind the net. The Lightning made them pay scoring 12 seconds into the power play on a Vincent Lecavalier slap shot from the right circle.

Less than five minutes later the Lightning captain would strike again while the Caps were on the power play. Brian Pothier, returning to action after missing ten games with a concussion, turned the puck over in his own zone to Martin St. Louis who found Lecavalier in front of the net for his NHL leading 39th goal of the season and a 2-1 lead. He now has 7 goals and 10 points in the Lightning's 5 games against Washington this season.

The score would remain that way until the very end of the third period. With Brent Johnson on the bench, giving the Capitals the extra skater, Lecavalier turned the puck over in his own zone. His clearing attempt went right to the stick of Zubrus in the slot, who one-timed it over the catching glove of Denis for his 20th goal of the season that tied the game at 2 with just 15 seconds remaining.

Martin St. Louis would provide the lone goal in the shootout to send the Lightning fans home happy with two critical points. The win moved Tampa just one point behind the idle Thrashers for first place in the division.

It was another frustrating game for Alex Ovechkin. He seemed to again have trouble controlling the puck early on as time after time the puck would roll off his stick as he tried to maneuver around the Lighting defense. When he finally was able to get some good scoring chances in the third period, Marc Denis had all the answers repeatedly denying him with his catching glove. Ovechkin now has just 1 goal and 1 assist in his last six games.

Game Notes:

Before the game Washington activated defenseman John Erskine and placed Lawrence Nycholat on injured reserve with what the team described as an "illness".... Milan Jurcina led all players in ice time with 28:55.... Ben Clymer, Kris Beech, and Steve Eminger were healthy scratches.... The point moved the Caps into a tie with Florida for 13th in the Eastern Conference, just nine points behind Toronto for the eighth and final playoff spot.

Capitals Run Through Recap

With today being a run through instead of a normal practice there are no lines to report as the players just wore black jerseys on offense and white jerseys on defense.

Continuing on their way back from injuries John Erskine and Brian Pothier were back on the ice today. They were again doing conditioning drills with trainer Greg Smith before practice and both players along with Brian Muir participated fully in the run through. The only player missing from practice this morning was goaltender Olie Kolzig.

Ben Clymer was getting a lot of extra work in this morning with usual scratches Kris Beech and Lawrence Nycholat so despite his recent play, my guess is that he is a healthy scratch tonight allowing Matt Bradley a spot in the lineup.

The run through this morning consisted of what you would expect on a game day, a lot of free flowing skating, full length drills at what looked to be about 75% speed. The team split sides into offense and defense where the forwards practiced on quick passing and shooting drills, as the defenseman worked on their puck control skills while backpedaling.

In faceoff drills Gordon dominated as expected having no trouble against Laich, Clark, and Sutherby. Speaking of Gordon while perusing the media notes this morning I ran into some interesting stats concerning him. When he scores this season the Caps are 3-0-0. When he registers a point the Caps are 11-3-1. And he has played at least 21 minutes in each of the last three games. Therefore my key to victory tonight is for Gordon to crack the scoreboard in any way possible.

With all the talk about Alex Ovechkin being in a slump eveyone seems to have forgotten about Alexander Semin. Currently he has gone 6 consecutive games without a goal and 4 consecutive games without an assist including a -3 defensive ratings in his last 5 games. The only good news about this is that despite Semin and Ovechkin cooling off as of late, the team has still posted a 2-0-1 mark on the current home stand.

Tonight's game can be looked at as the most important game of the season to date. It's the last game of the home stand, and it's another 4 point swing game where a win would put us just a point out of 11th in the conference, while a loss puts us five points out of 11th and could put us back into a tie for 12th with Boston depending on the outcome of their game with the Islanders.

It should be a packed house tonight as a sell is expected, and with Ranger fans in the house, get ready for a rowdy hockey night in Washington.

Boston Wins Physical Contest in Repeat Manner

The Bruins Beat The Caps For The Third Consecutive Time This Season By The Same Score
Boston Bruins 3, Washington Capitals 2 F/SO
Boxscore
(Photo courtesy of Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

No this was not a rerun. But for some reason the Caps and Bruins have played each meeting this season to the same 3-2 score. Each game has seen the Bruins come away the victor. And for the second time the Bruins were able to win in shootout fashion.

It was the third consecutive solid defensive effort for the Capitals whose only blemish through 40 minutes was a quick goal following a Danius Zubrus faceoff loss. Defenseman Steve Eminger failed to step up and cover Brandon Bochenski who wristed the shot past Kolzig before he was set as the Islanders broke the scoreless tie 5 minutes and 6 seconds into the second period.

The game was physical from the start as Ben Clymer found himself in the middle of two scrums within the first nine minutes of the opening period. Clymer, who was a healthy scratch on Sunday missing his first game of the season, returned to the lineup re-energized. He dropped the gloves with Bruins defenseman Bobby Allen just 2:20 into the game. The two were only able to throw a few punches before being separated and as the aggressor, Clymer was assessed the extra roughing minor in the process. Just six minutes later though he would find himself a true sparing partner in the Bruins Jeremy Reich, who was recalled before the game by Boston to provide the team with a physical presence. Reich had 105 penalty minutes in 46 games this season with Providence of the AHL.

The physical play seemed to spark the Capitals as they controlled the action early on, tallying the games first six shots on goal and outshooting the Bruins in the first period 10-2. Despite all the shots, they were unable to beat goaltender Tim Thomas and the teams went into the first intermission scoreless.

Richard Zednik was stopped on a partial breakaway opportunity moments after Bochenski's goal as the Caps were unable to tally and trailed 1-0 after the second. The key moment in the period was the Capitals ability to kill off a double-minor thanks to an Alexander Semin high sticking penalty on Phil Kessel. The special teams effort meant the game was still within striking distance.

The third period had a completely different feel than the first two. The reason for it was the Caps ability to break onto the score sheet just 21 seconds in on a goal by number 21 Brooks Laich. Laich won the battle for the puck along the boards and found himself wide open in the slot. He rifled a slap shot and beat Thomas over his glove to tie the game at one. That goal rose the intensity of the game to a higher level.

Playing against his former team, who he has traded away from just a week earlier, Milan Jurcina provided the key save of the game at the 2:30 mark of the third period. After a shot had beaten Kolzig and was heading for the open net, Jurcina was able to get his right skate on it and deflect it off to the side keeping the game tied at one.

The Caps would later take their first lead of the game as rookie Eric Fehr put home his second goal of the season on a rebound following a Zednik slap shot from the slot. The goal was scored just five seconds after a Bruins penalty to Andrew Alberts had expired, giving Washington their first lead of the game. However, the lead wouldn't last as Boston took advantage of an Alex Ovechkin delay of game penalty to tie the game with 6:45 remaining on a beautiful slap shot by Patrice Bergeron. The goal was a result of some good puck movement on the Bruins power play that gave Kolzig no chance on Bergeron's shot following a nice cross ice pass from Marc Savard.

There was a scary moment during the overtime period as a powerful slap shot off the stick of the Bruins 6 foot 9 inch defenseman Zdeno Chara hit Ovechkin in the helmet on the side of his head while he was diving to block the shot. Ovechkin would lay on the ice for a moment causing the officials to stop play. Shortly after the stoppage, he jumped to his feet and skated off the ice and seemed to be okay.

In the shootout Alexander Semin got the Caps on the board first, just as he had done in Sunday's shootout win against the Islanders. But Ovechkin and Fehr were denied on their chances, and Boston's Patrice Bergeron and Phil Kessel tallied on consecutive attempts to give the Bruins the victory.

The result moved Boston into a tie with Washington for 12th place in the Eastern Conference. Both teams are currently nine points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for 8th and final playoff spot.

Game Notes:

Jeff Schultz led the Capitals in ice time with 23:51.... Alex Ovechkin was kept off the scoreboard for a career worst third consecutive game recording only 2 shots on the night.... Brooks Laich was the only Caps center with a winning faceoff percentage going 8 for 13 for 62%.... Ben Clymer returned to the lineup replacing Matt Bradley who was a healthy scratch. Kris Beech and Lawrence Nycholat joined Bradley as healthy scratches.... The Montreal Canadians placed disgruntled winger Sergei Samsonov on waivers today.

Capitals/Senators Preview

Washington Capitals (21-22-7, 49 points)
at
Ottawa Senators (29-21-2, 60 points)

Television: NewsChannel 8
Radio: WTNT 570-AM
Gametime: 7:00 PM ET


The Capitals look to finish up the first month of 2007 by starting a much needed winning streak. Coming off a win Saturday night that few could have predicted the team heads north of the border to take on the streaking Ottawa Senators who have won 12 of their last 15 games.

One player that will be sad to see January come to an end is russian winger Alexander Semin, who has five multi-goal games during the month. The team will hope to get a boost from winger Richard Zednik who should make his return to the lineup tonight after missing 24 games with a sports hernia. He will be a welcomed veteran addition to the Capitals inexperienced lineup. Hopefully he will pick up right where he left off as before he was injured on December 2nd, he had finally rediscovered his scoring touch. With the trading deadline just four weeks away, it will be a critical time for the Caps and Zednik, who could be moved should the team fall out of contention.

But while Zednik returns one of their key defenseman Brian Pothier, continues to miss time with what is believed to be a concussion. He will miss his 4th consecutive game tonight. Matt Bradley who has missed the last 2 games with personal reasons is listed as questionable.

It could be a special night for Alex Ovechkin as he will try to extend his consecutive game point streak to 12 games which would be a career high for him.

This will be the first of a three game road trip for the Capitals who travel to Florida on Thursday and to Pittsburgh on Saturday before returning home for a Sunday matinée with the New York Islanders. The Caps should have an advantage when it comes to rest as the team has not played since defeating Carolina Saturday night. Meanwhile, the Senators are coming off a loss at Montreal last night for the second game in as many nights.

The key, as it normally is, will be for the Capitals to get off to a fast start and take advantage of what should be a tired Senators squad.

Sunday Morning Thoughts

A big win such as last night always makes for a beautiful morning. Not even the overcast, wet weather can dampen the good feeling Capitals' fans will wake up with. But first, let us not forget to thank who made this all possible, the overconfident Carolina Hurricanes. They drove into Washington last night riding high off their dominating win in Raleigh on Friday and thought that they could just show up and win. The Caps knocked them back down to reality, taking advantage of three turnovers to score three unassisted goals and never looked back. It's time for another feel good addition of morning thoughts:

• With his goal last night, Ovechkin not only extended his point streak to 11 games, but also put him into a tie with Atlanta's Marian Hossa for the league lead in goals with 31.

• Alexander Semin moved himself into 7th place in the NHL in goals after he recorded his 5th multi-goal game of the month last night. With his 29 goals on the season he is only 2 behind Ovechkin.

• Coach Hanlon changed up the lines again and just might have found two pairings to use for the long run. Eric Fehr jumped right in on the right side of Brooks Laich and Alexander Semin for a potent second scoring line. Laich acquitted himself well in his opportunity to capture the ever revolving second line center position. The other line that showed lots of potential was the shut down checking line of Pettinger, Gordon, and Sutherby. While they did not reach the scoring sheet, they had more ice time than Ovechkin and Semin and proved that they can silence their opponent's top lines.

With the Capitals off tonight don't forget to catch the AHL All-Star Skills Competition free on b2networks live at 7:00 PM ET. And tomorrow night the AHL All-Star game will also be available for free on b2networks starting at the same time. If you want to wait and watch it on tv, the game can be seen Wednesday, January 31st at 12:00 PM ET on Comcast Sportsnet. Unlike the NHL All-Star game, this will be a highly competitive game as players try to impress the many scouts that will be on hand.

I'm off to the Capitals practice this morning. I'll have a recap this afternoon.

Caps Return Favor

Avenge Lopsided Loss in Raleigh With An Easy Win In DC
Washington Capitals 7, Carolina Hurricanes 3
Boxscore

The Caps needed this type of game in a big way. After starting out the second half of the season looking like a team completely lost, they came out tonight a determined team and jumped all over the Hurricanes.

Newly recalled winger Eric Fehr started out the game doing his best Klepis impersonation, taking a pointless offensive zone holding penalty just three minutes into the game. But after the Caps killed off the penalty, they took control of the game. They scored three times before the Hurricanes even knew what hit them.

Alexander Semin led a two-on-one break with Brooks Laich and after holding the puck, debating whether or not to pass, ripped a wrist shot off the top right corner of the goal post and into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead. Ovechkin would follow that up with a power play goal after Carolina defenseman Dennis Seidenberg turned the puck over and it found its way right to the front of the net. Semin would complete the barrage of goals when he pick pocketed Erik Cole from the Caps blue line and streaked down the ice on a breakaway. He beat Cam Ward once again to the top right corner for his second of the night and 29th of the season. When will the goalies in the NHL learn that he loves to shoot to their glove side?

After the quick start though, Carolina looked to make a game of it by scoring twice within a minute to close the gap to 3-2 at the end of the first period. Justin Williams' 26th and Erik Cole's 22nd send the Caps to the locker room shaking their heads in frustration. But luckily, that would be as close as they would get.

A hard fought second period went scoreless until the 15th minute, when Semin stole the puck in the offensive zone and then Eric Fehr stole the puck of his stick and deposited it past Ward short side over his blocker pad. The goal was Fehr's first in the NHL in his 14th career game.

The third period was all Washington. On a delayed penalty call that gave the Caps a six-on-five advantage, Ovechkin made a tremendous individual move and Kris Beech was the beneficiary of his pass, rifling a shot past Ward for his 6th of the season and a 5-2 lead. Carolina would try to get back in the game, scoring on a power play goal by David Tanabe, his 1st of the season, to make it 5-3. However, that was as close as the Hurricanes could get as goals by Clark, his 21st, and Laich shorthanded, his 5th, made the final 7-3 before a raucous Verizon Center crowd of 16,924.

Game Notes:

Alex Ovechkin extended his point streak to 11 games, tying his career high set last season. He also has 12 assists in the month of January ranking him third in the NHL.... Brian Pothier missed his 3rd consecutive game.... Richard Zednik could return from the injured reserve list and play on Tuesday in Ottawa... Alexander Semin now has 5 multiple goal games in January. He has 17 points in his last 10 games.... The Hershey Bears gave up 3 third period goals and lost to the first place Norfolk Admirals 4-3.

Caps/Panthers Preview

Florida Panthers (17-22-10, 44 points)
at
Washington Capitals (20-20-7, 47 points)

TV: Comcast Sportsnet
Radio: Sportstalk 980-AM
Gametime: 1:00 PM

Revenge is on their mind as the Capitals look to finish up the first half of the season on a bright note before heading into the All-Star break. It was only one week ago that the Florida Panthers demolished the Caps in the sunshine state 7-3, and the game was not as close as the score. But a win Thursday night against the stanley cup champion Carolina Hurricanes has the Caps believing in themselves again. They came out with a passion that had not been seen as of late, received some lucky bounces for a change, and finished out the game in the third period, a solid all-around team effort.

It is yet to be known what the lineup will look like for the Caps on Saturday. Alexander Semin, Donald Brashear, and Brian Pothier all missed practice on Friday. Semin seems to be the only one whose presence seems likely in the game, Brashear and Pothier will be game time decision as reported by the Washington Post. That's good news for the team as Alexander Semin has been the best player on the ice for the Caps this month with 10 goals in his last 7 games. Pothier's absence would put the Capitals in position to have to make another emergency defensive call-up. He left Thursday night's game at the mid-way mark and did not return. As per the Capitals normal policy when it comes to injuries, the team is not saying anything about his condition. With Mike Green recently injured, and John Erskine and Bryan Muir already on the injured reserve list the Capitals cannot afford to loose another defenseman.

The Panthers enter Saturday's game with a 1-2-1 record over there last 4 games. They are currently in last place in the Southeast Division and 14th in the Eastern Conference. Once again, if the Capitals want to have any chance of making the playoffs they have to find a way to win this game at all cost.

After the Capitals practice on Friday the team reassigned center Jakub Klepis to Hershey of the AHL. This move was a long time coming. He had been the odd man out in the lineup lately, repeatedly being named as a healthy scratch. He received one last chance in Ottawa on Tuesday, but did nothing to stand out and was again a healthy scratch in Carolina. In 35 games he recorded 2 goals and 6 assists for 8 points. Hopefully this reassignment will help Klepis get his game back on track and return to Washington with his confidence renewed later in the season.

Capitals Practice Recap

The team seemed to be in good spirits today, as expected following a key victory the night before in Raleigh. Here are some of the highlights from the practice today at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex:

• Alexander Semin, Donald Brashear, and Brian Pothier all missed practice today. When asked Capitals coach Dean Evason was unsure why and said it could be for a number of reasons. I asked Danius Zubrus as well if he knew of any reason and he shrugged his shoulders. So hopefully this means it is no big deal.
• Richard Zednik took Semin's spot on the second line and looked as though he was practicing at full speed. When asked if there was any chance he would play in tomorrow's game Zednik said, "No". But look for him to be back in the lineup after the All-Star break.
  
• During 2 on 1 drills Boyd Gordon provided the highlight of the day scoring on an excellent backhand move around goaltender Brent Johnson. The play drew applause from Alex Ovechkin who pounded his stick against the boards in approval.
• A good portion of the practice focused on their defensive structure as coach Glen Hanlon's main focus that he was stressing to his players was to keep the opposition to the outside as they exit their own zone.
• The team had a shootout competition where Jeff Schultz put on a show going 3 for 3 before being stopped on his last attempt which was the championship round with Jakub Klepis. Klepis scored on his attempt past Johnson for the win. Ovechkin missed on both of his attempts.
• Mike Green came out at the end of practice and was skating around gingerly without pads. You could tell that he was trying to put pressure on his left leg, but looked very uncomfortable in doing so. He was skating for about 5 minutes before noticeably limping back to the locker room.