Sunday Thoughts

The Capitals have won three straight and find themselves only three points back of the division leading Hurricanes. And with that important note, here are my "Sunday Thoughts":

• What an important and opportunistic week this will be for the Caps. They go into Monday night's matchup in Pittsburgh having lost six straight games to the Penguins. However, this isn't the same Washington team and they won't be facing the same Pittsburgh team. Sidney Crosby is out indefinitely (a month, perhaps even more) with the dreaded high ankle sprain. Following that, the Caps begin a home-and-home series with the lowly Toronto Maple Leafs. Six more points adding up to a six game winning streak is not out of the question. My prediction: Washington will be the division leader by the end of the week.

• Viktor Kozlov broke out of his season long goal scoring slump by tallying twice in last night's victory. The success of Washington's second half of the season can be helped dramatically by the improved scoring output of the big russian winger. My prediction: Kozlov will resemble the player he was with the Islanders last season and finish the year with 20 goals.

• Michael Nylander's injury could be the best thing that has happened in Nicklas Backstrom's short career. Backstrom had a career high four points (all assists) in last night's victory, and is proving to everybody that he is already playing like a number one center in this league. With Nylander out for the season, Backstrom will receive more ice-time and will play the rest of the season with Ovechkin. My prediction: Backstrom goes on a tear during the second half of the season, finishes the year with 20 goals, 50 assists and the Calder Trophy.

• The Capitals number two and three centers, Boyd Gordon and Dave Steckel, combined to win 70% (28-40) of their faceoffs last night. Gordon has provided the team with a defensive-minded second line option to complement the flashy Fleischmann and Semin, while Steckel makes up the team's shut down line with Matt Bradley and Quintin Laing. My prediction: these two lines make up the backbone of the Caps run to the playoffs which will see the team win the Southeast Division and host a 1st round matchup against the (Flyers?). How exciting would that be?

• The Stingrays shut out the Augusta Lynx last night 2-0 in front of a record crowd of 10,565 in the North Charleston Coliseum. It was the team's 4th straight win. Capitals prospect Travis Morin added an assist on the team's 1st goal giving him 43 points in just 36 games in the ECHL. He'll be the team's lone representative in the All-Star game this Wednesday in Stockton, CA which can be seen live on the NHL Network.

Caps Shutout Again

Offense Fails to Produce for the Second Straight Game
Carolina Hurricanes 3, Washington Capitals 0
Boxscore
Friday, March 9th 2007
(Photo Courtesy of Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

Traditionally when these two teams get together the games have been high scoring. In fact coming into tonight's contest they have combined for an average of 7 goals per game. But that was not the case tonight as good goaltending, along with solid defensive play by both teams led to a low scoring and uneventful evening.

Andrew Ladd finally broke the scoreless battle 1:42 into the second period after the Capitals failed to clear a loose puck in front of their own net. A couple of whacks later and Ladd had his 8th goal of the season.

The game stayed 1-0 until midway point of the final period when a Donald Brashear turnover in his own zone directly resulted in Justin Williams putting the game away as he snapped a snot into the top left corner of the net. The two goal Carolina lead was more than enough for Cam Ward who stopped 25 shots on his way to his second career regular season shutout.

The bright point on the night for the Capitals was the performance of goaltender Brent Johnson who stopped 42 shots despite falling to 5-12-6 on the year after taking the loss. Johnson has possibly 2 or 3 games remaining as the number one goaltender before Olie Kolzig makes his return.

The Caps welcomed Chris Clark and Boyd Gordon back to the lineup and they, combined with winger Brooks Laich, did a nice job playing the role of the shutdown line. Each time Hurricanes' coach Peter Laviolette sent out their top line it was Gordon's line that was called on. They did their job as only Laich finished with a negative plus/minus rating.

Washington now has 48 hours to try to turn things around and find some line combinations that can produce offensively before they travel to New York on Saturday to take on the Islanders. They have 14 games remaining and still find themselves needing ten points in the standings to match their total of 70 last year.

Game Notes:

Steve Eminger and Brian Muir were the healthy scratches.

Caps/Hurricanes Preview

Carolina Hurricanes (33-28-7, 73 points)
at
Washington Capitals (24-31-12, 60 points)

Television: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: WTNT 570-AM
Gametime: 7:30 PM ET


Friday, March 9, 2007

The Caps have a chance to play the role of spoiler tonight as they host their division rivals, the Carolina Hurricanes. The defending Stanley Cup champions are on the outside looking in as the tight for the final playoff positions in the Eastern Conference heats up. The Hurricanes find themselves tied with the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs for 8th place but would currently lose a tiebreaker to the Rangers.

Fatigue should not be a factor for both clubs heading into the matchup. Carolina has not played since they fell to the Thrashers 3-1 last Sunday in Atlanta, while the Caps have had 2 days off to think about their loss Tuesday night in Toronto.

Washington should get a much needed boost to their lineup as their captain Chris Clark and checking line specialist Boyd Gordon have both been cleared to play. Clark has missed the last six games with a sprained shoulder while Gordon missed the last 2 with a sore knee. The team is still without their franchise goaltender Olie Kolzig and winger Matt Pettinger, although Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post had reported that Kolzig was supposed to have practiced today, taking shots for the first time since his injury. No report on whether or not that did occur.

The game will mark the last meeting of the season between these two teams at the Verizon Center. They'll still play once more at Carolina on the 22nd of March. They're last meeting was a 7-3 drubbing by the Capitals on January 27th thanks to 2 goals by Alexander Semin and Eric Fehr's 1st career NHL goal. That came just one day after the Hurricanes beat up the Caps in Raleigh 6-2 in the first game after the all-star break.

While Carolina will most likely be without left wing Ray Whitney and defenseman Bret Hedican with lower body injuries, they should get winger Eric Cole back after he was activated from the disabled list yesterday. Cole has missed the past seven games with multiple hip injuries, first a contusion then a torn muscle. His 25 goals and 26 assists will be a another offensive weapon for the Capitals to deal with.

Down on the Farm:

The South Carolina Stingrays came up with a big victory over the Charlotte Checkers on the road last night. The 6-2 moves the Stingrays just two points behind Charlotte in the battle for the fifth and final playoff position in the South Division. The Stingrays got 2 goals from Chris Chaput and 3 assists from Peter Szabo to pace the offensive attack. It was an impressive victory considering how short handed the team currently is thanks to injuries and recent callups. Check out Mike Vogel's blog Dump and Chase for a behind the scenes look at the ECHL franchise as he spends the week with the team.

Thursday Morning Capitals Draft Update

The Capitals moved into 5th place in the race for the top pick in the NHL draft after the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Los Angeles Kings in overtime last night 3-2. With their move into the top five they now are eligible to win the 1st pick in the draft lottery. Under the terms of the rules, only the teams with the worst five records are eligible to move up to the number one pick. The Caps also control Buffalo's first round pick which at the moment would be the 29th selection. That will change based on the Sabres performance in the playoffs, just another reason to root against them.

The only problem with this draft is that it is not as strong as last year's as there is no clear cut franchise player. Here is the updated list of the top 30 skaters available as of March 7th. No goaltender is ranked to go in the first round.

Top 30 Skaters - Updated March 7

No.	Player	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Shot	DoB	Team
1.	Cherepanov, Alexei	RW	6.00	183	L	1/15/1989	Omsk
2.	Kane, Patrick	RW	5.10	162	L	11/9/1988	London
3.	Turris, Kyle	C	6.00	165	R	8/14/1989	Burnaby
4.	Van Riemsdyk, James	LW	6.03	191	L	5/4/1989	US Under-18
5.	Voracek, Jakub	C	6.01	188	L	8/15/1989	Halifax
6.	Alzner, Karl	D	6.02	210	L	9/4/1988	Calgary
7.	Couture, Logan	F	6.01	188	R	3/28/1989	Ottawa
8.	Gagner, Sam	RW	5.11	190	R	8/10/1989	London
9.	Ellerby, Keaton	D	6.03	182	L	11/5/1988	Kamloops
10.	Mayorov, Maxim	LW	6.02	187	L	3/26/1989	Leninogorsk
11.	Esposito, Angelo	C	6.01	180	L	2/20/1989	Quebec
12.	Gillies, Colton	C	6.04	194	L	2/12/1989	Saskatoon
13.	Petrecki, Nick	D	6.03	213	L	7/11/1989	Omaha
14.	Andersson, Joakim	C	6.02	198	L	2/5/1989	Frolunda
15.	Blum, John	D	6.00	155	R	1/30/1989	Vancouver
16.	Plante, Alex	D	6.05	220	R	5/9/1989	Calgary
17.	Veilleux, Keven	C	6.05	195	R	6/27/1989	Victoriaville
18.	Hamill, Zach	C	5.10.5	180	R	9/23/1989	Everett
19.	Hickey, Thomas	D	5.11	186	R	2/8/1989	Seattle
20.	Aliu, Akim	RW	6.02.5	207	R	4/24/1989	Sudbury
21.	Sutter, Brandon	C	6.03	174	R	2/14/1989	Red Deer
22.	Shattenkirk, Kevin	D	5.11	193	L	1/29/1989	USA Under-18
23.	Hoeffel, Mike	LW	6.01	175	L	4/9/1989	USA Under-18
24.	MacLean, Brett	LW	6.01.5	200	R	12/24/1988	Oshawa
25.	Moller, Oscar	C	5.10.5	182	R	1/22/1989	Chiliwack
26.	Gratchev, Max	LW	5.11	195	L	9/26/1988	Rimouski
27.	Ruzicka, Vladimir	C	6.01	180	L	2/17/1989	Slavia
28.	Doyle, Eric	D	6.02	191	L	4/5/1989	Everett
29.	Backlund, Mikael	C	6.00	191	L	3/17/1989	Vasteras
30.	Tyrell, Dana	C	5.10	185	L	4/23/1989	Prince George

The Caps should be able to chose either a right wing or center, their two positions of greatest need prospect wise.

Caps Roster Notes:

The team announced yesterday that both Chris Clark and Boyd Gordon will return to action Friday night when the Caps host the Carolina Hurricanes. In response the team reassigned forwards Alexandre Giroux and Dave Steckel back to Hershey. Giroux played well in his brief time with the big club, providing a nice spark to the lineup with his speed and hustle. Steckel did not see any action after being recalled before Tuesday's game in Toronto.

Injuries Continue to Mount

The Capitals received some more bad news this morning. Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post is reporting that Matt Pettinger will be out 4-6 weeks thanks to a broken thumb, while their checking line center and faceoff specialist Boyd Gordon will be out 2 weeks with a sore knee. Both players were injured in the third period of last night's game and did not return.

(Photos Courtesy of Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

Tarik says that General Manager George McPhee has plans to call up winger Alexandre Giroux from Hershey. Giroux is having an excellent year in the AHL, where he has 34 goals and 21 assists in 53 games while being named to the All-Star team. If the team feels they need a center to take Gordon's spot on the roster, they would most likely turn to Dave Steckel who is also having a career year in the AHL. Known for his checking ability, just like Gordon, Steckel has added an offensive punch this season and has 21 goals and 21 assists in 54 games. Both players also have excellent plus/minus ratings with Giroux being a +28 and Steckel a +20.

Today was also the day that the Hershey Bears announced their clear day roster. The list of 22 included 4 players currently on Washington's roster in Frederic Cassivi, Jeff Schultz, Eric Fehr, and Tomas Fleichmann. Here's the full list courtesy of the Hershey Bears website:

Goaltenders: Frederic Cassivi, Maxime Daigneault
Defenseman: Tim Wedderburn, Tyler Sloan, Jeff Schultz, Andy Hedlund, Dean Arsene, Deryk Engelland, Mike Green
Forwards: Joey Tenute, Eric Fehr, Alexandre Giroux, Tomas Fleischmann, Jakub Klepis, Chris Bourque, Kyle Wilson, Matt Hendricks, Dave Steckel, Louis Robitaille, Quintin Laing, Chad Wiseman, Scott Barney

Players in Residence but not on clear day list: Jamie Hunt, Pete Vandermeer, Kip Brennan, Donny Grover, Jeff Pietrasiak, Troy Milam.
A player in residence can be used during the playoffs if a member of the 22-man roster is injured or recalled.

Only amateur players signed to PTO's can be added to this list. Some possibilities there include current Capitals prospects Andrew Gordon, Andrew Joudrey, Travis Morin, and Andrew Thomas who are all playing in the collegiate ranks.

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.

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.

Zubrus is King, Caps Win in OT

Winger Provides Game Winning Goal in Team's 3rd Straight Overtime Game
Washington Capitals 4, Los Angeles Kings 3
Boxscore
(Photo courtesy of Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)


The Capitals are doing exactly what they set out to accomplish during their season long home stand. Tonight's win, thanks to Danius Zubrus' overtime goal, improved their record to 2-0-1 so far with the Rangers coming to town Saturday night. Their performance at home has provided the team with five out of a possible six points and given them some hope that they can make one last run for the playoffs.

As has been the pattern of late, the Capitals started out slow allowing the Kings to strike first. Back-to-back penalties by Zednik and Pettinger just six minutes in gave L.A. a two man advantage. Despite the Kings record this season, this is one area they have had plenty of success this year, with the extra man on the road. They currently are 4th in the NHL with a 19.7% conversion rate in these situations. They would capitalize here as well as Calder Trophy candidate Anze Kopitar knocked home a rebound in mid-air off of Kolzig's left pad. It was a nice display of hand-eye coordination for the only Slovenian born player in the NHL. He hit the puck back-handed about a foot off the ice and it deflected off the knob of Kolzig's stick directing it into the back of the net. It was his 14th goal of the year.

It would take until the second period for the Caps to respond and it would come from an unlikely source. After Milan Jurcina was sent to the box, putting them short handed again, Boyd Gordon would rifle a slap shot past Mathieu Garon tying the score at one. It was an innocent looking play that saw Gordon carry the puck through the neutral zone and instead of dumping the puck in, he just decided to let one rip as he crossed the Kings' blue line. The wise decision seemed to surprise the Kings goaltender as he completely misplayed the shot.

That Gordon goal would be the start of an explosive period for both teams who combined for five goals. The Caps took a 2-1 lead on a Semin-esque goal by Ben Clymer, a wrap arounder for his 7th of the season. Clymer seems to have really picked up his play since he was a healthy scratch this past Sunday, providing the physical presence and secondary scoring this team needs. Alex Ovechkin recorded a secondary assist on the play ending his three game pointless streak.

The Kings would tie it up again just two minutes later following an Alexander Frolov deflection in front of Kolzig off a shot from the point by Michael Cammalleri. With 8:25 remaining in the period the Caps would take the lead again as Chris Clark won possession of the puck following a scrum behind Garon and stuffed the puck past the Kings goalie for his 23rd of the season. But Lubomir Visnovski would make sure the game headed into the intermission tied after his wide open slap shot from the slot beat Kolzig under his glove with 1:15 remaining.

A scoreless third period despite a few good opportunities for both teams meant the Capitals and Kings were headed to overtime again. It was the third straight overtime game for the Caps and the second straight including three out of the last four for the Kings.

Danius Zubrus would make sure that the Caps would not have to suffer through another shootout after he stuffed home the game winner 2:28 into the extra period. The play started with a hard shot from the point off the stick of Milan Jurcina. The puck squeaked through Garon's pads and slowly bounced off the goalpost where a waiting Zubrus would knock it home to send the good guys home to celebrate.

The win moved the Capitals within eight points of the idle Tampa Bay Lightning for the eighth and final playoff spot. All of this just places even more importance on Saturday's game against the Rangers as the team will then begin a three game road trip at the Lightning next Thursday.

Game Notes:

Their were more than 6,500 armed forces personnel on hand as the Caps hosted their fifth "Salute to the Military" night.... Boyd Gordon led all Caps in ice time with 22:28.

Will the Real Caps Team Please Stand Up?

Tale of Two Games as Capitals Start Out Strong Then Disappear As Panthers Dominate Once Again
Florida Panthers 4, Washington Capitals 1
Boxscore

In front of a crowd of 13,877 at the Verizon Center, the Caps came out guns a blazing, just as they had two nights ago in Raleigh, North Carolina. They took advantage of a penalty-plagued opening (14 minutes of penalties combined in the first 8 minutes of the game) and converted on a two man advantage when Danius Zubrus took a cross ice pass from Alex Ovechkin, and slipped the puck between goaltender Ed Belfour's pads for an early 1-0 lead. It was Zubrus' 17th goal of the season and the 3rd time he has scored while the Caps enjoyed a two man advantage. Alex Ovechkin's assist extended his career high point scoring streak to 9 games.

But that would be the end of the highlights for the Capitals. Beginning in the second period the game quickly resembled last Saturday's debacle in Florida as the Panthers dominated every aspect of the game. They tied the score at the 2:42 mark on a beautiful backhand cross from Anthony Stewart which Marin Gelenas had no problem depositing into the back of the net for his 5th goal of the season. The Panthers would not let up, and despite a Nathan Horton tripping penalty, they would continue to control the action converting on their second quality scoring chance of the penalty kill when Jozef Stumpel snapped a wrist shot past the glove of Kolzig. The score would give the Panthers the lead for good. The Capitals did not record their first shot on goal in the second period until jthe 14:00 minute mark.

The third period was more of the same as the Capitals were outshot 10-1 early on. The game was put out of reach for good when Steve Eminger turned the puck over in his own end, which quickly turned into a 2 on 1 which the Panthers converted on as Ville Peltonen beat Kolzig for his 8th goal of the season and a 3-1 lead. Martin Gelenas would add his second goal of the game on an empty net goal in the last minute of the game making the final 4-1.

A week after giving up 54 shots to the Panthers, the Capitals were once again manhandled by the Southeastern Division dwellers giving up 42 shots on goal while only recording 18 shots themselves. The one positive stat to take away from this game was the Caps holding the Panthers to 0 for 10 on the power-play.

Game Notes: Brian Pothier was scratched from the lineup with what the team said was an "illness". Make your own judgments on the validity of that statement based on the team's history of not reporting injuries to the press....Jamie Hunt was recalled from Hershey but did not dress as Mike Green was able to return to the lineup....Shaone Morrisonn limped to the dressing room towards the end of the first period after blocking a shot off his foot, something that is becoming an epidemic for the Capitals' defenseman, but he was able to return in the second period and finished the game....Boyd Gordon was dominant in the face-off circle winning 15 of 22 for a 68% win percentage.

Capitals/Hurricanes Preview

Washington Capitals (19-20-7, 45 Points)
at
Carolina Hurricanes (25-18-5, 55 Points)

TV: Comcast Sportsnet
Radio: Sportstalk 980-AM
Gametime: 7:00 PM

Only two games to go before the Capitals reach the All-Star break. And it can't come soon enough as they enter Thursday night's game riding a six game road losing streak and a three game losing streak overall. The Hurricanes enter the game riding a five game point streak posting a record of 4-0-1 over that span.
The Caps lineup will be missing another key defenseman as Mike Green will not accompany the team to Raleigh. He was injured while blocking a Christoph Schubert shot (who has been known to hit 100 mph at times) during the Caps 5-2 loss to the Senators Tuesday night. While it was revealed today that the x-rays on his left leg were negative, he is still listed by the Capitals as being out indefinitely. In his place Washington recalled 20-year old prospect Jeff Schultz to take his place on the blue line. In 35 games for the Hershey Bears this season, Schultz has recorded 1 goal and 5 assists and is plus 11 defensively. It will be his second recall of the season as he played in 2 games in December for the big club.
Alex Ovechkin enters the game riding a 12-game point scoring streak where he has scored 5 goals and 13 assists.
It seems as though the Donald Brashear on the second line experiment lasted all of one game as he is listed on the fourth line in Mike Vogel's pregame report. Another interesting note on the lineup is that Boyd Gordon is listed as the second line center. He has been a solid checking line center all season long, and has shown in Hershey the ability to put up points. Hopefully that will transfer over given the opportunity to play alongside Alexander Semin and Matt Pettinger.
The Caps and Hurricanes will be seeing a lot of each other in the near future. Including tonight's game they will play each other three times in the next 10 days. The Canes come into this contest have having won the previous two in this matchup, outscoring the Caps 9-1 in those games.
A quick start will be critical for the Caps to avoid losing more confidence and because Carolina is 17-0-0 when leading after two periods.

Morning After Thoughts

First of all it feels a little like Ottawa this morning here in DC. What happened to our 70 degree weather? The arctic chill has set in, just as it has for the hopes of the Caps season. But not all is lost, let's take a look at the bright side of things.

• The Caps are 19-20-7, 45 points and technically only 1 game behind .500.
  
• Despite their resent struggles, they are only 5 points out of a playoff spot.
• We can't be anything but excited about the play of our superstar players Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin. They have proven that they are two of the most feared snipers in the game. And at the ages of 21 and 22 respectively, their game has no where to go but up.
• The Capitals have one of the best minor league teams out there in the Hershey Bears. They have followed up their Calder Cup Championship with a solid season proving that the future is bright for the Capitals young prospects.

On the other hand:

• The Caps have lost six straight games on the road, including three straight games overall.
  
• The defense has been anything but stellar as of late, allowing at least 5 goals in each game on the current road trip.
• Already missing defenseman John Erskine and Bryan Muir to similar injuries, it looks as though the Caps may have lost the services of another in Mike Green. He took a hard slap shot off his left leg and could be out for a while depending on the results of his x-rays taken after the game. Keep your fingers crossed Caps fans, we can ill afford to loose Green for any significant length of time.
• The Caps need to work on their faceoffs. Last night's stats proved this fact as the only centers above the 50% mark were Brooks Laich with a 75% success rate and Boyd Gordon with a 60% success rate. Kudos to you Brooks and Boyd. Now how bout helping out your fellow teammates. Here were the others' faceoff win percentages last night: Danius Zubrus at 45%, Brian Sutherby 37.5%, and Jakub Klepis 0 for 5 for 0%. Attention must be given to the little details of the game in order for the team to improve.
• If the Caps continue to side, they must then make room for some of their top prospects in Hershey. Eric Fehr and Tomas Fleichmann have nothing left to prove at the AHL level. Get them some experience this year so they would be ready for a full time position from the first day of the 07-08 season.

The schedule does not get any easier as the Caps head to Carolina on Thursday to take on the defending Stanley Cup Champions. This will be the first of 3 meetings between the 2 teams over the following 10 days.