Game 1 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals

Caps look to tie series in Game 2

The Washington Capitals hope to see this first round series turn back in their favor tonight at the Verizon Center against the visiting Montreal Canadiens. The Caps lost game one of a potential seven game series in overtime when Habs Tomas Plekanec scooted around Capitals Defensemen Shaone Morrisonn and Joe Corvo, and fired a shot out of the reach of Goalie Jose Theodore.



Compelling that is was Plekanec who waged a war of words with Theodore, a former star goalie for the Habs. Nothing like a little rivalry to spark interest, but the Caps needs to keep their wits about them, stay out of the box, and focus on the little things that make them the NHL’s best team. An 8th seed in the East does not a typical Stanley Cup winner make, so it will take the amazing skills of goalie Halak to keep them in the running over the next week when a frustrated and hungry Capitals team takes the 3rd and 4th games on the road to Montreal. The Habs have the 2nd best Power Play in the league, just behind the Caps.

Left without a single shot on goal was Caps superstar Alex Ovechkin. Always one to shoulder the blame, Ovechkin admitted that he didn’t have good game, but he is not the sole reason the Caps lost this first match-up. The typical first line of Ovechkin-Backstrom-Knuble was shuffled a bit, and Center Brendan Morrison sat out as a healthy scratch with Backstrom, Belanger, Steckel, and Gordon sharing the Center duties. Boyd Gordon is just recently returning from an injury, and Morrison is expected to play tonight.

2010 Washington Capitals Team Photo

Capitals prepare for Ottawa Senators

Caps 3-29-10

Kettler Ice was certainly packed yesterday with lots of people enjoying the first day of Spring Break for area schools.  The team ran through a few drills, and the goalies worked on stopping those pucks after getting shown up by the Calgary Flames 5-3 the previous night.  Although the Caps were able to previously lock up the Southeast Division, and the Eastern Conference when the Devils were beat, they still have a few more regular season games to work on their playoff strategies.

Brooks Laich, who was injured by a John Carlson puck gleaning off the crossbar in practice, skated alone.  Wearing a cage, he hopes to be back on the ice by the weekend.  He followed up his morning skate with media interviewers. 

The Caps take on fifth ranked Ottawa Senators, who have won their previous four matches on Tuesday

Caps strike Lightning 3-1

With around 18,000 fans in attendance at the St. Pete Times Forum, the Washington Capitals welcomed Captain Alexander Ovechkin back to the ice after serving a two game suspension for shoving Chicago Blackhawks’ Brian Campbell. Although the team has historically done well enough without him in the line-up, having their captain back surely settled the nerves of the Caps, who have had a rough few days after suffering an overtime loss to Carolina the previous game.
It was the nifty passing of Washington’s Eric Fehr and David Steckel which allowed Capital’s Tomas Fleischmann to get the first goal of the game. Newly acquired Capitals defensemen Joe Corvo sat for the night, after scoring 2 goals against his former team, the Carolina Hurricanes. Unfortunately, it was the Capitals’ defensive pairing of Jeff Shultz and Mike Green which allowed Tampa’s captain, Vincent Lecavalier, to tie the score. Not to be left out, Nicklas Backstrom’s indirect pass to speeding Alex Ovechkin, once again put the Caps in the lead, and gave Ovi his 45th goal of the season. Two Capitals’ power play opportunities would go unused, but the scare of the period occurred when Lightning goalie, Antero Niittymaki, almost scored a shorthanded goal after Jose Theodore left his crease during the delayed penalty. The helpless Caps watched helplessly as the puck sailed directly at their empty net, but thankfully went just wide of the opening.
In the second period, Theodore stole the show making beautiful save after beautiful save to prevent not only a shorthanded goal attempt by Tampa’s Martin St. Louis, but again stopped the ever flashy Lecavalier from stuffing the puck on a Lighting PP. Capitals trade deadline acquisition, Scott Walker, would leave the game after a fighting major, having suffered some sort of injury in his fight with Lightning’s Zenon Konopka, who also served a 5 minute major.
The third period had plenty of saves, hits, energy, and a goal by Alexander Semin to make it 3-1, assisted by Brooks Laich’s rebounded first attempt. Again, the stellar goaltending on the part of Theodore kept the team focused and motivated to reach for the win in their quest for the NHL President’s Trophy. As of tonight, the Capitals are still in 1st place with 106 points, with the next closest teams, San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks tied at 96 apeice.
Of note
Caps have been called far too many times for too many men on the ice lately. Once is too many, but twice in one week?
The early tentative play of Ovechkin didn’t take long to dissolve, as his goal and nice hits tonight on Tampa’s Thompson and Downie.
Mike Green took a Kurtis Foster slap shot to the boot, but was out on the ice for his next shift. Hopefully this won’t affect his game too much, as the team needs to be ready for the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, March 24th at Verizon Center.

Capitals Rally to Defeat Blackhawks in OT 3-14-10

In a game many Chicago Blackhawks fans thought was over early, it was the Washington Capitals fans who were pleasantly surprised with the final outcome when the Caps rallied back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Hawks in OT 4-3. The win, however, came at a loss for Ovechkin, who was ejected from the game after a hit on Blackhawks’ Brian Campbell, which resulted in a 5-minute Boarding, a-10 minute Game Misconduct, and Ovechkin’s eventual ejection.

Blackhawks Captain, Jonathan Toews, scored twice in the first period of play, putting the Hawks ahead of the Caps 2-0. Returning from the first period intermission, Hawks John Madden scored on even play to put the Caps solidly behind 3-0. Although the Caps fought for the entire period, they were still unable to catch-up to one of the NHL’s best teams.

Whatever Bruce Boudreau said to inspire the team during that second intermission, the players surely responded by coming out stronger and more focused. Things began to unravel for the Hawks in the third, when Defensemen Jordan Hendry earned a double minor for high sticking, sending the Caps to a 4-minute Power Play. Capitals Brooks Laich took advantage of the situation, scoring the first goal of the game with assists by Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green. Backstrom’s assist was his 55th of the season. Nicklas Backstrom and Eric Fehr would go onto to score two more times to tie the game at 3-3, sending it to OT.

Once again, it would be Backstrom who showed the team what it takes to persevere in the face of adversity when his wrister sent the puck into the net at 3:10, giving the Caps 2 points and the win. The team now sits at first in the league with 101 points overall.

If you follow NHL hockey, you know that the General Managers spring meetings concluded just days ago, and the issue of head shots were discussed. A new rule penalizing blind-side hits to the head was sent to the league's competition committee, where it will then head to the NHL Board of Governors for final approval. If ratified, the rule would take effect next season. The rule states: "A lateral, back pressure or blindside hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and or is the principal point of contact is not permitted. A violation of the above will result in a minor or major penalty and shall be reviewed for possible supplemental discipline."

In this Caps fans humble opinion, if you watch the pushing motion as it begins, Ovechkin is leaning to the left, as is Campbell. Campbell looks to his left where Ovechkin is skating towards him, and as he follows, they both lean simultaneously to the right. It is as if they are synchronized, and the momentum of the shoving motion is enhanced as inertia takes Campbell toward the boards. He does tuck his right shoulder as he approaches the boards, which to me, provides further evidence that he knew he was going to hit, and took evasive action.

Will Ovechkin's "hit" constitute further punishment from the NHL beyond the scope of what was handed down into today? Stay tuned…

Capitals Defeat Penguins 5-4 in OT To Make It 14 In A Row

For those die hard Capitals fans who braved the record breaking wintery conditions in D.C., today’s game was certainly one of the best we’ve seen in awhile.
Going into today’s marquee matchup against the reigning Stanley Cup winner Pittsburgh Penguins, the Caps were on a 13 game win streak, including one previous win against the Pens, sat on top of the NHL in points, and enjoyed a record number of sell-out games. After the first goal was scored by Sidney Crosby, or Sid the Kid as he is popularly known, it became apparent to Caps fans that many of us couldn’t make to the game and instead, sold their tickets to…gasp…Pens fans. There were far too many of them at today’s game and they were loud and proud of Crosby, who scored the first goal of the game, unassisted.

"Sid the Kid" Courtesy of Brad Hoffman From Penguins 2-7-10

Shortly after Crosby’s first, he was enjoying another with Capitals Forward Brooks Laich in the penalty box serving 2 mins. for Interference against Pens Jordan Staal. Things got out of hand quickly as the Pens continued to press the Caps, who responded with more time in the penalty box late in the first when Mike Knuble settled the score for a hit on Alex Ovechkin by Pittsburgh’s Craig Adams.

From Penguins 2-7-10

Things began to look up for the Caps in the second period when Alex Ovechkin scored his first goal of the game, and his 40th of the season. Two minutes later, the Caps were again penalized, effectively removing top players Mike Knuble, Nicklas Backstrom and Ovechkin. Pittsburgh’s Jordan Staal scored twice more to put the Caps down 4-1. Eric Fehr made sure the Caps stayed in the game by tallying late in the second, but a livid Caps coach Bruce Boudreau took the referees to task, standing on the bench, screaming, huffing, and puffing. Whatever happened in the locker room during the second intermission, we may never know, but suffice it to say it woke the Caps up. But more on that in a minute…
Lately the Caps have been keeping their game tight, doing what works by crashing the net and effectively minimizing penalties. Today however, the puck just didn’t seem to bounce their way after multiple scoring opportunities developed and quickly faded with a quick and agile Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Some might blame it on the weather, some might blame it on the referees. The Caps looked outworked and the fans felt a flashback to Game 7 of the Playoffs. Even Owner Ted Leonsis and Coach Boudreau, who shared in the misery of power outages from the blizzard of 2010, must have thought-there goes our win streak. But one thing that we can learn from the Caps is to never say die.

From Penguins 2-7-10

The third period saw the moods shift, and the Caps spark return when Ovechkin scored his second, and then third goals of the game to make it the first hat trick of the season. Did anyone really doubt Ovi’s capacity to save the day? The crowd responded, giving Goalie Jose Theodore a standing ovation for a brilliant save, sending the game into overtime tied at 4-4.
The tipping point came at 2:26 of OT when Penguins Brooks Orpik was sent into the box for Hi-sticking. Ovechkin once again took the lead with a slapper, which Mike Knuble helped into the net to win the game. Mike Knuble was an integral part of the game today, and he deserved that game winning goal against Fleury, earning him the “Gordie Howe Hat Trick”-a fight, an assist, and a goal, and he is the second Cap to earn one this season.

From Penguins 2-7-10

Where did those cheering Pens fans end up? “Who Cares!" "We Won WINGS!"