State of the Capitals: Forwards

Top Performer: Alexander Ovechkin. He's going to win the league MVP, so naturally he was the Caps' best forward this year.

Underachiever: Tomas Fleischmann. Fleischmann was impressive enough in camp to win a spot across from Alex Ovechkin on the top line, but wound up only 10 goals and 30 points this year, and was scratched for several games in the playoffs.

Biggest Surprise: Brooks Laich. When Laich was acquired for Peter Bondra, he was pitched as a versatile depth forward with the potential to contribute more if everything came together. Given his attitude and work ethic, it isn't surprising Laich turned into a solid contributer. What is surprising is that he managed to do so at 24.

Underrated: Eric Fehr. Fehr's a player who's hard to evaluate objectively, with his career already marked by significant injury woes and the stigma of being selected one pick before Ryan Getzlaf on him. Fehr was able to bring an important presence to the Capitals though, using his big frame to crash the net and create havoc in the opponent's end. He won't ever be Getzlaf, but once Fehr gets his hands back and finishes filling out his frame, he'll be a very solid forward.

One to watch: Eric Fehr. I think Fehr, more than any other Capitals forward, is poised for a breakout year in 2008-09.

Under Contract for 2008-09: Nicklas Backstrom, Donald Brashear, Tomas Fleischmann, Viktor Kozlov, Quintin Laing, Michael Nylander, Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, David Steckel.
Restricted Free Agents: Eric Fehr, Boyd Gordon, Brooks Laich
Unrestricted Free Agents: Matt Bradley, Matt Cooke, Sergei Fedorov

Depth Charts

Left Wing
(1) Alexander Ovechkin
(2) Alexander Semin
(3) Chris Bourque
(4) Donald Brashear
(5) Quintin Laing

Center
(1) Nicklas Backstrom
(2) Michael Nylander
(3) Brooks Laich
(4) Boyd Gordon
(5) David Steckel
(6) Kyle Wilson
(7) Mathieu Perreault

Right Wing
(1) Viktor Kozlov
(2) Chris Clark
(3) Eric Fehr
(4) Tomas Fleischmann
(5) Andrew Gordon
(6) Ben Clymer
(7) Francois Bouchard

The Good: The Capitals are one player with breakout season away from having a very impressive first two lines with Backstrom, Ovechkin, Kozlov, Nylander and Semin all being legitimate top six players at the NHL level. Fortunately, the Capitals now have enough forward depth that at least one of Eric Fehr, Books Laich, Chris Clark and Tomas Fleischmann should be to pull top six duty next season. The Capitals depth also shows in two other, oft underrated areas: defense and versatility. Boyd Gordon, Chris Clark, David Steckel, Brooks Laich and Quintin Laing are all good defensive forwards, even if none are Selke-worthy; in terms of versatility, Capitals have at least six forwards who spent significant time in the NHL who are capable of playing center and nearly all the Caps' forwards can play more than one position. The key player here is Brooks Laich who is capable of providing a solid defensive presence and the ability to chip in on offense from any of the three forward positions.

The Bad: While the Capitals have a number of good defensive forwards, the checkers could stand to chip in more on offense (Steckel, Gordon and Laing had a combined 13 goals, including several empty netters, in a combined 173 games). Other than Ovechkin, none of the Capitals top five forwards play a very physical game.

2008-09 Outlook: With five of their top six spots filled, a versatile forward corps and plenty of high-potential players in the mix, the Capitals' outlook for next season is excellent. The potential of having Chris Clark, Alexander Semin and Michael Nylander for the entire season and the continued development of Backstrom, Fehr and Fleischmann, means the Capitals have a legitimate shot at leading the league in scoring in 2008-09 (if you think that's crazy, consider that the Capitals averaged 3.13 goals per game under Boudreau, a rate that would have them tied for second in the league this season). In terms of defense, the Capitals should look to add one or two more players, someone who can agitate opponents, someone who can play a physical game and back it up by dropping the gloves and someone who can kill penalties. These roles could be filled by re-signing Matt Cooke and Matt Bradley. If they chose to leave Washington there will be other options in the free agent market - I personally favor Adam Hall and Aaron Asham; if the Capitals want to avoid bidding on free agents, Chris Bourque is likely ready to step in to a grinder role. Given that the team only has this one need at the forward position, McPhee should not have too much difficulty filling it.
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Capitals Prospects Update

Well, the season's over, so it's only natural to look ahead to next year. In that spirit, here's how some of the Capitals' best prospects fared in 2007-08.

Karl Alzner (Defense, Calgary Hitmen, WHL)- The statistics for Alzner were impressive: 36 points in 60 regular season games, a +26 rating in the regular season and six goals in the 16 playoffs games the Hitmen played before being swept out of the playoffs in the WHL's semi-final round. But Alzner's talens go beyond what can represented via statistics: he captained both the WHL's Eastern Conference Hitmen and the gold medal winning Canadian team at the World Juniors. Nothing is set in stone, but there's a very good chance that Alzner could break camp with the Capitals next season.

Francois Bouchard (Right Wing, Hershey Bears, AHL) - Bouchard finished up his QMJHL career with Baie-Comeau Drakkar quite well, finishing eight in the 'Q' with 92 points and sixth in assists with 56, and has since joined the Bears for their playoff run. Although the Capitals are a little unsettled on the right wing after Viktor Kozlov and Chris Clark, the organization is likely going to want Bouchard to get at least one season of professional experience under his belt before they call him up for any extended period of time.

Chris Bourque (Right Wing/Left Wing, Hershey Bears, AHL) - Bourque had a solid season in 2007-08, highlighted by his NHL debut in Atlanta and a four goal night in Hershey. Like Bouchard, Bourque will probably get a look because the Capitals depth chart gets muddled on the wing after the first couple lines. Unlike Bouchard, Bourque has the attitude and experience to be a legitimate option as a depth player for the Capitals. His odds are probably largely dependent on whether or not Sergei Fedorov and Matt Cooke re-sign.

Joe Finley (Defense, North Dakota Fighting Sioux, WCHA) - In between a couple controversial incidents, Finley picked up 15 points (including four goals) for the Fighting Sioux while leading the team with a +24 rating. Finley hasn't said whether or not he plans to forgo his final season at North Dakota and turn pro, but even if he does the towering defenseman is likely to need 50-100 games of NHL experience before he's NHL ready.

Josh Godfrey (Defense, Hershey Bears) - The 2007 second rounder with the big shot lit the lamp 17 times this season for his OHL Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds, and scored 41 goals over his last two years in the league, a span of 128 games. Like Alzner, Godfrey was a member of Canada's gold medal winning team at the World Juniors. It's very unlikely Godfrey would make the Capitals out of camp, but it's possible he could get a callup at some point in 2008-09, if for nothing other than to primarily man the point on the second powerplay unit.

Sami Lepisto (Defense, Hershey Bears, AHL) - Lepisto got his first taste of NHL action this year, playing in seven games for the Capitals. The callup was well deserved: Lepisto had four goals and 41 assists in 55 games for the Bears and his +29 rating led the Bears and was third in the AHL. Lepisto's future depends in large part on Brian Pothier. If Pothier ends up having to retire due to his concussion-related issues, there's a good chance the Capitals will keep Lepisto on their roster to fill his spot. If Pothier is able to come back, Lepisto still stands a very good chance at making the Caps, but it's likely his playing time won't be as significant.

Michal Neuvirth (Goalie, Oshawa General, OHL) - Neuvirth played for three OHL teams this season, compiling an aggregate 17-7-5 record with a 3.11 GAA and a .910 save percentage. Barring some unforeseen set of circumstances, Neuvirth will start next season in either South Carolina (ECHL) or Hershey (AHL).

Mathieu Perreault (Center, Hershey Bears) - Perreault led the QMJHL in points (114) and assists (80) in 2007-08. The 2006 sixth rounder joined the Bears at the end of their playoff run, playing three games without registering a point. With Nicklas Backstrom, Michael Nylander, David Steckel and Boyd Gordon already firmly entrenched in D.C. (along with the fact the Capitals probably want to see Perreault add some bulk to his 166 pound frame), Perreault will likely spend 2008-09 in Hershey.

Sasha Pokulok (Defense, South Carolina Stingrays, ECHL) - Pokulok hasn't progressed the way the Capitals would have liked and he was sent down to South Carolina (ECHL) after 44 games with the Bears. Pokulok performed well in the East Coast League, notching six assists in five regular season games and four assists in ten playoff games. Still, questions remain about Pokulok's durability and mobility. Pokulok will most likely start next year with Hershey.

Keith Seabrook (Defense, Calgary Hitmen, WHL) - Seabrook struggled through a disappointing season for the Hitmen in 2007-08, notching only four goals and 13 assists in 59 games. On the plus side, Seabrook was a +4 on the season, although that number might not be where Caps fans would want to see it either, considering that the regular season Eastern Conference winning Hitmen had 15 player with better ratings.

Semen Varlamov (Goalie, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl , RSL) - Varlamov gained a great deal of valuable experience this past season, playing in 44 games for his Russian team, going 27-15-0 and posting a 2.45 GAA.
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Is the pressure now on the Flyers?

Capitals 3, Flyers 2

I've never really been one to believe that a young team needs to "learn" how to win playoffs games. After all, a team is playing the same sport they've played countless hours in their lives to that point and although playoffs games do have a different feel, one would expect the players to be prepared for them given how much the players do know about hockey. Yet it seems that almost every year a young, talented team fails to live up to its promise in the postseason.

Thus far this year it has been the Washington Capitals, who dropped three straight to the Philadelphia Flyers after a comeback victory in the first game of the series between the two teams. The Capitals do appear to be learning however: they played much better in Game 4 than in Game 3, and better in Game 5 than in Game 4. Given the Capitals' impressive run to end the season and the fact that they seem to be finding their groove the question is: is the pressure now on the Flyers?

After all, the orange and black missed their first opportunity to close out the series on Saturday afternoon when they let the Capitals come out and dictate the flow of play. Game 6 is going to be the Flyers best chance to close out the Capitals because if they lose the Capitals going in to a Game 7 at home, with momentum. While the Flyers do have the home ice advantage, the home ice advantage comes with pressure; pressure not just to win but to win in style and to please the crowd (especially in Philadelphia where fans can be...unforgiving to say the least). The Flyer faithful love their team's Broad Street Bullies persona and that, coupled with the fact that Capitals controlled the physical play on Saturday, means the Flyers have the potential to put themselves on the penalty kill both early and often. Playing against a Capitals team that's clicking on the powerplay for the first time this postseason the Flyers could be down and out if they succumb to the pressure of trying to close out the series at home and become undisciplined.
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Flyers shut out Caps; tie series

Capitals 0, Flyers 2

After the Capitals' 5-4 comeback win in Game 1 of this series the Flyers were admonished for only playing forty minutes of a sixty minute game. While that is indeed not an admirable characteristic, it's not really much better to adopt logic that the Capitals seem to have: that it's okay to only play a good twenty minutes as long they're the last twenty. The Capitals didn't get anything going Sunday afternoon until the opening minutes of the third period and even then it wasn't nearly enough to pull out a win. However, despite this I don't think the Capitals' effort was as poor as it seemed on the surface.

The story of yesterday's game was individual efforts: the Capitals were done in by mistakes by defensemen John Erskine and Mike Green and stymied offensively by the individual effort of Martin Brion, who made 24 saves. Without Erskine getting caught in front of R.J. Umberger and Green making a bad turnover, the Flyers don't get to dictate the rest of the game and without the efforts of Biron, the Caps probably net a pair. It's not that there aren't adjustments needed and it's not as if the Capitals deserved to win this game. I just think it wasn't as one-sided as it looked.

Regardless of that the Capitals did lose which means, for now at least, they've squandered their home ice advantage. The upcoming game in Philadelphia on Tuesday could end up being the make-or-break one for the Capitals. On the one hand they've still only lost back-to-back games once under Bruce Boudreau and that took some poor officiating and Nicklas Backstrom scoring into his own net to happen and the last time the Capitals lost they responded by reeling off an eight game winning streak. On the other hand, none of the games they played during that stretch were as difficult as the one on Tuesday is likely to be.

Quick Hits

• I usually like the NBC broadcast team but they were definitely off today: it only 13 seconds for someone to mispronounce Shaone Morrisonn's name, Pierre Mcguire estimated that half the fans in attendance were rooting for the Flyers and Ed Olczyk had a number of errors: calling Scott Hartnell's goaltender interference penalty "incidental contact" despite that Hartnell, who was not pushed, bowled over Cristobal Huet well into the blue paint, adamantly calling a phantom elbow on Backstom and saying the the Flyers exploited the the blocker of Huet on the Flyers' second goal, a play on which Huet had no chance.


• Show me a Capitals fan who was surprised it was John Erskine who got beat on the Flyers first goal and I'll show you a fan who doesn't know who John Erskine is.


• Mike Green's played six period of playoff hockey. One was stellar, five have been terrible.


• Sunday's game wasn't nearly as physical as Friday's: total hits decreased from 76 to 57.


• The Capitals had 18 giveaways. The Flyers had 7.


• Of the Capitals 18 giveaways, nine were by defensemen. The only Washington defenseman who did not have a giveaway was Shaone Morrisonn.
  

All photos AP/Getty by way of Yahoo!
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Caps battle back to take 1-0 series lead

Capitals 5, Flyers 4

The Capitals are capable of being an electric team, playing with grit and talent to spare, able to quickly strike in the offensive zone or bottle up the opposition in their own end and of being, quite possibly, the best team in the NHL on any given night. Why they have to be down and out, gasping for air and all but dead to rights for them to play that way is anyone's guess...but I guess there are worse characteristics for a team to have.

For forty minutes the Flyers executed their gameplan almost perfectly: they crashed the net of Cristobal Huet, played a physical game without getting burned by penalties and successfully controlled not only Alex Ovechkin and his linemates, but the secondary line of Alex Semin, Sergei Fedorov and Matt Cooke as well.

But then, NHL games go sixty minutes, not forty, and the Capitals completely controlled the final frame, outshooting the Flyers 12-3 and of course outscoring them 3-0.

It seemed only fitting that Ovechkin netted the game winning goal (and even more so on an individual effort play) but the story of 'The Great Eight''s first playoff game with another talented youngster, Mike Green. Green had, frankly, an awful first two periods. He failed to clear the net on the play that led to the Flyers first goal, giving Huet no chance because of the screen and failed to step up on Vinny Prospal, giving him a wide open path to the slot and the chance to score his second of the night. Then, to top things off, Green took a delay of game (puck over the glass) penalty in the second period's closing minutes forcing his teammates to finish off the frame a man down and try desperately not to allow the Flyers to pick up a three-goal lead.
Green was indeed picked up by his teammates and he returned the favor, notching two goals in 6:26 to tie the game in the third.

Of course, his teammates weren't the only people Green picked up with his stellar third period, as an already raucous crowd went into near bedlam when Green's slapshot hit twine to make the score 4-4. As someone who was at the Capitals last playoff game five years ago, one which was attended by a largely listless crowd of about 13,000 and described as having the "feel of a well-attended preseason game", it was great to see the whole building behind the home team. I don't think there's any doubt it helped the Caps win.


As excited as Washington fans and players are is about how concerned Philly fans and players should be. Sure, the Flyers went into the second intermission ahead 4-2 and it took a great comeback for the Capitals to come out with the win. But if my allegiances were to the orange and black I would still be a little worried because the Flyers executed their gameplan perfectly for most of the game and still wasn't enough to secure a win. That, plus that the Capitals now have momentum and confidence again and have experienced playoff hockey, means the Flyers are in for one hell of challenge Sunday afternoon at Verizon Center.

DMG's 3 Stars
(1) Mike Green - 2 goals, 1 hit, +1
(2) Alex Ovechkin - 1 goal (game winner), 8 hits, +1
(3) Matt Bradley - 2 assists, +1, 7 hits

Quick Hits

• Everyone was predicting a physical series and, well, sometimes the majority is right: the two teams were credited for a combined 76 hits, 40 of which were doled out by Washington, led by Ovechkin (8), Matt Bradley (7), Matt Cooke (6) and Milan Jurcina (5).


• Is it just me, or does it seem like interference is apparently not a penalty in the playoffs?


• Bruce Boudreau's decision to put out the Fedorov-Semin-Cooke line after Ovechkin's goal was great. Man can those guys cycle the puck.


• It would have been understandable for Caps' fans to have been concerned about the playoff readiness of their team, but that first game did a lot to calm my nerves. In addition to Green and Ovechkin I thought Tomas Fleischmann, Milan Jurcina, Alex Semin and Matt Bradley looked ready to go.


• I have to admit I'd been wondering a bit how David Steckel was a 30 goal scorer in the AHL. His goal last night did a lot to help explain it to me.


• Federov's pass that led to Green's first goal was beautiful both in concept and in execution. I guess that's why he leads all active players in playoff assists.

All photos AP/Getty by way of Yahoo!
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Capitals playoff music

A hat tip to my friend and fellow blogger, The Tar Heel for discovering a couple of music tributes to the Capitals. One is from a band that I honestly have never heard of called Pummeler (the song is called ''Ovechkin'') and the other is from D.C. hardcore pros (legends?) Darkest Hour and is called simply "Let's Go CAPS!!!".

Click to play in browser or right-click and chose 'Save Link As' or 'Save Target As' to download:

"Ovechkin" by Pummeler (NSFW)
"Let's Go CAPS!!!" by Darkest Hour
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Flyers/Capitals Series Preview

(3) Washington Capitals vs (6) Philadelphia Flyers

About the Opponent

Philadelphia Flyers: 42-29-11, 95 points, 4th in the Atlantic Division, 6th in the Eastern Conference.

Team Leaders
Goals: Vaclav Prospal (33: 29 with Tampa, 4 with Philadelphia)
Assists: Mike Richards (47)
Points: Mike Richards (75)
Plus/Minus: Braydon Coburn (+17)
Penalty Minutes: Riley Cote (202)
Fights: Riley Cote (24)

Keys to the Series

Washington
(1) Home ice advantage. Not a traditional strong point for the Capitals, but the Verizon Center has come alive as a sea of red in the last few weeks (how well this remains when the team isn't the NHL's darling and Cinderella story remains to be seen, but that's another issue). The reality is that a loud, noisy, red building is something that the Capitals can feed off of, even if it doesn't necessarily intimidate opponents.
(2) Start strong. The Capitals need to get a fast start, even faster than winning the first game. Like, they need to dominate the first five minutes and score the first goal. The Capitals had a ton of momentum to finish the regular season but that's going to diminished now because of the long layoff and the fact that, well, it's a whole new season now. Starting strong would help the Caps get some momentum back.
(3) Healthy defense corps. Both Shaone Morrisonn and Jeff Schultz were hurt in the season's closing games. It looks like (knock on wood) they're going to both be ready to go for Game 1. With how much scoring depth the Flyers have, plus their physical brand of hockey, having these two 100% in important.
(4) Stay out of the box. The Flyers are going to get physical and may even get a little dirty, but the Capitals need to avoid retaliation penalties against the team with the NHL's second-best powerplay. The key players to watch here are Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, John Erskine and Donald Brashear.

Flyers
(1) Stay on the attack. The Capitals have played very well defensively lately but the defense is exploitable - only Tom Poti does not have questions about his health, experience or overall skill level. If the Flyers can keep their offensive players attacking and aggressive throughout the series they may just get the Capitals to cough up a puck or two that lead to goals, and that may just be enough to turn the series.
(2) Find a matchup that works. The Flyers have a lot of pretty good defensemen, but who can match up against Ovechkin? Derian Hatcher and Jason Smith are too slow and Lasse Kukkonen, Jaroslav Modry and Kimmo Timonen aren't physical enough. The Flyers best bet is probably their plus-minus leader from this past season, Braydon Coburn. As good as Coburn is, I don't think he can handle Ovechkin, especially not night after night. If they Flyers do figure out a way to shut down Ovechkin offensively, it will go a long way towards them winning the series. It's worth noting the the plan right now is to have Timonen mark Ovechkin.
(3) Controlled physicality. It's been said a thousand times this season but it's worth mentioning again: The Broad Street Bullies are back. While that might help the Flyers, it can also hurt them and ever since the cheap shots by, and subsequent suspensions of, Steve Downie and Jesse Boulrice the league's been watching the Flyers. Bringing physical play to the table could help the Flyers but it's a strategy that could backfire: a number of Capitals, including Ovechkin, Bradley, Morrisonn and Brooks Laich, seem to get more into the game as it becomes more physical. Plus constantly having to have a Semin-Backstrom-Fedorov-Green-Ovechkin powerplay isn't the way to win a series.
(4) A fast start. I mentioned earlier that I think the Capitals' momentum will have waned since the finish to their regular season. A hot start by Philly, say two goals in the series' first ten minutes, would extinguish it completely.

Players to Watch

Washington
Matt Cooke - The Flyers are going to bring attitude, physical play and maybe just a hint of dirtyness. Cooke can throw all of that right back at them.
Sergei Fedorov - Fedorov is important to the Capitals success for a number of reasons: he's their best penalty killing forward, he's a key component of the powerplay, he's a great defensive forward and he's playoff tested.
Cristobal Huet - Huet's 11-2 with a 1.63 GAA and .936 save percentage since coming to the Capitals. Play like that from you goaltending means that a team has confidence...and someone to fall back on when things don't go their way.
Alex Ovechkin - Every NHL fan on the planet has to be excited to see Ovechkin in the playoffs...except those with their allegiances to the orange and black.

Flyers
Martin Biron - Biron had his best NHL season in 2007-08, but he's also never played an NHL playoff game. That, plus asking a 6'3'', 163 pound goalie who has a reputation of having stamina issues to play a physical series comprised of three games a week, means that Flyers fans probably aren't as comfortable as they'd want to be with their man in the net.
Jeff Carter - Carter had a nice season this year with 53 points (29 goals), but he looks like he could be even better. What should concern Caps fans is that he looks like he's going to turn a corner any day now.
Daniel Briere - Briere has been incredibly underwhelming for the Flyers this season, especially for a man pulling in ten million dollars. His 31 goals and 72 points are solid, but also represent declines from last season (32 goals, 95 points) and he posted a team worst -22 plus-minus rating. Of course, Briere still has talent and may use the playoffs to try and redeem himself.

Around the (Inter)net
Mike Vogel explains why the physical matchup might not be what you think it is...Apparently ESPN is getting in on the Caps love...The newest member of the crazy media corps is apparently named Don Brennan (move over Mike Brophy!)...CBC talks with the creator of hockeyfights.com...The Caps have at least one celebrity fan.
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Ten defining moments in the Capitals 2007-08 regular season

10. October 5th, 2007 - Opening night. In the first game of the season the Capitals delivered on their offseason promise: the new uniforms were crisp and sharp, new acquisitions Michael Nylander and Viktor Kozlov each notched a goal and the Capitals ruined Atlanta's "2006-7 Southeast Champions" banner raising ceremony by peppering Kari Lehtonen with 40 shots en route to a 3-1 win. The Capitals would of course falter soon after, but the first game of the season gave a glimpse into how strong Washington could be.

9. October 12th, 2007 - Capitals lose to the Rangers, 3-1. The first loss of the season doesn't have to be a defining moment (after all no one is going to go 82-0). But the Capitals' first loss of this season foreshadowed the problems the team would not be able to solve under Hanlon: having the best offensive players stifled under the defensive system, looking disorganized and listless and being simply unprepared.

8. January 15th, 2008 - Capitals beat Ottawa to sweep season set. By this point everyone in the league knew the Capitals could match up against the Senators, having taken the season's previous three meetings. But the sweep of season series served as proof that the Capitals could play with anyone, and provided a boost that helped the Capitals win the next two games, resulting in a crucial 4-1 homestand.

7. November 21st, 2008 - Bruce Boudreau's first game as head coach. Boudreau had only had control of the Washington bench for a day when the Caps staggered into Philadelphia to take on a Flyers team that looked quite good after a myriad of offseason changes, but it showed. The Capitals were uncharacteristically (at that point) aggressive and jumped on the Flyers 3-0. Even though it took birthday boy (and temporary fourth liner) Nicklas Backstrom's overtime winner to hand the game to the Capitals, the change in coaching philosophy was apparent and those 61 minutes, 55 seconds at Wachovia Center gave Capitals fans a world of hope.

6. January 11th, 2008 - Alexander Ovechkin signs his 13 year contract extension. Given the Capitals amazing and improbable race to the postseason it may seem a little strange but when all is said and done this may end up being the defining moment of 2007-08 for the Capitals, as inking the NHL's most exciting player to such a long contract gives Washington a great focal point to build the team around, signals to fans that the team is serious about winning and has the potential to move the nation's capital up in the eyes of the hockey world, possibly even becoming a "hockey town".

5. March 21, 2008 - Capitals beat Atlanta After losing to the Blackhawks 5-0 in the their previous game and trailing 3-1 at the second intermission it looked like the long uphill battle had taken its toll on the Capitals. However the Capitals rallied back, scoring four third period goals to beat the Thrashers 5-3. The Capitals would carry the momentum of that period with them even after the final buzzer and haven't lost a game since.

4. February 26th, 2008 - Capitals active at trade deadline. The flurry of activity at the deadline (Washington was the most active team) caught Capitals fans and the NHL by surprise, as George McPhee had said several times that the Capitals would likely stand part for the most part. However, the Canadiens and Blue Jackets made Cristobal Huet and Sergei Fedorov available for reasonable prices. When the dust had cleared the Capitals had picked up picked up that duo plus Matt Cooke, all without sacrificing any key pieces of their current roster or blue-chip prospects. All three acquisitions played significant roles down the stretch for the Caps: Huet went 11-2 with a 1.63 GAA and .936 save percentage, Cooke notched 7 points (3+4) and brought an aggressive forechecking presence to the lineup while Fedorov tallied 13 points (2+11), including the playoff-clinching goal. In addition, the trio help to solidify a Washington penalty killing unit that was among the league's worst.

3. April 4th, 2008 - Florida beats Carolina. As a team you always want to be in a position to control your own destiny. Unfortunately when you start 6-14-1, that's not always an option. Along the same lines, you never want one of the defining moments of your season to be someone else picking up a big win but the truth is that if Florida hadn't pulled out this improbable win, the Capitals wouldn't be in the playoffs.

2. April 5th, 2008 - Capitals beat Florida 3-1 at home. The culmination of months of hard work, the once left-for-dead Capitals finished off Southeast Division rival Florida in front of a raucous "red out" crowd to secure the franchise's first postseason berth in five years (and the first of Alexander Ovechkin's career).

1. November 22nd, 2007 - Glen Hanlon fired; Bruce Boudreau promoted. It might not have had the same cathartic effect as the win against Florida to seal the playoff berth, but without the promotion of Boudreau the Capitals would have, in all likelihood, be on the outside looking in yet again when it came to playoff time. As an aside, it must be slightly vindicating for George McPhee and the rest of the Capitals brass to have Boudreau lead the Capitals to postseason on the last day of the season after being criticized in some corners for being classless for firing Glen Hanlon on Thanksgiving Day, usually with the added caveat "they should have waited until the end of the weekend, it's not like it would have made a difference."
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Capitals Round One playoff schedule

Per the NHL's website:

Fri., April 11, 2008 7:00 PM Philadelphia at Washington VERSUS, TSN
Sun., April 13, 2008 2:00 PM Philadelphia at Washington NBC, TSN
Tues., April 15, 2008 7:00 PM Washington at Philadelphia VERSUS, TSN
Thurs, April 17, 2008 7:00 PM Washington at Philadelphia VERSUS, TSN
Sat., April 19, 2008 1:00 PM Philadelphia at Washington NBC, TSN
Mon., April 21, 2008 TBD Washington at Philadelphia VERSUS, TSN
Tues., April 22, 2008 TBD Philadelphia at Washington TSN
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Playoff Bound

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Support the Red Out

Here's why everyone at the Capitals' next game should be supporting the Red Out:

If winning is everything, British anthropologists have some advice: Wear red.

Their survey of four sports at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens shows competitors were more likely to win their contests if they wore red uniforms or red body armor.

"Across a range of sports, we find that wearing red is consistently associated with a higher probability of winning," report Russell A. Hill and Robert A. Barton of the University of Durham in England. Their findings are in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

Red coloration is associated with aggression in many animals. Often it is sexually selected so that scarlet markings signal male dominance.

Just think of the red stripes on the scowling face of the male Mandrill, Africa's largest monkey species. But red is not exclusively a male trait. It's the female black widow spider that is venomous and displays a menacing red dot on her abdomen.

Similarly, the color's effect also may subconsciously intimidate opponents in athletic contests, especially when the athletes are equal in skill and strength, the researchers suggest.

In their survey, the anthropologists analyzed the results of four one-on-one contact sports at the summer games: boxing, taekwondo, Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling.

In those events, the athletes were randomly assigned red protective gear and other sportswear.

Athletes wearing red gear won more often in 16 of 21 rounds of competition in all four events.

The effect was the same regardless of weight classes, too: 19 of 29 classes had more red winners, and only four rounds had more blue winners.

The red effect also might come into play in team sports.

The anthropologists made a preliminary analysis of the Euro 2004 international soccer tournament, in which teams wore jerseys of different colors in different matches. They found that five teams scored more goals and won more often when they wore shirts that were predominantly red, as opposed to blue or white jerseys.

Scientists don't precisely known how wearing red might give athletes an advantage. But the color delivers implicit messages of vigor and danger. When people get angry, their faces turn red. It's also a reason why stop signs are red. So are most Ferraris.

A case can perhaps be made that most of the recent winners of U.S. sports championships have at least a touch of red on their uniforms: among pro teams, the Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, the Detroit Pistons. And in college football, Southern California.

But it's the gracious sport of golf that offers the best example. Tiger Woods wears an iconic red shirt on Sundays, the final day of most tournaments.

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Panthers/Capitals Preview

There are 82 games in the NHL's regular season, and the Capitals have needed every one of them to try and get themselves into a playoff position. It all comes down to this for the Capitals in 2007-08, a game in their own barn, with a sea of red backing them inside the arena and the support of a city that hasn't been this fully behind the Caps since their 1998 Stanley Cup run. The Caps opponent, the Florida Panthers, played the role of spoiler last night in Raleigh and will be looking to do the same against the Caps. The improbable Panthers win might just be a case of the hockey gods looking favorably upon Washington: the Panthers were outshot 46-17 last night, were called for nine penalties to Carolina's zero, used both their goaltenders and won in Carolina for the first time since 2002. Beyond just the win, this is good news for a Capitals team that will be facing the traveling Panthers squad less than 24 hours after last night's intense matchup, so something tells me the Caps will probably have more spring in their step.

The bottom line? The Capitals need one point to get in to the postseason. Let's do this thing.

Florida Panthers at Washington Capitals
Saturday, April 5th, 2008, 7:00 PM
Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
TV: CSN
Last Meeting: 3/29/08, Caps win 3-0

About the Opponent

Florida Panthers: 38-34-9, 85 points, 3rd in the Southeast Division, 11th in the Eastern Conference

Team Leaders
Goals: Olli Jokinen (34)
Assists: Olli Jokinen (37)
Points: Olli Jokinen (71)
Plus/Minus: Jassen Cullimore (+21)
Penalty Minutes: Nathan Horton (85)
Fights: Tanner Glass (7)

Keys to the Game

Washington
Score early and score often. Florida's primary motivation in this game is going to be playing the role of spoiler. While that might be enough to get off to solid start or provide a boost late in a close game, it's probably not going to be enough to motivate a team to come back from a 2-0 or 3-0 deficit.

Florida
Convert your chances. Unless something strange happens, the Capitals should have more shots, more scoring chances more puck possession and more offensive zone time, so the only way Florida is going to have a shot on the big board is to convert an unusually higher number of their opportunities.

Players to Watch

Washington
John Erskine - The only way I see the Capitals losing this game is if they make mistakes to hand the game to Florida; the only player that I think is likely to make a mistake like that is Erskine. The Capitals don't need a great game from Erskine, they just need him to not screw up.

Florida
Tomas Vokoun/Craig Anderson - Both are capable of stealing a game, and there's a very good chance that whichever Panther is in net will be the toughest task for the Capitals tonight.
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Games to keep an eye on

Tarik El-Bashir (the Capitals' beat writer for The Washington Post) has compiled a very handy list of scenarios which would put the Capitals in the playoffs. For tonight there are two games with playoff race implications:

Florida at Carolina, 7:00 PM
At the moment the Hurricanes and the Capitals are tied for first in the Southeast Division in terms of points, but Carolina holds all the tiebreakers. If Carolina wins, they clinch the Southeast; if Florida wins in overtime the Capitals can take the division with a win tomorrow; if Florida wins in regulation the Capitals can win the division by at least getting to overtime.

Ottawa at Boston, 7:30 PM
Ottawa has 94 points through 81 games, Boston has 92 points through 80 games, the Capitals have 92 points through 81 games and hold tiebreakers against both Ottawa and Boston. If Ottawa wins in regulation, the Capitals control their own destiny and can get in over Boston by winning tomorrow night against Florida. If Boston wins in regulation, the Capitals would get in over Ottawa with a win tomorrow. What the Caps really need to root for here is a two point game. As long as this one is decided in regulation the Capitals will be in control of their own destiny, which all a team ever asks for.
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Capitals top Lightning, 4-1

Capitals 4, Lightning 1

Well, the Red Out didn't seem to be quite as prominent last night as it was on the first against Carolina, but the Capitals pulled out a win against a frustrated Tampa Bay team and put themselves, for tonight at least, in the Eastern Conference's eight spot.

Even with the two points going to the Capitals, much of the discussion about this game will center on Brooks Laich's disallowed goal in the first period. I'm sure it will be discussed in detail elsewhere, but I'll just say that it was simply a bad call - if the referees were going to rule that Tomas Fleischmann had interfered on the play, he should have received an interference minor. To waive off the goal but not call Fleischmann for a penalty is exactly the kind of indecisive need-to-please-everyone attitude that referees need to avoid.

DMG's 3 Stars
(1) Cristobal Huet - 18 saves on 19 shots (.947 save %)
(2) Alex Ovechkin - 2 goals, 5 shots, 3 hits, +1, 2 blocked shots
(3) Viktor Kozlov - 2 assists, +1, 7 shots

Quick Hits

• As an American hockey fan, it bothers me that John Tortorella is going to coach the U.S. in the World Championships, and his team's pathetic display at the end of last night's game didn't do much to enamor me to him.


• Speaking of which,like any sane Caps fan I love Bruce Boudreau, but he made a big mistake not having Donald Brashear on the ice after Doug Janik's roughing penalty on Fleischmann.


• If not for a combination of Kari Ramo and the Caps missing by inches, it could have been 5-1 by the end of the first.


• Got to love Matt Cooke because even when he's not scoring he makes his presence felt, and he had 6 hits last night.


• On the Lightning side, 5 of their 15 hits were from defenseman Matt Smaby.
  

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Who to root for

Who to root for, April 02, 2008:

Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay Lightning at Carolina Hurricanes, 7:00 PM, NHL Center Ice channel Game 2

New Jersey
Boston Bruins at New Jersey Devils, 7:00 PM, NHL Center Ice channel Game 3

Pittsburgh (seriously)
Philadelphia Flyers at Pittsburgh Penguins, 7:30 PM, NHL Network
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Capitals top Hurricanes, pull into tie for division lead

Capitals 4, Hurricanes 1

You can't necessarily draw too many conclusions from one game but it certainly looked like one of the teams in last night's game deserved to be in the playoffs...and it wasn't the team that came in ahead in the standings. The Capitals flat out dominated this game - they outshot the Hurricanes 39-22, won 55% of the faceoffs, outhit their visitors 29-21 and controlled the play for the majority of each of the game's three periods.

Of course, the Capitals did get a little help from the Hurricanes and, frankly, from the officials. Not that every call went the Capitals way (after all, the Hurricanes only goal was scored because the officials missed Brooks Laich's stick being slashed out of his hands), but the Capitals had the benefit of the doubt from the men in stripes (and orange armbands) all night long.

The question is: was this a matter of luck, or is it somewhat telling of where Carolina now stands with the NHL's officials? After all, everyone knows that officials hate to be shown up and that word travels fast in the NHL these days. The Hurricanes are quickly gaining a reputation as a team of divers and regardless to what extent it's true the reality is that just as players like Sean Avery, Alex Burrows or Donald Brashear can be sent to the sin bin for "reputation penalties", a team can be victimized if they're thought to be particularly unfriendly to officials...and Peter Laviolette's uncalled for temper tantrum(s) (in which, by the way, he had the same 'I can't control myself and am about to cry' look as a four year old denied ice cream) certainly aren't going to help.

Speaking of which, just as Capitals fans can be encouraged by the way their team won I think it makes sense to be encouraged by the way the Hurricanes lost. Laviolette, as mentioned, blew a gasket not once, but twice at the referees and that's not something that's going to enamor him (or his team) to the league's officials. Brett Hedican, a 37-year-old veteran with nearly 1,000 NHL games under his belt took a frustration penalty after being hit by Alex Ovechkin. In an attempt to establish himself physically Jeff Hamilton fell backward and took a four minute high-sticking penalty. The Hurricanes bench took a penalty for abuse of officials immediately after a penalty was called on the Capitals. All while being thoroughly dominated by the Capitals in a game that Carolina had at least as much motivation to win. It could just have been one bad night. But if it's anything more than that, if the Hurricanes stumble even a little bit in their two remaining games, it might cost them a post season berth. We'll get to see tomorrow night when the 'Canes travel back to Carolina to host Tampa Bay.

DMG's 3 Stars
(1) Cristobal Huet - stopped 21 of 22 (.955%) shots sent his way
(2) Alex Semin - 1 goal, +1, 3 hits (including a big one early on to set the tone)
(3) Sergei Fedorov - 2 assists, +1, 67% on faceoffs

Quotable

"The atmosphere was great. I have never seen a building like that. I have never seen the building like that."

-Mike Green

Quick Hits

• The three stars as chosen by the local media were the Capitals three trade deadline acquisitions.


• Apparently Semin can hit, so long as his energy is devoted there and not into slashing or roughing penalties.


• In addition to his goal, Matt Cooke had 6 hits.


• Jeff Schultz had 4 shot blocks.


• Is the key to getting Cam Ward off his game just to crash the net? If so, even if the Hurricanes make the playoffs, they're not going anywhere.

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Hurricanes/Capitals Preview

Carolina Hurricanes at Washington Capitals
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008, 7:00 PM
Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
TV: CSN
Last Meeting: 3/26/08, Caps win 3-2 in the shootout

To call this one the biggest game of the season would be an understatement - this is biggest game this franchise has played in almost five years; the biggest since Martin St. Louis broke the hearts of Caps fans with an powerplay game winner in the third overtime at MCI Center on Easter Sunday, 2003, the result of a too many men on the ice call. A win Tuesday night would put the Capitals into a tie (points-wise) with Carolina for first in the Southeast Division, while a loss would all but extinguish the team's already somewhat dim playoffs hopes. If the Capitals have proven anything this season it's that they're never down and out, and are at their best when their backs are against the wall. Do they have one more great win in them?

About the Opponent

Carolina Hurricanes: 42-31-6, 90 points, 1st in the Southeast Division, 3rd in the Eastern Conference

Team Leaders
Goals: Eric Staal (36)
Assists: Eric Staal (43)
Points: Eric Staal (79)
Plus/Minus: Joe Corvo (+19)
Penalty Minutes: Scott Walker (113)
Fights: Wade Brookbank (12)

Keys to the Game

Washington
Play your game. The Capitals are 32-17-7 under Bruce Boudreau and have won eight of their last nine. In short, the team knows how to play hockey and win games at the NHL level. What they need to do is not let the pressure of this game get to them and start changing the way they play.

Carolina
Score early. Cam Ward's confidence against the Capitals has got to be high, so if the Hurricanes can get an early lead and concentrate on playing defense it might be hard for the Capitals to battle back.

Players to Watch

Washington
John Erskine - Carolina has a lot of good forwards and most of them are very good skaters while Erskine...is not. Due to his lack of foot speed and agility, Erskine is probably the best blue line target for the Hurricanes when they're trying to create chances.

Carolina
Cam Ward - Ward's been a little inconsistent this season, but he's 5-0-1 against the Caps with a .950 save percentage. For Washington to win this one in regulation, they'll need to do a better job of solving Ward.
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Huet, Kozlov shine in Caps win

Capitals 3, Panthers 0

Coming into the final stretch the Washington Capitals are looking increasingly like a team of destiny (or an unstoppable force, for those more scientifically inclined fans) and last night's 3-0 over a Florida Panthers team that needed a win to keep any glimmer of playoff hope alive did nothing to diminish that feeling, as the Capitals emerged victorious behind stellar performances from Viktor Kozlov and Cristobal Huet.

With their win, Washington caps a 5-1 road trip that exceed the expectations of even the most optimistic fan but still leaves the Capitals on the outside of the playoff picture looking in, one point behind Philadelphia for the eight spot in the Eastern Conference and two points behind both Boston (for seventh in the Conference) and Carolina (for first in the Southeast Division)(note: all three teams have a game in hand on the Capitals). Who would have thought that even after picking up ten points in the six game swing the Caps would still be on the outside looking in? At least on the plus side for Caps fans, it was nice to have a game that didn't induce any gray hairs.

On the ice the Washington Capitals number one goal is to maintain focus, play smart and do their best to pick up every single point that's still available to them. In the front office of the Washington Capitals to number one goal should be finding a way to get newly acquired netminder Cristobal Huet under contract for next season. Speculation is that Huet would be looking for something in the range of an average salary of five million dollars for three or four years and if that's the case he's well worth the money. The Capitals are used to shelling out 5.45 million a year for Olaf Kolzig and although a number of players including Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Mike Green and Brooks Laich are going to get significant raises next year, you'd have to think that Ted Leonsis and George McPhee will find a way to devote a significant chuck of cash to the goaltending position, especially given how much this season illustrated the impact of mediocre goaltending on an otherwise very good team.

No doubt there are alarm bells going off for some Caps fans at the thought of signing a goalie to play the next three or four years for the the team given that Semen Varlamov and Michael Neuvirth are both pretty decent prospects. But the reality is that Neuvirth just turned 20 last week and Varlamov is only 19, so both are likely a ways from being capable NHL regulars. Like pitchers in baseball or quarterbacks in football, goalies tend to take long to develop; Kolzig didn't become the Capitals' starter until after his 25th birthday, Evgeni Nabokov was the same age when he became San Jose's number one and Jean-Sebastien Giguere wasn't a starter until he was 23. Even most highly-regarded netminders take a little while to get going: Roberto Luongo wasn't a clear cut starter until he was 22 and Rick DiPietro only really put everything together last year, at age 25. Some goalies establish themselves at a younger age, but in all likelihood it's going to take at least a couple seasons before either of the Capitals' goaltending prospects will be ready and Huet seems to be more than capable of holding down the fort until then.

DMG's 3 Stars
(1) Viktor Kozlov - 1 goal, 2 assists, +3, 7 shots
(2) Cristobal Huet - saved all 32 shots sent his way
(3) Alex Ovechkin - 1 goal, 1 assist, +2, 2 hits, 4 shots

Quick Hits

• Even if Eric Fehr doesn't turn into the type of sniper the Capitals once hoped he should still be a valuable player as a big guy with decent hands who isn't afraid to throw his body around, as evidenced by his 3 hits and 3 shots last night.


• I wonder how long that Ovechkin-to-Nicklas Backstrom play from behind the net is going to work before other teams catch on?


• If Bruce Boudreau had been the coach of this team from the season's outset, I think we'd be talking about Ovechkin hitting 70.


• The Panthers managed to shoot and miss the net 15 times.


• The Capitals only had one player (Sergei Fedorov) who was over 50% on draws; not surprisingly the Panthers had only one player (Greg Campbell) who was below 50%.

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Capitals sign Mathieu Perreault

As noted by Tarik El-Bashir in Capitals Insider and Mike Vogel in Dump 'n' Chase, the Capitals have signed prospect Mathieu Perreault to a three-year entry level contract.

The 20 year old Perreault is primarily a center and was a sixth round pick of the Capitals in 2006 and has torn up the QMJHL since then, registering 233 points (75+158) in 132 games and won the Jean Béliveau Trophy as the 'Q''s leading scorer this season, a feat that puts him in the company of players like Sidney Crosby, Alexander Radulov, Daniel Brière, Brad Richards and Mario Lemieux...as well as Patrick Carrigan, Yanick Dubé, Patrick Poulin and Pavel Rosa (note: another Capitals prospect, François Bouchard, was the league's leading scorer last season). The point? As good as the 'Q' is, leading the league in scoring doesn't garuntee NHL success, especially if you win the trophy as an overage player. Making the transition to professional hockey will be even more difficult for Perreault who's listed at 5'9'', 166 by the QMJHL and at 5'9'', 151 by the Capitals. The league has changed post-lockout in a mannger that benefits smaller, skilled players and small players like Martin St. Louis, Steve Sullivan and Brian Gionta have been able to be productive as forwards in the NHL. He might not fulfill the promise the potential the last couple years suggest he has, but if he comes close Perreault's going to be a steal as a sixth-rounder.

Around the (Inter)net
Hockey writers Ross McKeon and Kevin Dupont are both upset at the potential for an Ovechkin-less playoffs...Tarik had his weekly Caps Chat today...ESPN has some thoughts about Bruce Boudreau as a candidate for coach of the year...the Capitals have reassigned former first-rounder Sasha Pokulok to the ECHL, down from Hershey in the AHL.
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Misleading picture here

Capitals 4, Lightning 3 (OT)



DMG's 3 Stars
(1) Tomas Fleischmann - game winning overtime goal, +1
(2) Sergei Fedorov - 2 assists, +1
(3) Brooks Laich - 1 goal (shorthanded), 1 assist, +1

All photos AP/Getty by way of Yahoo!
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