Washington Capitals Schedule
Wednesday
9/22/2010
7:00 PM
Columbus Blue Jackets vs Washington Capitals PRE
Saturday
9/25/2010
7:00 PM
Nashville Predators vs Washington Capitals PRE
Tuesday
9/28/2010
7:00 PM
Washington Capitals vs Boston Bruins PRE
NEWS
By Bud L. Ellis
The Washington Capitals closed January by doing what they did so many times during their best month in franchise history.
The Caps finished January with a club record 13 victories, getting a game-winning goal from Alex Ovechkin with 6:26 left as Washington beat Tampa Bay 3-2 at the Verizon Center for their 10th consecutive victory.
It was the final brushstroke on a masterpiece of a month for the Caps, who now lead the Eastern Conference with 80 points. Washington closed the month 13-2, winning 12 of its final 13 games. Sunday’s win ties a franchise record for most wins in a row, tying the 10-game winning streak set in 1983-84. The 13 wins in January snaps the old club record of 12, set in December 1984.
After a scoreless first period, Nicklas Backstrom and Brooks Laich scored for the Caps in the second. Backstrom lit the lamp on a power play 57 seconds into the period, and Laich made it 2-0 at the 12:56 mark.
But Tampa Bay rallied with two goals in a 2:42 span of the third period. Ovechkin netted the game winner with 6:26 to go, and the Caps held on from there.
The Caps open a two-game road trip Tuesday at Boston. Five of their final seven games before the Olympic break are away from home.
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Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 6:04 pm by bud
Tags: Alex Ovechkin, Boston Bruins, Brooks Laich, National Hockey League, Nicklas Backstrom, Tampa Bay Lightning, Verizon Center, Washington Capitals
By Bud L. Ellis
Stop us if you’ve heard this before: The Washington Captials got plenty of offense and solid goaltending Friday night.
It’s a recipe the Caps have shaken, stirred, served and repeated throughout a torrid January that’s vaulted the team to the top of the Eastern Conference. And it was more of the same Friday, the Caps extending their winning streak to nine with a 4-1 victory over Florida at the Verizon Center.
Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Knuble each has three-point nights, Knuble scoring twice, as the Caps improved to 12-2 in January. A win Sunday at Florida, on the final day of the month, will set a franchise record for most victories in a month (the Caps also won 12 games in December 1984), and will tie the team mark for longest winning streak, 10, set in 1983-84.
Washington (36-12-6) leads the East with 78 points, six ahead of New Jersey and seven ahead of Buffalo. The win ties the Caps for second in points earned this season with Chicago, one behind San Jose.
Backstrom opened the scoring 7:26 into the first period with his 22nd goal of the season. The Panthers tied it at 4:22 of the second, sneaking a shot past rookie goaltender Michal Neuvirth.
But Neuvirth stopped Florida from there, making 35 saves. And the Caps’ high-powered offense took care of things the rest of the night.
Knuble tipped in an Alex Ovechkin shot just 25 seconds after Florida tied the game. Jeff Schultz scored 4:46 into the third to make it 3-1. Knuble scored later in the third to put it away, his 11th goal in his past 12 games.
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Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 11:38 am by bud
Tags: Alex Ovechkin, Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks, Florida Panthers, Jeff Schultz, Michal Neuvirth, Mike Knuble, National Hockey League, New Jersey Devils, Nicklas Backstrom, San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Verizon Center, Washington Capitals
By Bud L. Ellis
He shares a first name with a much more famous teammate. But to be honest, it’s been this Alexander who’s driving the Washington Capitals toward the Stanley Cup Playoffs as much as that other more well-known Alexander.
Alexander Semin may not grab the headlines like Alexander Ovechkin, but that hasn’t stopped the Caps’ left winger from putting together a solid season.
Semin’s 25 goals and 28 assists for 53 points is a big reason the Caps lead the Eastern Conference standings, are cruising to a third-straight Southeast Division championship, and are riding the franchise’s hottest streak in more than 20 years.
The Caps have won eight straight games, their longest winning streak since 1989. And Semin has played a big part in the January surge that’s propelled the Caps to the top of the conference. He scored twice in a win at the Islanders on Tuesday, and followed that up with another two-goal performance as Washington beat Anaheim to push its win streak to eight games.
He ranks ninth in the NHL in goals scored, 14th in points and 13th in plus-minus rating (+20). His four game-winning goals stands 13th in the league. In his past five games, Semin has 10 points, including a four-point effort (one goal, three assists) in a win over Phoenix Saturday.
If the Caps indeed are going to play deep into spring, the Caps have to have both Alexanders doing their thing.
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Friday, January 29, 2010 at 5:57 am by bud
Tags: Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Anaheim Ducks, National Hockey League, New York Islanders, Phoenix Coyotes, Washington Capitals
By Bud L. Ellis
Locked in a tight, low-scoring game entering the third period Wednesday night, the Washington Capitals did what they’ve done so much during their scorching-hot January.
The Caps stood on the accelerator on the offensive end, turning a close contest into another easy victory.
Washington scored three goals in a 2:30 span of the third on three shots, pulling away from Anaheim 5-1 at the Verizon Center for their eighth-consecutive victory.
It’s the longest Washington streak since March 1989. The victory pushes the Caps to 12-1 at home since Thanksgiving week, and gives Washington 76 points, good for a six-point lead over New Jersey in the Eastern Conference.
Shaone Morrisonn snapped the 1-1 tie at 1:45 of the third. Mike Knuble scored 54 seconds later, and Alexander Semin scored at 4:15. Just like that, it was 4-1 and the Caps were cruising again.
Semin scored on the power play at 11:47, giving him four goals in two nights. Alex Ovechkin scored Washington’s first goal just 36 seconds into the game.
The Caps, who are 11-2 in January and have won 11 of their past 12, finish off January with home games Friday against Florida and Sunday against Tampa Bay. Win both of those, and the Caps will match their franchise record for longest winning streak (10 games), set in 1983-84.
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Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 5:53 am by bud
Tags: Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Anaheim Ducks, Florida Panthers, Mike Knuble, National Hockey League, New Jersey Devils, Shaone Morrisonn, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals
By Bud L. Ellis
Just 65 seconds into Tuesday’s game, the Washington Capitals already were ahead. Twenty minutes in, the Caps enjoyed a 4-1 advantage.
There simply is no slowing down this team. Not right now, as the New York Islanders experienced the hard way. Washington rode that fast start to its seventh straight victory, a 7-2 rout of the Isles that featured two goals from Alexander Semin, and a goal and an assist from John Erskine and Jason Chimera.
Washington improves to 10-2 in January, and pushes its Eastern Conference leading record to 34-12-6, good for 74 points and a five-point lead over second-place New Jersey.
Ahead 2-1 on a Brendan Morrison goal just 1:05 into the contest and a Semin tally nearly four minutes later, the Caps pushed down the accelerator in the final 1:47 of the first period. Mike Knuble and Semin both scored in that stretch to make it 4-1 after a period.
Erskine scored in the second – his first goal since Jan. 19, 2008 – at 2:36 of the second. Chimera scored later in the second and Brooks Laich closed the scoring in the third.
Jose Theodore earned the win in goal, but left with a lower-body injury after two periods. The Caps say he is day-to-day, and Michal Neuvirth played a flawless third.
The Caps now return home to close out January with a three-game homestand, starting Wednesday against Anaheim.
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Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 5:52 am by bud
Tags: Alexander Semin, Anaheim Ducks, Brendan Morrison, Brooks Laich, Jason Chimera, John Erskine, Jose Theodore, Michal Neuvirth, Mike Knuble, National Hockey League, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Washington Capitals
By Bud L. Ellis
The Washington Capitals enjoy a comfy 19-point advantage over Florida in the Southeast Division. A third-consecutive division title looks like a near certainty at this point.
But the Caps’ standing at the top of the Eastern Conference is anything but a certainty.
Washington enters Tuesday’s road contest at the New York Islanders soaring, having won six games in a row and nine out of 11. But while that torrid stretch has all but salted away the division, the conference race remains wide open.
The Caps sit at 33-12-6 on the season, good for 72 points. The Caps lead second-place New Jersey by a mere three points. The Devils are 5-5 in their past 10 games, as the Caps have sped past New Jersey in the past two weeks. But only three points out of first, New Jersey figures to be around for the duration.
Buffalo sits in third with 67 points, five behind Washington. Pittsburgh is fourth with 65 points after beating the Rangers on Monday.
The hottest team beside Washington? Ottawa. The Senators also have won six in a row and are now in fifth in the East with 60 points.
Nobody expects the Caps to win nine out of 10 the rest of the way. But if Washington does finish the season on top in the East, you’ll look no further than January as evidence of how it happened.
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Monday, January 25, 2010 at 9:46 pm by bud
Tags: Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers, National Hockey League, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals
By Bud L. Ellis
Nobody has been hotter in 2010 than the Washington Capitals. Saturday night, the Phoenix Coyotes tried their best to slow down the NHL’s most torrid team.
No dice. Michal Neuvirth shined in goal, Eric Fehr scored the go-ahead tally and the Caps made it nine wins in 11 tries in the new year, downing Phoenix 4-2 at home.
The win moves the Caps to 72 points on the season, tops in the Eastern Conference and just four behind San Jose in the race for best record in the NHL (Chicago leads the Caps by two points).
Winners of six in a row, Washington improved to 18-3-3 at home. And the Caps did so by rallying from an early 1-0 deficit, tying the game on Brooks Laich’s power-play goal in the first period. Fehr scored on the power-play with 6:38 left in the second period, and Alexander Semin pushed the Caps’ advantage to 3-1 with a goal four minutes later.
Neuvirth made it stand up from there. Alexander Ovechkin scored his 33rd goal into an empty net with six seconds remaining.
Washington now gets two days off to rest up for a busy final week of what’s been a nearly perfect month. The Caps play Tuesday at the Islanders, then finish the month with three consecutive games on home ice.
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Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 10:09 pm by bud
Tags: Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Brooks Laich, Chicago Blackhawks, Eric Fehr, Michal Neuvirth, National Hockey League, New York Islanders, Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks, Washington Capitals
By Bud L. Ellis
It couldn’t set up more perfectly for the Washington Capitals.
Already sitting atop the Eastern Conference and running away with the Southeast Division, the Caps play host to Phoenix on Saturday, opening up a stretch where Washington plays four of their final five games in January on home ice.
And home has been a very comforting place so far in 2009-10 for the Caps. Washington, which led New Jersey and Buffalo by three points each for first place in the East entering Friday, is 17-3-3 at home so far this season. Only Chicago (21), Vancouver (20), Phoenix (19) and Ottawa (18) have won more games at home to this point of the season.
Washington will play 18 of its final 32 games this season at home. Barring a total collapse, the Caps will win the Southeast Division and figure to be in the hunt for the top seed out of the East heading into the playoffs.
Winning at home is a big part of the equation, but the Caps have been winning everywhere of late. Washington comes into Saturday’s contest on a five-game winning streak and has won seven of its last 10. Thursday, the Caps pulled away in the final 30 minutes for a big 6-3 road win at Pittsburgh.
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Friday, January 22, 2010 at 9:27 pm by bud
Tags: Chicago Blackhawks, National Hockey League, Ottawa Senators, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals
In one of the most anticipated games of the NHL season, the Washington Capitals took down the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-3.
The game was back and forth during the first two periods, as the teams took turns exchanging leads.
The third period belonged to the Capitals, who broke a 3-3 tie with three unanswered goals.
Alexander Ovechkin was the star of the show as usual, scoring two goals and putting up three points.
Sidney Crosby did score once, but it was on a cheap goal that came as a result of laziness on the part of goalie Jose Theodore.
at 6:00 pm by steve
By Bud L. Ellis
It doesn’t erase the pain of last spring’s seven-game loss in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but that was then and this is now.
And the now continues to look very promising for the Washington Capitals.
The Caps made it five wins in a row Thursday night, and No. 5 was against a tough foe: the Pittsburgh Penguins. Alex Ovechkin scored twice, Tomas Fleischmann netted the eventual game-winner and the Caps stayed atop the Eastern Conference – and perhaps sent a little message to the Pens – with a 6-3 victory.
In the first meeting between the two teams since the Penguins bounced the Caps from last spring’s playoffs, Washington survived a rough first part of the game during which Jose Theodore gave up three goals in 30 minutes. But trailing 3-2, Ovechkin scored on a power-play to tie things with 3:35 left in the second period.
Washington, which leads the East by three points over Buffalo, took control in the third. Fleischmann scored on a breakaway at the 2:32 mark, and Nicklas Backstrom made it a two-goal Caps lead 53 seconds later with a power-play goal.
Ovechkin scored an empty netter with 26 seconds to go. Mike Knuble and Eric Fehr scored in the first period for Washington.
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Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 10:57 pm by bud
Tags: Alex Ovechkin, Buffalo Sabres, Eric Fehr, Jose Theodore, Mike Knuble, National Hockey League, Nicklas Backstrom, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tomas Fleischmann, Washington Capitals
