Caps lose, enter Olympic break atop NHL standings

By Bud L. Ellis

Their historic win streak now history, the Washington Capitals nonetheless find themselves in a good place as the NHL pauses for the Olympic break.

The Caps closed out the pre-Olympic portion of their schedule by gaining a point in Saturday’s 4-3 shootout loss at St. Louis. But despite losing three straight games after winning a franchise-record 14 games in a row, Washington still closes out the pre-Olympic part of the season atop the NHL with 90 points.

Washington leads New Jersey by 13 points in the Eastern Conference standings, and holds a commanding 27-point advantage over Tampa Bay in the Southeast Division.

Saturday, the Caps fought back from three one-goal deficits against the Blues. Mike Knuble scored on the power play at the 10:40 mark of the first period, 1:27 after St. Louis had taken a 1-0 lead. With the Blues up 2-1 in the second, Alexander Semin scored at 13:26 to tie the game at 2-2.

St. Louis took a 3-2 lead two minutes later, but Washington needed just 1:20 to knot the score again, Knuble scoring his second power-play goal of the contest.

Washington now is off until a March 3 road game at Buffalo.

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Sunday, February 14, 2010 at 11:57 am by bud

Tags: Alexander Semin, Buffalo Sabres, Mike Knuble, National Hockey League, New Jersey Devils, San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals

Eight not enough: Caps make it nine straight

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

Red-hot Caps fighting off the pack atop East standings

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

Caps make it five straight with win at Pittsburgh

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

Theodore strong, offense rallies as Caps down Wings

By Bud L. Ellis

Jose Theodore hung on against an avalanche of shots, and David Steckel slid through the goal that mattered most.

That recipe cooked up another victory for the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, this one moving the Caps back into sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference.

Theodore stopped 44 of 46 shots, and Steckel banged home the game-winning goal with 5:59 left, leading Washington to a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings at the Verizon Center.

The Caps’ fourth victory in a row, and seventh in their past 10, gives them 68 points on the season. Washington moves back into sole possession of the East’s top spot, as Buffalo lost 5-4 at Anaheim late Tuesday.

Washington downed Detroit without any offensive contributions from star Alexander Ovechkin. The Red Wings held Ovechkin without a shot, the first time in the brilliant Russian’s career he has not attempted a shot in an NHL game.

It didn’t matter on this night. Theodore, starting his third consecutive game for the first time in three months, was simply awesome. Despite being outshot by a 2-1 ratio (46-23), the Caps made their chances count in the third period.

Down 2-1, Washington needed just 46 seconds to flip the script. First, it was Nicklas Backstrom on the power play with 6:45 remaining. Then it was Steckel, who corralled a rebound and flicked home the go-ahead goal.

Washington fell behind 1-0, but tied it on Matt Bradley’s goal late in the second period.

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Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 5:57 am by bud

Tags: Alexander Ovechkin, Buffalo Sabres, David Steckel, Detroit Red Wings, Jose Theodore, Matt Bradley, National Hockey League, Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals