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 take their historic surge north of the border starting Wednesday night.
The Caps, winners of a franchise-record 14 games in a row, take on Montreal on Wednesday. A win would tie the 1981-82 New York Islanders for second-longest streak in NHL history at 15 games in a row.
But winning at Montreal and then again at red-hot Ottawa (which just had an 11-game win streak snapped) won’t be an easy task.
Washington is 3-0 against the Canadians this season, having won the last meeting on Jan. 5 in D.C., 4-2. One week after that game, the Caps lost at Tampa Bay, but haven’t tasted defeat since. Starting with the win on Jan. 5 over Montreal, the Caps have won 17 of 18.
It’s been three days since the Caps pushed their win streak to 14 games in dramatic fashion, rallying from a three-goal deficit to down archrival Pittsburgh in overtime, 5-4.
The Canadians are 5-3-2 in their past 10 games. It’s been an unsettling week in Montreal, as Bob Gainey stepped down as general manager on Monday.
The Caps lead New Jersey by 14 points in the Eastern Conference standings.
—30—
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 6:48 am by bud
Tags: Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadians, National Hockey League, New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals
By Bud L. Ellis
As remarkable as their nearly month-long winning streak has been, nothing topped the way the Washington Capitals pushed their way to a 14th consecutive victory on Sunday.
Down three goals in the second period to one of their most hated rivals before a national TV audience, the Caps roared back and gave the fans who trudged through a blizzard to the Verizon Center a memory to last a lifetime. Alex Ovechkin scored a hat trick, and Mike Knuble banged home a rebound in overtime, the Caps extending their win streak to 14 games with a show-stopping 5-4 victory over Pittsburgh.
Knuble poked home a rebound after Ovechkin hit the post at 2:49 of extra time, capping a furious comeback and sending the home crowd into a state of delirium. The 14 straight wins extends Washington’s franchise record, and is the third-longest streak in NHL history, behind the 17 consecutive games won by the 1992-93 Penguins and the 15 straight reeled off by the 1981-82 Islanders.
The win also pushed the Caps’ lead over New Jersey to 14 points in the Eastern Conference standings.
It certainly didn’t appear the streak would continue, not after Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal each scored twice in the first 33:07 of the game to stake Pittsburgh to a 4-1 advantage.
Ovechkin scored the first goal for Washington at the 9:01 mark of the second period, then came Staal’s two tallies 1:27 apart to make it 4-1. Eric Fehr made it 4-2 at the 17:12 mark of the second, then came the memorable third period and overtime.
Ovechkin scored his second of the game at 6:51 of the third to bring the Caps within one, then finished off his hat trick and tied the game at 4-4 at the 11:06 mark. Into overtime the game went, and a penalty on Pittsburgh gave the Caps a power play, setting up Knuble’s heroics.
Washington guns for No. 15 in a row Wednesday at Montreal.
—30—
Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 4:30 pm by bud
Tags: Alex Ovechkin, Eric Fehr, Jordan Staal, Mike Knuble, Montreal Canadians, National Hockey League, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, Sidney Crosby, Verizon Center, Washington Capitals
By Bud L. Ellis
The Washington Capitals’ historic win streak reached a whole new level Friday night: even Mother Nature is powerless against the hottest team in the NHL.
With a blizzard swirling outside the Verizon Center, the Caps continued to bury the competition. Down early 1-0 against the Atlanta Thrashers, the Caps once again cranked up their high-octane offense and pulled away, extending their franchise-record win streak to 13 with a 5-2 victory.
Washington (40-12-6, 86 points) continues to win at a historic pace, extending the NHL’s longest win streak since the New Jersey Devils won 13 in a row in the 2000-01 season. A win against Pittsburgh at home Sunday would give the Caps the league’s longest streak since the 1992-93 Penguins reeled off 17 straight wins.
The victory keeps Washington 12 points ahead of the Devils in the Eastern Conference. Ironically, Friday marked the Devils’ first game with Ilya Kovalchuk, the star winger traded from Atlanta to the Devils the day before.
Perhaps boosted by the departure of the constant Kovalchuk rumors, the Thrashers came out shooting and swinging against the Caps. But Michal Neuvirth, recalled from Hershey earlier in the day, was equal to the task, making 43 saves.
And, per the script they’ve rolled out time and time again during the win streak, the Caps got plenty of offense. Alex Ovechkin tied the game at 1-1 at the 13:41 mark of the first period, his league-leading 39th goal of the season. Washington took the lead for keeps on Nicklas Backstrom’s 25th of the season at 4:31 of the second period.
The Caps then put it away early in the third. Brooks Laich fed Alexander Semin on a two-on-one off an Atlanta turnover at the 3:52 mark to make it 3-1. Another Atlanta turnover led to another Washington goal 68 seconds later, Jason Chimera finished a three-on-one breakaway for a 4-1 lead.
Mike Green, playing for the first time since returning from a three-game suspension, added an empty netter to close the scoring.
—30—
Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 8:38 am by bud
Tags: Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Atlanta Thrashers, Brooks Laich, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jason Chimera, Michal Neuvirth, Mike Green, National Hockey League, New Jersey Devils, Nicklas Backstrom, Pittsburgh Penguins, Verizon Center, 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.
—30—
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
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.
—30—
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
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.
—30—
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
