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(photo by Wilfredo Lee)

We have to admit, we were excited when the Washington Capitals acquired gritty forward Jason Chimera in a trade for captain Chris Clark and defenseman Milan Jurcina.

While most people chose to focus on what little they knew about Chimera – namely the incident involving Chimera and forward Alex Ovechkin when the Caps faced off against the Columbus Blue Jackets – we looked past it completely.

To us, Chimera brought aspects to Washington that Clark simply didn’t possess in his skill set. For starters, the 30-year-old is easily one of the fastest skaters in the NHL. In a game where you absolutely have to keep your feet moving, Chimera is willing and able to fly around the rink. If the puck is in the corners, he’ll throw his body around and dig it out. If the puck is in the open ice, he can switch to a gear few players can match.

We’re not out to badmouth Clark, but by the end, he was more of a team spokesman than an on-ice contributor. He was a well-respected guy in the locker room and always available to answer any and all questions, but more times than not, once the game started, he was a non-factor.

If we’re being honest, we don’t care if Chimera ever says a word to the press or keeps to himself away from the rink. As long as he makes plays like he did last night against the Florida Panthers, all the rest is irrelevant.

With the Capitals trailing 2-0 to yet another inferior opponent, Chimera provided a much-needed spark. Just 18 seconds into the second period, Chimera used his blazing speed to blow past the Panthers defense and score an unassisted tally. The play was exactly the kind of individual effort that Clark could no longer provide for the Capitals, and, as an added bonus, it really seemed to give Chimera an extra boost of confidence.

The Caps gave up two more goals to Florida, which meant the end of the night for goalie Michal Neuvirth and for the second consecutive game Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau was forced to go to the bullpen in relief of his young goaltender.

With less than four minutes remaining in the period, Chimera got the offense going again – this time assisting on defenseman Brian Pothier’s fourth goal of the season. To cap off the period, Chimera then dropped the gloves with Panthers center Gregory Campbell. A goal, an assist and a fight – all in less than 20 minutes of action. That, my friends, is what we call the Gordie Howe hat trick.

And if you’re Chimera’s teammate and you see him doing anything and everything to help his team wake up, you have to pick up your pace, right? If not, then you’re in the wrong sport. You should immediately leave hockey and become a basketball player, where it’s socially acceptable for Kobe Bryant to play one-on-one while his four teammates stand around and watch.

Third-period goals by Ovechkin and center Nicklas Backstrom tied the game at 4-4, while Theodore stood on his head several times in the final two minutes to preserve the tie at the end of regulation. Overtime provided even more excitement, with the Caps and Cats all but abandoning defense in hopes of walking away with two points. But Theodore and Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun remained up to the challenge and the game headed to a shootout.

Forwards Brendan Morrison, Brooks Laich and Tomas Fleischmann each scored in the shootout to secure the victory, but for our money, the star of the night was Chimera, who had his first real breakout performance since arriving in town last month.

In his first five games in Washington, Chimera had just one assist. Anyone watching Chimera during his first few games could tell that he was struggling to adapt to a completely different brand of hockey. This, of course, was to be expected when a player leaves Ken Hitchcock’s defensive-minded lockdown mentality in favor of Boudreau’s wide-open style of play.

Think of it this way – if all you’re ever allowed to do is backcheck and then one day the shackles are suddenly removed and you’re actually encouraged to play on both ends of the rink, well … it’s safe to say you might take a couple games to adjust to your new way of life. But it’s a pretty safe bet that once he gets acclimated to his new situation, Chimera is going to relish playing for Boudreau. At the same time, the Caps will benefit from his sandpaper style of play.

If his production in the last three games is any indication (two goals and two assists), Chimera is already beginning to adjust to his new situation. And while secondary scoring is absolutely vital to any long-term success for the Capitals, the truth is, the team will be just as happy with everything else Chimera brings to the table.

Setting up teammates, hustling on every shift and not being afraid to drop the gloves when necessary are traits that are only going to enhance Chimera’s status both with his teammates and with Caps fans. Consider last night step one in the right direction.

(photo by John Amis)

This past weekend, we posted an amusing fact on our Twitter account:

The Washington Redskins scored seven points or less three times this season. The Washington Capitals have scored seven goals or more three times this season.

Instead of dwelling on the negative in that statement (i.e. – the state of our favorite football team), we’ll turn our attention to the only winner in town.

In wins over the Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators and Atlanta Thrashers, the Caps have once again looked like one of the NHL’s elite – outscoring their opponents 17-5 during this recent three-game winning streak.

While the team is averaging just a shade under six goals a game during this recent explosion, the Caps’ recent success should actually be attributed to the team’s improved play in net.

For the first two months of the season, Caps goalie Semyon Varlamov absolutely looked the part of a bona fide NHL starter, posting a 12-1-2 record with a 2.21 goals against average and a .924 save percentage. He was a legitimate rookie of the year candidate and looked like a steady veteran in net, as opposed to Jose Theodore, who continues to have an up and down season in net.

When Varlamov was sidelined in early December with a groin injury, Theodore became the go-to guy and goalie Michal Neuvirth was called up from the Hershey Bears. We’ll admit that we were unsure of the impact these moves would have on an otherwise-promising Capitals season. Sure, Neuvirth was rock solid as he backstopped the Bears to a Calder Cup win last season, but there’s always a learning curve when youngsters get their first real taste of NHL action.

As to be expected, Neuvirth was a little rough around the edges initially. In his first two starts, the 21-year-old went 0-2 with 4.50 goals against average and a .844 save percentage. Beyond the stats though, Neuvirth looked like a goaltender who was swimming in his own head. Instead of just letting the game come to him, Neuvirth looked like he was thinking and pressing too much.

Since then however, Neuvirth has looked every bit the part, posting a 5-2 record with a .928 save percentage. And, as funny as it sounds, as Neuvirth has gone, so too have the Capitals.

Anyone looking for a sign of faith that the Capitals believe in the young netminder need only glance at the recent box scores and notice that Neuvirth has been the starting goalie in seven of the team’s last nine games. While Theodore continues to sit and Varlamov tries to get healthy, the team has happily turned to Neuvirth.

Neuvirth’s most recent game might have been his best of his professional career. Saturday night, the Caps traveled to Atlanta to take on a struggling Thrashers squad. Many of Atlanta’s current issues revolve around superstar forward Ilya Kovalchuk and whether or not the Thrashers will be able to retain him, but he was flying around the ice throughout the first period of the game Saturday night.

And yet, even with one of the premiere snipers in the game crashing the net, Neuvirth didn’t flinch. Several times he stonewalled Kovalchuk from point-blank range and finished the first frame with 18 saves. Meanwhile, with Neuvirth carrying the team early on, the offense finally got going. Even though the Thrashers looked to be the better team for much of the opening period, they found themselves trailing 3-0 on the scoreboard.

Demoralized, the Thrashers mailed in the rest of the game, the Capitals cruised to an easy 8-1 beatdown over the divisional opponent and Neuvirth finished the game with 38 saves. But this effort shows, on a larger scale, just what this team is capable of.

Any team featuring two-time MVP Alex Ovechkin, as well as Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin and Mike Green, is going to score goals. With secondary scoring coming from guys Tomas Fleishmann, Brooks Laich, Brendan Morrison and Mike Knuble, the points are coming from enough different places that it’s impossible for opposing teams to just key in on one line.

But playoff hockey is very different than regular-season hockey. In the post season, open space is a rare commodity. Beautiful end-to-end breakouts happen less frequently as teams attempt to play a safer brand of hockey. Goals typically come from five feet or closer and a team is only as good as the goaltender carrying them on their playoff run.

When Varlamov went down due to injury, there was every reason to be concerned. Theodore can be great one game, and then fall apart the next. At this point in his career, he’s simply not a guy you can count on with much confidence to backstop a run at the Stanley Cup.

But the emergence of Neuvirth has enabled the Caps to keep their place among the league’s elite. More importantly though, it’s shown the team that come playoff time, if Varlamov isn’t ready to go, then Neuvirth might just have another championship run in him.

(photo by John McDonnell)

There have been times over the last couple seasons where the Washington Capitals have been accused of playing down to the level of their opponent.

In related news, the Ottawa Senators came to town without two of their best players — forwards Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza were both sidelined due to injuries — and a pedestrian 6-10-1 record on the road this season.

Thankfully, the Caps got off to a hot start by scoring two first-period goals and cruised to an easy 5-2 win over the Sens. Grinders Boyd Gordon and Mike Knuble each tallied in the opening frame to seemingly rattle goalie Pascal Leclaire. Gordon’s line in particular, with Dave Steckel and Matt Bradley, really looked good early on and gave the once-slumping Capitals the early lift they needed.

“We don’t score that much, the fourth line,” said Gordon, who scored his first goal in 36 regular-season games. “But when we do, I think our chances of winning really increase because we’re not expected to. So when we do it’s a big bonus.”

Knuble has also had an up-and-down season. He came into the game with just one goal and two assists in his last eight games, but he cashed in late in the first period after a give-and-go with forward Nicklas Backstrom.

The Caps went into the first intermission with a 2-0 lead, but began to show signs of letting up against an inferior opponent. When Senators defenseman Chris Phillips scored to cut the lead to 2-1, the mood began to change at the Verizon Center. That is, until Backstrom took over.

“He showed a lot of leadership because I thought we were floundering a little bit in the second period when it was 2-1,” said coach Bruce Boudreau of the 22-year-old center. “Then he comes out in the third period and gets two goals. He was just determined. That’s what’s making him one of the best.”

Backstrom’s first goal of the night came just 26 seconds into the final frame and was from a seemingly impossible angle. Backstrom received a pass from forward Alex Ovechkin and, with the Swede almost parallel to the goal, he snuck the puck past Leclaire.

“I saw the goalie was cheating a little bit,” he said. “He left the post, so I thought maybe I should try.”

Any momentum Ottawa had was now gone, and Backstrom’s best work was yet to come.

With less than 10 minutes remaining in the game, he struck again. This time, Backstrom entered the zone and saw a wall of defenders. Over his shoulder he could hear Ovechkin hollering for the puck, and apparently so too could Leclaire. Because when Backstrom dug in and crashed towards the net, it caught the Senators goalie off-guard and Backstrom finished the play with a beautiful wrap-around goal to put the game officially out of reach.

In the post-game locker room Backstrom attempted to downplay it, calling it a “lucky goal.” But that wasn’t the case. The Caps needed someone to make a play and in both instances Backstrom showed an aggressive streak that people may not know he has.

On both plays Leclaire and the Ottawa defense looked like they got caught anticipating a pass from Backstrom to Ovechkin. In the past that wasn’t necessarily a bad move, but this year Backstrom is playing a more well-rounded game.

If they were paying closer attention to his recent goal-scoring surge, the Senators would know that Backstrom is now second on the team in goals with 17. And with 49 points in 43 games, Backstrom now stands eighth in the league in scoring. He’s more than just a setup man. He’s also a legitimate goal scorer, who has five multi-goal games this season while converting on better than 15 percent of his shots.

Just as important though, was the fact that the top-line center refused to let this team’s bad habits creep back into their game. When a lesser opponent began to seize momentum, he did what was needed to ensure the Capitals sent the hometown crowd home happy.

“There’s no easy games in the NHL and everyone knows that,” he said. “We have to be at the top of our game if we want to win – especially now, before we go out on the road. This was a huge two points.”