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With just five games left in the 2013 season, the Washington Capitals are hitting their stride at the perfect time. Don’t believe me? Just ask the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were blown out in a hurry during a thorough 5-1 beatdown at the Verizon Center Tuesday night.

With that in mind, here are 10 random thoughts after the Capitals picked up their eighth-consecutive victory:

• At the start of the game, this affair had a ‘ho hum’ kind of vibe. Washington and Toronto haven’t ever really had an intense rivalry or a nasty feud, so the first half of the opening period felt like it took a while to get things going. Even after defenseman/baby daddy Jack Hillen lit the lamp for his third goal of the season, the atmosphere in the arena was still subdued. And then someone took a cheapshot on Nicklas Backstrom …
• Everything changed once and for all when Toronto center Jay McClement nailed Backstrom from behind — a hit that made everyone in attendance gasp as the top-line center went flying face-first into the boards. The referees, naturally, missed the dirty play. Alex Ovechkin, however, did not. The Great 8 immediately came to the defense of his teammate and tried to take McClement’s head off. While Toronto might have temporarily benefited from the sequence, because they went on the powerplay, that cheapshot clearly woke up the Capitals. For the rest of the game, every player representing the hometeam was clearly invested in the game and playing with a purpose.Read more →

The Washington Capitals defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 Thursday night, but that shouldn’t surprise anyone who has been paying attention to hockey over the last couple of weeks.

While it can often be difficult to pinpoint the exact moment when a season turns for the better or worse, one seemingly innocent transaction has obviously changed everything for these two franchises.

Since March 25, when it was announced that forward Alexander Semin had signed a 5-year, $25 million extension with Carolina, the Hurricanes have gone 1-9 while being outscored 43 to 18.

Conversely, the Capitals have gone 7-1-1 since March 25 (including their current six-game winning streak), and they’re now the hottest team in hockey.

Coincidence? I think not.

Before Semin’s long-term deal was announced, Carolina was still in the hunt for the Southeast Division title with a 15-13-2 record, while the Capitals were mired in mediocrity at 15-16-1.

But since the day the Hurricanes front office had a change of heart and decided Semin was a player worth building around, they’ve suffered a catastrophic collapse while the Caps — obviously thrilled to be done with Good Sasha/Bad Sasha once and for all — are playing their best hockey of the season.

Still not convinced?

Look no further than the final moments of Thursday night’s win at the Verizon Center, when forward Troy Brouwer (who you might remember had a thing or two to say about Semin back when the enigmatic forward and the Capitals cut ties) gained control of the puck with 10 seconds left in a tightly-contested game.

The only defender in sight was Semin, who was a step or two behind. Brouwer hauled in the puck at center ice and skated towards Carolina’s open net while Semin began hacked and cross checking Brouwer repeatedly.

But because Semin was content to try and take a stick penalty rather than actually try and make a play on the puck, Brouwer continued en route to the open net and easily scored his second goal of the evening.

Of course, anyone who paid attention during Semin’s seven seasons in Washington knew how that would play out. Meanwhile, Hurricanes fans, I’m sure, were crossing their fingers and hoping one of their most talented players would come through when the game was on the line. And that’s when Semin is most effective — when you let your guard down and believe he can be a difference maker.

Truth is, he can be. Just not in the way you’re hoping for, Carolina fans.

Seriously, have I told you how much I’m enjoying the second half of the 2013 NHL season?

Because of the Washington Capitals’ pitiful 2-8-1 start and the fact that they play in the Southeast Division, easily the worst division in all of professional sports, everyone rushed to write them off.

Well, a funny thing has happened since then — the Capitals actually learned how to play in first-time coach Adam Oates’ system and they once again resemble a competent hockey franchise on and off the ice.

And yet, even though the Caps have gone 19-9-1 since then, people have still convinced themselves this team isn’t worth taking seriously. They see Washington’s 12-3-0 record against the Southeast Division and 9-14-2 record against the rest of the conference, and chalk it up to a mediocre team simply padding its stats against a bunch of terrible teams.

And that’s fine.

Regardless of whether anyone outside of the D.C. metro area has noticed or not, the Caps are playing their best hockey of the season when it matters most — riding a five-game winning streak down the stretch. Not only that, but they’ve gone 9-1-1 in their last 11 games and 7-0-1 in their last eight road games.

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(photo by Brian Murphy)

Don’t look now, but the Washington Capitals are officially the NHL’s hottest team.

A team that was all but dead and buried earlier this season has officially gotten it’s act together and is now playing some inspired hockey thanks, largely, to two key individuals — coach Adam Oates and captain Alex Ovechkin.

Since their pitiful 2-8-1 start, the Capitals have gone 18-9-1. Best of all, Washington seems to be peaking at the perfect time — riding a four-game winning streak while going 8-1-1 in their last 10 games — just in time for the postseason.

None of this looked remotely possible during the team’s horrid early-season slump, so what’s changed? First and foremost, the players seem to have embraced Oates’ preferred style of play, which is more defensively responsible than Bruce Boudreau’s gameplan and better suited for this roster than Dale Hunter’s vanilla approach.

Before the season started, I thought this would be a down year for the Capitals because they were breaking in a first-time coach without the benefit of a standard NHL offseason thanks to the lockout. I figured the team would take most (if not all) of the season to learn the ins and outs of Oates’ system and then (hopefully) Washington would be in much better shape next season.

Fortunately for everyone involved though, these players have picked things up much quicker than anyone could have reasonably hoped for and Oates’ system isn’t actually Oates’ system anymore.

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(photo by Nick Wass)

A crazy thing happened this week, when it was announced that the Washington Capitals had made a last-minute trade with the Nashville Predators — Caps fans, almost universally, were irate.

Once the news broke that Capitals general manager George McPhee had traded away top-prospect Filip Forsberg for veteran forward Martin Erat and minor leaguer Michael Latta, the majority of D.C.’s hockey-loving fanbase seemed completely distraught over the move.

But why was everyone in town so cranky about the move? After all, Erat has been one of Nashville’s most consistent and productive players for more than a decade. By all accounts he’s a hard working, blue collar kind of player who can help a team in myriad ways.

As a quick refresher, Erat was tied for first in points (21) and led the Predators in assists (17) at the time of the trade. More importantly though, the 11-year pro ranks second in Nashville franchise history in career points (481), goals (163), assists (318), games played (723), game-winning goals (26) and third in powerplay goals (42).

It’s also worth noting he recorded a career-high 58 points (19 goals, 39 assists) last season for Nashville and has eclipsed the 50-point plateau in five of the last six seasons. The three-time 20-goal scorer has represented the Czech Republic in the World Championships (three times), World Junior Championships (twice) and the Winter Olympic Games in 2006 and 2010.

Erat is a top six forward who logs heavy minutes in all three phases of the game (powerplay, penalty kill and even strength). He was well respected by management, his fellow players and Predator fans in Nashville (he was made an assistant captain this season). And let’s not forget, the 31-year-old was a seventh-round draft pick who put in the blood, sweat and tears to establish himself as one of the best players to ever for the Preds.

On paper, this guy plays hockey the right way and does everything that’s ever asked of him without issue.

It’s not a stretch to say Erat would be a much bigger deal if he played in a larger market or had a more recognizable last name, so maybe that’s one of the primary reasons for the negative reaction — Caps fans just don’t see much of Nashville, so Erat is a bit of an unknown even though he’s been in the NHL since 1999.

While that may play a part in the backlash though, there’s more to this story. For my money, the public outrage has much more to do with who is leaving the organization as opposed to the new guy in town.

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(photo by Brian Murphy)

I think we can all agree on one thing — Washington Capitals general manager George McPhee made a bold move. I’m just not sure how many people believe it was a good move.

Nearly two hours after the NHL trade deadline had passed, the Capitals finally announced they had acquired winger Martin Erat and minor leaguer Michael Latta from the Nashville Predators in exchange for highly-touted forward Filip Forsberg, the team’s first-round pick (11th overall) in 2012.

Look, this post has very little to do with Erat, who by all accounts is a productive top six forward that has put together a respectable 12-year career. For all any of us know, coach Adam Oates could have been flipping tables and breaking shit demanding the front office land the Trebic, Czechoslovakia native because the Hall of Famer firmly believes he’s the missing piece in Washington. I’ll get to him another day.

Of more concern for me personally at the moment, is what McPhee was willing to give away in this deal and what it means for the franchise moving forward.

Because the Capitals have been in “win-now” mode for a while, there really isn’t much in the way of prospects in the pipeline.

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(photo by Gregg Forwerck)

Hate to break it to you, but there’s zero chance the Washington Capitals are going to do anything to break apart this team now — not after a come-from-behind 5-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes Tuesday night.

Forget the fact that Carolina is in a free fall — with just one win in their last 10 games. Instead, focus on the fact that the Capitals have picked up victories in six of their last 10 outings and are just three points out of the playoffs heading into trade deadline day.

So if you’re in the group of Caps fans who strongly believe it’s in the franchise’s best interest to trade away second-line center Mike Ribeiro … well … you might want to go dark for the next day or two. Turn off the television. Put away the electronic devices. Go old school and read a book or something.

Because general manager George McPhee is always inclined to believe his squad is only a player away from competing for the Stanley Cup. Now that Washington has pulled back to .500 for the first time this entire season, it’s a safe bet he’s going to continue to talk himself into adding a player or two before he opts to ship assets away.

And seriously, if ever there was a night this season McPhee might feel like having a frosty and refreshing beverage or two it’s going to be tonight — especially after the artists formerly known as the Young Guns (Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green) enjoyed “Turn Back The Clock Night” in Carolina.

Ovechkin tallied two goals and an assist. Green, still working the rust off after recovering from his latest injury, scored twice. And Backstrom matched a career high with four assists as the Capitals rallied after trailing early, 2-0.

The last time those three players had such a monster performance during the same game, Bruce Boudreau was still dropping F-bombs from behind the Caps’ bench. Two coaches later, it really does seem like the players have begun to embrace the Adam Oates era.

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