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(photo by Luis M. Alvarez)

The Washington Capitals came into Tuesday night’s game with seemingly everything right in the world (some would say they even had God on their side).
The Caps’ 26-11-3 record was the best in franchise history through 40 games. Their 17-1-1 record at the Verizon Center was the second best in the NHL (behind San Jose’s 19-0-2 mark at home). They were also tied with the Sharks for the NHL’s best winning percentage when scoring the first goal of the game (.826). The Caps were second place in the Eastern Conference, had the fourth most points in the entire NHL, and a 10-point cushion over Carolina in the Southeast Division. Like we said, there were countless reasons to rejoice.

But none of that mattered Tuesday night. Not with the Philadelphia Flyers in town.

Sure, the Caps had won nine out of their last 10 games, but that one loss was a 7-1 drubbing in Philadelphia, Dec. 20. Even coach Bruce Boudreau admitted the teams don’t like each other, while also openly acknowledged the fact that the Flyers kept their top players in the lineup well after the 7-1 game was all but over didn’t sit well with his team.

And, oh by the way, this is the same Flyers squad who eliminated the Caps from the postseason in a game seven overtime thriller the last time they visited the Verizon Center. If this was an old-school wrestling match, the announcers would be talking about how much “personal animosity” these two teams had towards each other heading into this “slobberknocker.”

“We have to be ready,” said Mike Richards, of the Flyers, leading up to rematch. “We kind of took it to them last time, and we have to understand they’re going to be gunning for us.”

So what happened once the puck dropped and these two worthy adversaries collided?

Well, the Caps drew first blood just 19 seconds into their first powerplay and just 2:10 into the contest on a Nicklas Backstrom tally. The Swedish center was standing on the doorstep and slammed the puck past Flyers goalie Martin Biron.

The Flyers came into the game with a league-best 13 shorthanded goals. Call us crazy, but we’re of the mindset that one surefire way to keep them from adding to that total is to score 19 seconds into every powerplay you have.

One thing we’ve noticed this season is that the Capitals get into trouble when their top skill players get too cutesy. If guys like Backstrom stop trying to make the perfect pass and instead crash the net with regularity, then there’s not many teams that can stop this high-powered attack.

Oh, and the last time these two teams faced off, Flyers goalie Antero Niittymaki made 25 first-period saves without allowing a goal. This time around? Biron gave up a goal on just the fourth shot of the night. Biron sir, you are no Niittymaki.

At this point, we leaned over to a fellow media member in the press box and wondered allowed how the Capitals would look after their initial surge. It was fairly easy to predict a fast start for the good guys, what with Boudreau poking his players with a stick leading up to the game and all. But how would they look once the game settled into a groove? No team can keep that level of intensity for an entire game, so what effort would the team have during the second and third periods?

The answer was … well … unanswered. Clearly the players were still giving their best effort, but the second and third periods featured uneven and sometimes sloppy play. One shift the team looked great. The next, the Flyers players seemed to be moving with a higher sense of urgency. After several near misses, the Flyers finally tied the game at 1-1 when defenseman Braydon Coburn scored a powerplay goal 23 seconds into the third period.

In perhaps the only suitable ending for such a highly-touted regular-season matchup, three regulation periods weren’t enough to decide things. Neither was an overtime period, for that matter, which meant a shootout would decide things.

As recent history has shown, the Caps aren’t very good at shootouts. In fact, one might go as far as to say only two players on the current roster are reliable in the one-on-one format – forward Victor Kozlov (who is great in shootouts and not so good in the playoffs) and goalie Jose Theodore (who was 10-3 in shootouts for his career).

As luck would have it, those two were enough to get the job done. Theodore turned away all three Flyers players and Kozlov scored the lone shootout goal to give the Caps their 18th win in 20 games. While winning the 41st game of the season doesn’t guarantee anything, it does go a long way to give this team confidence that they can win in a variety of ways. They’ve shown they can matchs goals with the best of them, but winning these low-scoring affairs is also vital – especially come playoff time when defenses tighten up and scoring is at a premium.

Perhaps most of all, the Capitals beat the Flyers. Was it as satisfying as a 7-1 drubbing or ending a rival team’s postseason hopes? No. But it’s a start. And what logical Caps fan couldn’t be satisfied with that.

The Capitals, like most teams, have a 24-hour rule. They’ll enjoy the win for the rest of the night, but the next day, its back to business as usual. When the puck drops Friday night and the Columbus Blue Jackets are in town, the last thing on their minds will be the Philadelphia Flyers or some media-driven rivalry between goons. We suggest fans do the same. If the rest of this season is any indication, there will plenty more to cheer about between now and the end of the regular season.

(courtesy photo)

Just before the puck dropped and the Washington Capitals took on the Philadelphia Flyers, we found ourselves walking alongside Capitals general manager George McPhee as we headed towards our seat in a very crowded press box. Unable to pass up the opportunity, we asked GMGM a fairly simple question – do you have a good feeling about tonight’s game?

“I very seldom have anything other than butterflies,” was his reply.

What McPhee failed to mention at the time was that the Caps had a secret weapon in their corner.

As everyone knows by now, the Caps exacted a little revenge on the Flyers with a 2-1 shootout victory at the Verizon Center last night.

The Flyers came in to the game knowing that they can beat the Caps. They did it in the postseason last year and they did it again via beatdown last month. The Caps? Well, they might very well be one of the league’s elite, but there are still a few teams that seem to have their number. And clearly this Philadelphia squad has been one of them.

As fans headed out of the Phone Booth, many credited stellar goaltending by Jose Theodore as the reason the Capitals came out victorious. While it is true Theodore is playing the best he has since arriving in D.C., it appears the Caps also enlisted the help of a higher power Tuesday night.

While we were waiting near the Caps locker room to conduct an interview with defenseman Karl Alzner after the game, we witnessed something we can confidently say we’ve never seen before.

In addition to the various players and equipment managers shuffling up and down the hallway, there was George McPhee, who was followed by roughly 30 priests from the Institute of the Incarnate Word in Chillum, Maryland.

It turns out Raul Fernandez, a part owner of the Washington Capitals, invited these fine men to attend the game and get a little VIP tour of the facilities, which set the scene for the most bizarre and improbable moment in our young blogging career.

Imagine 30 priests huddled in the Capitals locker room, easily filling the room to near maximum capacity. Then, imagine Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin coming out of the showers wearing nothing more than a towel. He heads to what would typically be an empty locker room only to discover the room has been temporarily taken over by holy men. What’s more, one of the priests is actually posing for a photo in front of Ovechkin’s locker … and wearing his helmet. Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up.

Right about then Alzner comes out as 30 priests shuffle out of the locker room and on their merry way.

Um … Karl, have you ever seen anything like that in a hockey locker room before?

“Never in my entire life, no,” he said pretty much in awe. “I think they might be a little upset if they heard some of the language that goes on in a locker room, but yeah, that was kind of interesting. I didn’t know anything like that was happening.”

So be honest, you guys are trying to win over The Big Guy for a run at the Stanley Cup, aren’t you?

“You know what, that’s not a bad idea,” he said, still laughing at what he just witnessed. “If that’s what they’re doing, then that’s pretty cool. That’s pretty cool for some of them to come see the game and visit the locker room like that. We’ll take any help we can get. That’s cool with me.”

If what we suspect is true and a higher power is indeed at play here, then we feel confident in telling fans everywhere to mortgage it all and bet the farm on the Capitals to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. We couldn’t just sit on this secret, for some reason we felt inclined to “spread the good word” and share this insider information. So unless you’re an atheist, or worse – a Devils fan – we highly suggest you take advantage of the situation while you still can. Just be sure to give back your tithes and offerings, or at least tip your bartender, when you win big.

Washington Capitals wing Alexander Semin is not happy. Don’t believe me? Watch him show Marc Staal of the New York Rangers just how unhappy he is. Trust me, it’s highly enjoyable. The guy has one of the best shots in the entire NHL, but he doesn’t bring much to the table when it’s time to throw down. Donald Brashear, please stay healthy. Your presence in the lineup is sorely missed.

In related news, the Caps won over the Rangers 2-1 and are now 26-11-3 for the season, which gives them the best record at the 40-game mark in franchise history.

(photo by Luis M. Alvarez)

As previously mentioned, all eyes were on rookie goalie Simeon Varlamov heading into the Washington Capitals-St. Louis Blues matchup Thursday night.

Add in the NHL’s most exciting player, Alex Ovechkin, and the league’s most enigmatic player, Alexander Semin, and it’s clear that the Caps are a team that Mother Russia could love.

While everyone in the Verizon Center focused on those three highly-touted players, Capitals right wing Viktor Kozlov did his best to remind folks he’s got some game too.

“He’s the unsung Russian,” Coach Bruce Boudreau said. “He just goes out and does his business. When he’s on top of his game, you don’t see him hitting a lot, but he’s strong as an ox. He gets things done.”

[Editor’s note: We don’t want to hurt anything patting ourselves on the back, but the “unsung Russian” quote from Boudreau came in response to our only question in the post-game press conference. So the Associated Press, the Washington Post, Comcast SportsNet and everyone else can feel free to thank us later.]

Kozlov opened the scoring, netting a goal that could only be classified as a savvy-veteran move when he used the defenseman as a screen and fired the puck past an unsuspecting goalie with less than four minutes to play in the first period. It should be noted that the Capitals came into the contest with a league best 15-3 record when scoring the first goal, so getting up early on the Western Conference’s worst team was vital.

“If you look at the stats across the NHL, the team that scores first ends up winning,” said defenseman Tom Poti. “It takes the other team out of their game and forces them to change some things. We’ve been fortunate to get the first goal in the last few games we’ve played.”

Blues right wing David Backes tied the game at 1-1 just over nine minutes into the second period on a well-timed deflection. The Blues goal, coupled with a lackluster Washington powerplay, took the wind out of the Caps’ proverbial sails for a bit. Thankfully, Viktor was there to once again save the day.

Kozlov’s second goal of the night was a “Johnny-on-the-spot” play. Boyd Gordon drove the net, but couldn’t get anything on the shot because of a defender draped on his back. St. Louis Blues goalie Ben Bishop got a pad on the puck and it laid on the doorstep until Kozlov snuck in and slammed the puck home for his seventh goal of the season and his first two-goal game of the season.

“The second one was a pretty good play by Boyd Gordon,” Kozlov said. “He basically did everything and I just came in at the right time.”

Clearly this served as a wakeup call because the Caps scored again just 40 seconds later. Capitals right wing Eric Fehr did hockey’s version of a no-look pass to left wing Tomas Fleischmann who was lurking in the high slot. Fleischmann wasted no time firing the puck in the top right corner for a backbreaking goal and a 3-1 lead.

Just 13 seconds into the third period Ovechkin scored a powerplay goal that sent the Phone Booth into hysteria, but once again Kozlov was the man getting it done. Just as it the Blues were about to clear the puck out of the zone, Kozlov appeared from nowhere to keep it in the offensive zone and quickly found Ovie.

The assist gave Kozlov his second three-point night of the season, his first since Nov. 26 against Atlanta and all but assured the Caps kept Varlamov (who finished the game with 29 saves) undefeated.

“St. Louis didn’t give up and it was a hard time until the end,” Kozlov said. “It’s a good thing Simeon Varlamov played good, saved us a few times and we got the two points.”

There was a scary moment with 11 minutes remaining when Backes took a swipe at Semin and then followed it up with a cheapshot crosscheck to Semin’s lower back that floored the talented Russian. If folks want to know why this town loves Ovechkin, then look no further than what happened next. Ovechkin immediately flew straight to Backes ready to throw down to defend his fallen teammate.

“Every time I see him he’s either hitting somebody or he’s getting a chance to score,” Boudreau said of Ovechkin. “Tonight he’s protecting his teammates. What else can you ask the guy to do?”

One final note from last night’s game: He might not show up in the stat sheet every night, but every team in the league should have a guy like Capitals forward Brooks Laich. Not only did he earn a start – pairing up with Semin and center Michael Nylander – but he showed why he’s way more important than any stat sheet would ever indicate while killing center Nicklas Backstrom’s hooking penalty in the first period. Even though Laich lost his stick, he still stuck with the play, caused the Blues player to make a turnover and ultimately ended up finding a way to clear the puck out of the zone. Did we mention he didn’t have a stick?

That kind of hard work and determination from the top guy on the roster on down is exactly why the Capitals are enjoying a five-game winning streak and are playing some of the best hockey in the NHL.

(photo by Luis M. Alvarez)

The story of the night for the Washington Capitals heading into the game against the St. Louis Blues Thursday was clearly the home debut of goalie Simeon Varlamov. The 20-year-old won his NHL debut by a score of 2-1 in Montreal last week, so this was D.C.’s first glimpse of the highly-touted rookie.

(For the record, the other story coming into this game was Alex Ovechkin bobblehead night because seriously, who doesn’t love bobbleheads? Okay, where were we?)

Speaking of netminders, Varlamov was matched up against Blues 22-year-old goalie Ben Bishop, who was playing in just his fifth game of the season. With both rookie goaltenders so early into the professional careers, both sported plain, white hockey masks – which is an NHL first since 1973 (in a stat we completely made up).

After seeing the young Russian first hand, we can say this – Varlamov is very quick and very athletic. When he makes a kick save, the first-rounder is talented enough to launch the puck perfectly to a teammate breaking out at the blueline. It’s something Caps fans haven’t seen in a long, long time and actually gives the home team and chance to turn a routine defensive play into a fast break the other direction.

The Capitals defeated the Blues 4-2 thanks in large part to steady play of Varlamov throughout the game. With his team’s powerplay embarrassing itself and many Caps players getting outhustled, there was about a 10-minute stretch during the second period when Varlamov was the only player in a Capitals uniform who didn’t look like he was going through the motions. Had Varlamov not played at such a consistently high level throughout the night, there’s little reason to think the Caps would have picked up their fifth-straight win and improved their home record to 13-1-1 for the year.

“He played well,” said veteran defenseman Tom Poti of Varlamov. “I thought he was really good at challenging the shooters and coming out of the crease. He played sharp tonight and had a great game.”

Doesn’t he seem to have a lot of confidence for such a young kid?

“Yeah, definitely,” Poti said. “He knows his job is to stop the puck and that’s it, and he’s been doing that. My hat’s off to him. He played very good tonight.”

The highlight of the night came with less than six minutes remaining, when Varlamov absolutely stoned Blues left wing Keith Tkachuk, who was on the breakaway.

“I knew (Tkachuk) was going to deke,” Varlamov said through an interpreter. “He’s an older player and I knew when he made the first move I shouldn’t go down so fast.”

With the Blues having closed the score to 4-2 and last week’s near third-period collapse against the New York Islanders still fresh on the team’s mind, that play was huge.

“I thought he played really well,” said coach Bruce Boudreau. “The big one on Tkachuk’s breakaway – it was 4-2 at the time – took the wind out of their sails a little bit. He’s pretty good and I think he’s got a bright future in front of him.”

Through his first two professional games, Varlamov has stopped 61 of 64 shots for an impressive 1.50 goals against average and a .953 save percentage. If there’s something that can rattle him, opposing teams haven’t found it yet.

Goalie Brent Johnson has been stellar this year, but is eligible for free agency after the season and the Caps other goalie, Jose Theodore, hasn’t exactly recaptured lightning in a bottle since he came to town this past offseason. If these first two games are any indication of the type of NHL player Varlamov is going to be, then the team just might have found their long-term solution for the biggest question mark on the roster. Trust us when we say that by all accounts, Varlamov is the real deal.

(photo by Lawrence Jackson)

A funny thing happened this past offseason when the Washington Capitals were left at the alter by Cristobal Huet – the team accidentally found it’s number-one goalie.

Instead of re-signing with the Caps after coming over at the trading deadline last season, Huet leveraged the team’s offer into a bigger payday with the Chicago Blackhawks (a four-year deal worth $5.625 million annually).

That’s when general manager George McPhee quickly moved to ‘Plan B,’ which turned out to be signing free agent goalie Jose Theodore to a two-year, $9 million contract. Everyone assumed he would take over as the number-one goaltender while Brent Johnson, earning just $825,000, would fill in as needed. There’s just one problem – Johnson has clearly outplayed Theodore this season.

For the season, Johnson has a 2.37 goals against average, a .918 save percentage and a 8-4-2 record. Theodore has a 3.08 goals against average, .888 save percentage and is 8-6-1 on the year. Both players have been asked to do more while the team has dealt with an extraordinary amount of injuries, but Johnson has clearly done better shouldering the additional responsibilities.

In his last three games, all wins by the Caps, Johnson has an unheard of .952 save percentage. He’s only given up four goals on 83 shots during that span. Meanwhile, Theodore has lost his last two starts.

Last night was a perfect example of why Johnson should be the clear-cut starter. The Boston Bruins, the best team in the East Conference and winners of 17 of their last 20 games, were in town riding a five-game winning streak. No one has been able to slow them down all season and yet, Johnson sent them home shaking their heads and wondering what had just happened after turning in his best effort of the season.

In the first period, Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron flew in on a breakaway down the left wing. He fired a shot which Johnson turned away, only the rebound ended up on the stick of Chuck Kobasew, who thought he had an easy goal. Kobasew, who had crashed in from the right wing, quickly shot the puck towards a wide-open net, only to be stonewalled by Johnson.

And that wasn’t even the save of the night for Johnny. His second-period effort on Bruins rookie Blake Wheeler, who was standing on the doorstep and looked to have a “gimme,” is easily one of the best saves in the entire NHL this season. While Wheeler was planning his post-goal celebration after faking past Johnson for the easy score, Johnson lunged backwards and somehow dropped his stick on the ice just in time to keep the puck out of the net.

“(Wheeler) actually made a really, really good move,” Johnson said to reporters after the game. “I thought he was definitely going to his backhand. I just threw everything and prayed that he didn’t get it up. I’m sure he wanted to get it up but I just got lucky there.”

What did Wheeler say about being on the wrong end of the NHL’s highlight of the night?

“Extraordinary,” Wheeler said. “He’s pulling some saves out of thin air.”

The truth is, Johnson should have earned a shutout Wednesday night. Nothing to take away anything from a very talented Bruins squad, but Milan Lucic’s goal with 35 seconds left in the second period was caused by a Tyler Sloan mistake – not because of anything Johnson did. His 33-save outing against a very lethal Boston offense is easily the most impressive performance by a Capitals goalie this season. Coach Bruce Boudreau may never come out and formally announce Johnson as the starter, but the number at the end of the season will show who the team turns to when they absolutely need a win.

And to think, we may never had gotten the chance to see just how talented Johnson is if Huet didn’t get greedy.