The latest three game stretch for the Capitals has to leave fans smiling. After finally beating Dwayne Roloson and the Southeast division leading Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, the Caps put together a solid overall performance against rival Pittsburgh. Yes, they were blanked by San Jose a few nights later, but the Sharks have been on an absolute tear as of late, going 9-0-1 in their past ten games. Wins against their Eastern Conference foes closed the gap in the Southeast divisional race, with the Caps now sitting only three points back.

After being shut out twice already this season by Roloson, Washington had a vintage offensive night, winning 5-2. Both Alex Ovechkin and Nick Backstrom came through with four point nights as the team lit the lamp five times, only the second time they’ve done that in the past 29 games. Last season Washington scored five or more goals in 26 games. Semyon Varlamov rebounded from an early goal to stop 23 out of the 25 shots the Lightning threw at him and along with the aid of defensemen John Carlson and Karl Alzner, shut down league leading scorer Steven Stamkos as well as his line mate Martin St. Louis (second in the league in assists).

Then there was the big game before the really big game on Sunday. The Pittsburgh Penguins, despite being without stars Sidney Crosby (concussion) and Evgeni Malkin (torn ACL and MCL), have been playing well in their absences, winning seven of their past ten games. The Caps however, put together a dominant team performance in one of the finest games they’ve played all season in taking down Pittsburgh 3-0. The goalie see-saw continues, as Michael Neuvirth was given the start and did not disappoint, shutting out the Pens, the first time a Caps goalie has shutout Pittsburgh in the regular season in two decades. Brooks Laich, Marcus Johansson and Mike Knuble added goals for Washington as they won a hard hitting game. Caps fans were in for a scary moment when near the end of the second period, defenseman Mike Green took a Brooks Orpik slap shot to the side of the head, dropping the All-Star to the ice as blood poured from the laceration. Green sat out Tuesday’s game against San Jose, but isn’t expected to miss anymore time beyond that.

While Green was unavailable for Washington as they hosted the Sharks, the team did welcome back Alex Semin, who had missed the previous 12 games with a lower body injury. His impact was immediately felt when in the opening period his shot on Sharks goalie Antii Niemi squirted through the goalie’s pads and sat directly behind the net minder. Fortunately for Niemi, the linesman bailed him out with a premature whistle that cancelled a sure Caps goal. Washington was never able to find the back of the net, going down 2-0 to the white hot Sharks who, after a lackadaisical first half of the season have positioned themselves as the fourth seed in the Western conference. Neuvirth remained strong in goal, turning away 34 of the 36 shots he saw on the night.

Washington now must prepare for a road stretch that sends them out west. The Western conference has not been kind to the guys in red this season, as they have gone 3-5-1 against teams in the opposing conference. The Caps don’t return to the Verizon Center until Feb. 25, when they will take on the New York Rangers.

Act a fool!

The NHL has been throwing some bows lately. Between the Dipietro-Johnson fight earlier in the week(who'd have thought DP would get hurt, at least his contract is up in like, ten years) and then the battle in Boston last night. Love it when guys scrap, love that the NHL still lets them do it. You have to be impressed that in a day and age where all the other major sports leagues do so much to protect their overpaid, cream puff players that the boys on ice are still allowed to throw down. One thing the NHL does right is let these guys do their thing on the ice w/out policing them. What, you just beat the crap out of someone? Go sit in the penalty box for five, come back out and play as if nothing happened. I cannot stress how much I love it.

God bless hockey.

Groundhog Day

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: the Capitals played strong defense only to be on the losing end of another overtime game. It’s become frustrating to watch the team consistently struggle to fill the net, squandering their defensive efforts. And let’s not even get into the overtime dilemma.

Despite going up 2-0 early on the Montreal Canadiens, the Caps managed to lose Tuesday night in a shootout. Who leads the league in overtime losses, you might ask. Why, the answer would be Washington, who made it ten on the season after their dispirited play Tuesday.

After getting off to a hot start(which hasn’t happened often this season) the team seemed to coast through the next two periods. Mathieu Perreault scored on his first shot of the game, followed closely by a Mike Knuble power play goal to put the Caps up 2-0 in the first. Nice to see the 20^th ranked power play show up every once in awhile. Then, instead of going for the kill shot, the Caps backed off, allowing Brian Gionta to score twice in the second period. Gionta also scored the game winner in the shootout.

The bright spots for the team can be found on the defensive end. Even in a loss, Semyon Varlamov was a rock in net, stopping 36 of the 38 shots he faced. Varlamov’s play certainly has to put him in the running for the Vezina trophy awarded to the league’s top goaltender. I just wish coach Bruce Boudreau would stop the goaltending carousel. Not to take anything away from rookie Michael Neuvirth, but consistent goaltending is the one thing the team has going for it and the Caps should ride Varlamov’s coattails as long as possible.

The penalty kill is another area where the Capitals have been strong. Killing off all six penalties Tuesday night, the Caps now have the second best pk in the league.

The team heads into a rough patch of the schedule now, facing Southeast leading Tampa Bay on Friday before squaring off with the rival Penguins Sunday for NBC’s game of the week. It doesn’t get any easier after that, when the team plays five games in a row against some of the toughest competition from the Western Conference. Needless to say, the boys in red need to have a strong February if they want to back the division lead.