Steve Oleksy has had a lot of firsts this past week. He played in his first NHL game, he scored his first NHL point, and he scored his first NHL goal. Let’s add first NHL fight to that list. It’s like a Gordie Howe hat trick in slow motion.

In the third period, with the Capitals down 3-0, Oleksy tried to spark his team, dropping mitts with Carolina Hurricanes’ center Drayson Bowman. Oleksy, who fought elevent times as a member of the Hershey Bears this season, manhandled Bowman. He landed the first punch, a haymaker that dropped Bowman to the ice, and then landed four more rights before respectfully pulling back.

Oleksy was named CSN’s player of the game. He had four hits and four blocked shots. He’s definitely making the most of his opportunity in the bigs.

GIF via @brouwmance

The Puck Buddys have the night off to pamper their new greyhound puppy. So instead, here’s me!

The Washington Capitals are running out of time to earn a playoff berth. Berth is a weird word. It just means anchor, but it sounds a lot more… obstetrical. Like once you clench a berth, you are supposed to take a hot shower and replace electrolytes.

Stuff is looking dire for the Caps, but here’s a spot of good news: they get to play the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday! With a 22-26-11 record, the ‘Canes are the worst team in the eastern conference and the closest thing our team will have to a sure thing from here until April.

• The Canes have earned 11 pity points for overtime losses this season. They will have to share their participation trophy with the Kings and the Panthers, also at 11.
• They won’t be in Raleigh, but those Florida Panthers will be the team to look out for during this game. Thanks to Boose Boudreau and his Ducks giving Florida a 2-0 beatdown on Sunday, the Caps can claim first in the division with a win on Monday. The Panthers won’t play again til Thursday.
• The Canes lead the league in an obscure statistic that only we track: number of players with names that could be minor characters in the Star Wars Extended Universe. Jussi Jokinen (diplomat from Dantooine, 8G 23A) + Tuomo Ruutu (Mandalorian vibroblade expert, 17G 13A) + Drayson Bowman (spice smuggler with heart of gold, garbage stats).
• At their last meeting, the Capitals were shut out 3-0 due to the hot hand of Mister Cam Ward.
• Also on a hot streak is Nick Backstrom, who secured a 48-save shutout and dammit I just realized that’s the other Backstrom.

But the Hurricanes really are awful:

Our Caps reaaaally need this win. It’s like the rest of the league is deliberately tanking it to give our guys a chance, and you know the schedule only gets harder from here on out. We’ve got one more date with the Canes (March 6), but pretty much every other game is against scary good teams.

Puck drops at 7:30 on NBC Sports.

Crash the net.