Photo credit: Patrick McDermott

The day after Christmas, Nicklas Backstrom was skating in a KHL game for Dynamo Moscow. Midway through the second period of a 1-1 game, Nick took a pass in the far corner. He attempted to spin around and take the puck behind the net. Instead, Backstrom was slammed into the boards by Milan Kytnár; his face hitting the dashers. Backstrom got up, clearly shaken. He left the game after one more shift.

Given Backstrom missed 40 games last year after being concussed by Rene Bourque, this was a scary blow. Dynamo, however, insisted that his brain didn’t take the beating. It was, they said, a bruised neck. Backstrom’s agent reiterated that. But then Alex Ovechkin said something funny when asked about his teammate’s injury: “Sometimes it’s not hard hit, you just feel a little dizzy.” Dizziness, of course, does not usually go along with bruises.

Backstrom ended up seeing a neurologist, Jeffrey Kutcher, who cleared him to play. Despite the early injury fears, Backstrom had a nice season, putting up eight goals and 40 assists in 48 games. He made his teammates better too — Ovechkin only became a Hart Trophy finalist once he was reunited with Backstrom. He also did some Geico commercials. All in all, it was another solid season for Nicky.

Backstrom did, however, get off to a slow start. I asked him if his injury in Russia had anything to do with that. He seemed to be taken somewhat off guard by the question, but then insisted that it didn’t harm his play.

“Yeah, I had that injury but it didn’t affect me anything to be honest with you,” he told me.

“I felt like I was doing alright over here,” Backstrom added. “I have no excuses — I will never have them.”

Caps General Manager George McPhee was questioned Wednesday about who was playing through injuries this season. He declined to give details.

“You really admire these players because they play through some things — all the players around the league do — and they don’t need a medal to do it,” the GM said. “They play through it and they don’t need any recognition or anything. They just do it.”

The next day, word of Ovechkin’s broken foot was leaked. You know, the thing Ovi called just a bruise.

Earlier in the year, Nicklas Backstrom filmed a bunch of spots for Geico and, as the season progressed, the commercials have been gradually released to the public. In January, Nicky taught us how to score 15 goals in 15 seconds. Then, a month later, he showed off a pretty graphic splinter. Now in April, we’re treated to a lockerroom interaction between Backstrom and the ghost of Lord Stanley.

I’m just going to go out on a limb here and say that that’s not tea in Lord Stanley’s cup.

Thanks to Puck Daddy for first posting.

Ovechkin, Komarov, and some body parts of Backstrom during their stint with Dynamo. (Photo credit: HC Dynamo)

On Wednesday, Dynamo Moscow beat Evgeny Kuznetsov‘s Traktor Chelyabisnk to win the Gagarin Cup for the second straight year. After the win, some Russian media outlets reported that Alex Ovechkin‘s name will be engraved on the Cup as he played in more than half of the regular season games with Dynamo. Ovi also said he’s going to get a championship ring.

Today those same outlets, Sovetsky Sport particularly, pulled a CNN and denied their own report (and unpublished the original stories), claiming that Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Leo Komarov doesn’t fit the definition of “loaned” players. A loaned player in the KHL is a player who was sent down to a minor professional league like the VHL. Since their contracts were voided when the three went back to the NHL, the number of games played is irrelevant. Technically, Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Komarov are no longer part of Dynamo.

Later, Sovetsky Sport contacted Dmitry Kurbatov, KHL’s director of sports events organization, to clear up the situation. Read this and let us know if this actually clears up anything.

There’s a requirement for the number of games played in sports regulations for a player to have his name engraved on the Gagarin Cup. But there’s another paragraph. A few people, at the club’s discretion, may get included in the champions list as well. Simply said, Dynamo has enough legal base to write Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Leo Komarov in that list.

So, you can write in whomever you want, including the players?

You can even write in both of us.

If Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Komarov will get written in, will they be officially considered Russian national champions? [Ed. Note - The KHL champion is also considered the Russian national champion as the KHL has rights to conduct national championships by the Russian Hockey Federation. For example, prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov has a silver medal for making the finals this year and bronze for playing in the conference finals last year].

They will be Gagarin Cup winners. I’m not ready to say anything about the Russian national championship as that is held under the unified plan of sports events approved by sports minister [Vitaly] Mutko. Same as whether they will be given sports titles for a win. [...] This is not our question at all.

So they may not receive a medal?

Usually, Russian Hockey Federation has a pack of medals – 40-45. Then they try not to interfere with the club’s internal policy.

Sports.ru’s blogger Dmitry Feschenko, however, questions the legal side of the KHL’s actions. He points out that the paragraph Kurbatov cited actually reads: “[Eligible for getting their names engraved on the cup are] five executives and six other representatives of the club”.

Feschenko writes:

Ovechkin is OK here – he has a position as the club president’s advisor, and as that his name can make the Cup and could last year, too, but not as the player Alex Ovechkin. The more interesting is in what way do Toronto Maple Leaf Leo Komarov and Washington Capital Nicklas Backstrom represent Dynamo? What are their positions? Or can we really engrave some stranger’s name on the Cup? If so, it’s sad and that way the Gagarin Cup will never become an important trophy.

Just like with the Stanley Cup, KHL players also get to spend a day with the Gagarin Cup. Ovechkin, probably will, as he spends his time in Moscow during the summer. But what about Backstrom?

There are still a lot of questions and few answers.

Dynamo forward Denis Kokarev celebrating the victory. (Photo credit: RIA Novosti/Alexey Filippov)

Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom‘s former KHL team, Dynamo Moscow, has beat Evgeny Kuznetsov’s Traktor Chelyabinsk 3-2 in overtime to secure a championship win in game 6 of the Gagarin Cup finals, taking the hardware home for the second straight year.

Despite a few good chances, Caps prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov, was held without a point. Kuznetsov had eleven points in 25 games during his team’s long playoff journey.

Back in Washington, Ovechkin and Backstrom shared their happiness via Twitter.

Chempioooni chempioooooni ole ole ole…….!!!!!Dynamo Moskva…………

— Alex Ovechkin (@ovi8) April 17th 2013

Congrats to dynamo Moscow! Great team,organization and guys! Well deserved.Molodci rebiata!!Dynamo chempion!

— Nicklas Backstrom (@backstrom19) April 17th 2013

According to KHL Sports Regulations, Article 70, paragraph 6, to get his name engraved on the Cup, a player must play in at least 50% of KHL games before a “Loan.” That means Alex Ovechkin (31 game played) will get his name on the Cup but Nicklas Backstrom (19 games) will not.

There’s no mention of a championship ring in the regulations, but one assumes awarding rings is up to the winning team. During the conference finals, KHL president Alexander Medvedev was asked whether Kovalchuk or Ovechkin could be eligible to get the ring. “Yes, 100 percent,” he said, according to R-Sport. “Every event, every point relates to the team’s final success. For their regular season scoring they deserve to be rewarded”.

3:50 Update: In a tweet, Ovechkin reveals he will indeed get a championship ring.

Im gonna get the champion ring )))haha

— Alex Ovechkin (@ovi8) April 17, 2013

Valery Nichushkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Michael Garnett after Game 5. (Photo credit: Sports.ru/Egor Filippov)

Photo credit: Patrick McDermott

Looking to extend their season-high seven game win streak, the Washington Capitals hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night. In a match-up of possible first-round opponents, the Caps came off a shaky ending to their last win and played a game that was anything but against a tired Leafs team.

Jack Hillen scored (when doesn’t he?), Nicky got boarded, the Caps got mad, Erat got his first in red, the Brouwitzer a nice backhand shot was unleashed, Ovi had a scoar, and MoJo hacked one in. Caps smack Leafs 5-1.

• In a nice gesture, the Caps held a pregame moment of silence for the victims of yesterday’s bombing in Boston. There were long lines outside the arena as increased security slowed entrance into Verizon Center.
• Jack Hillen, man! The Minnesotan scored his third goal since his second son Knox was born just 10 days ago. The dude tallied just two goals during the entire year last season with Nashville. It’s been a remarkable stretch for Hillen, one which is certain to continue indefinitely.
• Jay McClement did a bad thing. Late in the first, the Toronto center boarded (though it went uncalled) blonde beauty Nicklas Backstrom. Nicky’s face slammed into the top of the Leafs bench while Ovi hugged McClement super hard to show how mad he was. In the final minute of the frame, not always mild-mannered Jason Chimera dropped the gloves with Nicky’s aggressor. Given what happened with Rene Bourque, you can understand why Washington didn’t approve of McClement actions on Backstrom.
• Congrats to Martin Erat on his first goal with the Capitals. The Czech winger crashed the net and made a sublime deflection on an Ovi shot from the circles. Craig Laughlin even named him the player of the game. “Why not give him a steak from the Palm?” Laughlin asked viewers.
• Nice game for Troy Brouwer, who continues his superb season. In addition to his forehand, backhand, five-hole undressing of Ben Scrivens, Brouwer also ringed a cannon of a shot off the post. He now has 17 goals in 42 games. He had 18 tallies in 82 games last year.
• It wouldn’t be a Caps game without an Alex Ovechkin goal. The Great Eight rocketed a one-timer from the circles for his league-leading 15th power play goal and — wait for it — league-leading 28th overall. Two points and five shots on the night for the Russian Machine. #OviforHart
• Braden Holtby‘s shoutout was ruined by a third period goal by Mikhail Grabovski. Luckily, the Caps didn’t do their whole let’s be completely awful at the end of games shtick.
• In fact, they actually scored a goal in the third (!) when Marcus Johansson knocked in a Mike Green shot that bounced off the end boards and into the crease. Ian was thrilled!
• Karl Alzner had five shots on goal and Steve Oleksy had four. They do not normally have that many shots on goal.

Joe B. Suit of the Night

Eight in a row! Granted, the streak will end sometime, but this team is bound for the playoffs and peaking at the right time. How’s that for a change?

The Caps will take on another plausible first-round opponent when they head to Ottawa on Thursday. Peter will be back with you and I’ll be on United Flight 897 to Beijing.

Stay safe, everybody.

Photo credit: Greg Fiume

Photo credit: Bill Kostroun

Although he’s among the NHL leaders in assists, Nicklas Backstrom has had a pretty quiet season. For most of the year, he’s been placed on the team’s second line, away from Alex Ovechkin. On the power play, it’s Mike Ribeiro who’s been racking up most of the primary assists.

That changed on Sunday night during the Capitals’ 3-2 shootout victory over the Rangers. Nicky made a hell of a lot of noise. Backstrom scoared a first period goal off his noggin,’ yelled at fellow countryman Anton Stralman Carl Hagelin in the penalty box, and ended the game with his decisive fourth round shootout goal. His put the Capitals two points out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.

Backstrom’s big night started 7:54 into the game. After Alex Ovechkin’s one-timer was muffled, the puck bounced high into the air. The puck ricocheted off Backstrom’s dome past Henrik Lundqvist, giving him his fifth goal of the season.

“I was just trying to get to the net,” Backstrom told CSN’s Chuck Gormley during intermission. “The puck bounced off my head I think. It’s one of those goals you just gotta take I guess.”

Backstrom would actually use his stick in the fourth round of the shootout.

As Nicky skated he played with the puck casually, then shot it short-side past Henrik Lundqvist’s glove. Game.

“It was a big week for us,” Backstrom said during CSN’s post-game show. “It’s not about getting 6 out of 8 points, we are playing better as a team. We just gotta keep going here and play 60 minutes every game.”

Photo credit: Paul Bereswill

Photo credit: Justin K. Aller

Players get older; they slow down. Elite goal scorers drop off as they enter their late twenties. It’s time to realize this has happened to Alex Ovechkin. He may have the same name as the guy who scored 65 goals five years ago, but he is far from the same player. And it’s not his fault.

Nine of Ovechkin’s 15 goals have come off the same shot from the same spot: a one-timer from the circles. Seven of those have been on the power play. More remarkably, Ovechkin has not held the puck for more than a second on any of his goals this season save for one. He no longer scores on the rush.

The Washington Capitals invested $123 million dollars in Alex Ovechkin. They cannot have him not score. If he isn’t scoring the way he used to, they will adjust the game plan for him. That’s exactly what first year head coach Adam Oates has done. The new power play he instituted is designed to get Ovechkin the puck at any costs — and it works brilliantly. Ten of his 15 tallies this year (2/3) have come on the power play, the highest ratio of power play to even-strength goals of any player with more than 10 markers. He leads the NHL in man advantage goals.

The power play was one of two changes Oates made at the start of the season in an attempt to reignite Ovechkin. He also shifted Ovechkin from left wing, the position he had played his entire life, to the right side. There were likely a few reasons for this. Oates insists, almost obsessively, that right-handed shooters play on the right side and conversely that lefties play on the left. Anything else, he contends, is unnatural.

“You look back through the history of baseball and every shortstop throws right,” Oates told CBC’s Elliotte Friedman. “How many plays won’t be made because a left-handed shortstop isn’t able to turn, get set, and make the throw with strength or speed?”

That is Oates’s philosophy.

At first, Ovi looked bemused on the right wing. He crashed into teammates twice before he scored a goal this season. After a quick switch back to the left side at Ovechkin’s request, Ovi was at right wing once again. Oates didn’t just want Ovechkin to have a slightly better angle on the net by making switch. Rather, Ovi was getting stale at left wing — defenders knew his moves and how to stop them. The rate at which Ovechkin was poke checked or bumped off the puck after entering the offensive zone on the rush became frustrating.

Ovechkin looks comfortable now on the right, but the goals on the rush still don’t come — has just one this season. He still tries, he still wants to carry the puck into the zone, but he doesn’t score.

The goals must come from somewhere else, and they do. The Caps feed him the puck so he can launch a quick shot from the circles, usually on the power play.

The defense collapses to the right, Ovi is left wide open, happy times.

Unlike last year, Ovechkin is now at the circles, not the point, during the man advantage. This means he is often wide open thanks to Washington’s new 1-3-1 power play. Roughly, that means one player is near the net, one player is in the slot, one player is on each circle, and one player is on the point. When the Capitals move the puck around, the defense reacts, collapsing on the player with possession. If that guy is on the right side, Ovechkin is able release a one-timer before the defense reacts.

“It really puts on emphasis on that weak side position where Ovechkin’s playing,” Hershey Bears head coach Mark French, who oversees a similar power play with his team, told RMNB’s Ian Oland a month ago. “He’s really the guy that’s going to score a lot of the goals because the puck’s going to eventually get to him.”

When executed well, this game plan is deadly. The Caps have the best power play in the league, one that coverts 24.5% of the time. Last season, Washington’s unit was ranked 18th in the NHL. Ovechkin is responsible for almost 40% of the team’s 26 power play goals. Ovi has four assists a man up too, meaning he’s been on the scoresheet for 54% of the team’s power play goals.

Despite the myriad of struggles the Capitals have faced this season, their power play is excellent. What happens, though, when defenses realize it’s worth leaving a man open in front to prevent an Ovi Shot from the Ovi Spot? Eventually opponents will catch up on Washington’s strategy as the tape piles up. Of course, the nature of a power play is that one team has more players than the other. Somebody must be open. If opponents cue on Ovi, another Cap will be left free to shoot in front — maybe Nick Backstrom, maybe Troy Brouwer.

“I guess you pick your poison,” said French.

This power play works. Adam Oates is a good coach. The Capitals may not have a good roster yet, and it’s certainly losing them games, but they do have a smart tactician behind the bench. This team has a solid foundation, but they still need the right players.

January 27 vs. Buffalo

February 23 vs. New Jersey

March 7 vs. Florida

March 14 at Carolina

March 19 at Pittsburgh

March 21 at Winnipeg

March 22 at Winnipeg

Ovi’s smiles are getting progressively weirder as the night goes on. (Photo credit: @ovi8)

With Alex Ovechkin scoring his 700th point and the Capitals escaping Raleigh with a win over division-leading Carolina, the players were in a festive mood. That might explain why half the team started tweeting after the game, shooting congratulations to Ovi (#respect), describing the victory with a three-letter word, and posting… well… other weird things.

Take a look for yourself.

Big win for us tonight!And was excited to wear the new Bauer skate APX2. #caps#bauer twitter.com/backstrom19/st…

— Nicklas Backstrom (@backstrom19) March 15, 2013

@mayhockeycsn @laughlin18 haha.. I think me and @laughlin18 will have good chemistry:)

— Nicklas Backstrom (@backstrom19) March 15, 2013

Lol “@backstrom19: Big win for us tonight!And was excited to wear the new Bauer skate APX2. #caps#bauer twitter.com/backstrom19/st…”

— John Carlson (@JohnCarlson74) March 15, 2013

Big win boy!big 2pts we back on track!!!!

— Alex Ovechkin (@ovi8) March 15, 2013

Great win for the @washcaps. Check out this picture yesterday, Matty P got some new furniture. twitter.com/JohnCarlson74/…

— John Carlson (@JohnCarlson74) March 15, 2013

Huge W for us tonight #caps

— Michal Neuvirth (@mneuvirth30) March 15, 2013

Great character win 4the @washcaps !!! & a follow from @johncarlson74. Does this mean we are putting our 2 touch battle to rest? #Frenemies

— Steven Oleksy (@StevenOleksy) March 15, 2013

Congrats to my mom and my brother team Dynamo wommen basketballl club to win a big tournoment!!! twitter.com/ovi8/status/31…

— Alex Ovechkin (@ovi8) March 15, 2013

Big win for the caps!!!!

— mike ribeiro (@ribz9) March 15, 2013

@greenlife52 @mjohansson90@backstrom19 boys goes to boston and mike almost breaks his neck bc he wants to be in pic twitter.com/ovi8/status/31…

— Alex Ovechkin (@ovi8) March 15, 2013

Also a huge congrats 2 @ovi8 hitting the 700 point mark but making it 701 a few minutes just 2make sure the milestone was reached. #Respect

— Steven Oleksy (@StevenOleksy) March 15, 2013

Ovechkin with his 700th career point tonight. Amongst all the criticism, no doubt still one of the best players in the league #respect

— Tom Wilson (@tom_wilso) March 15, 2013

We need to get @jrandalward42 horizontal. He is fading on the bus…fast. twitter.com/tbrouwer20/sta…

— Troy Brouwer (@tbrouwer20) March 15, 2013

Just because the NHL lockout ended three months ago doesn’t mean that the channel Russia 2 is going to stop using Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom in promos for Dynamo Moscow games. During the channel’s coverage of Sunday’s Manchester United/Chelsea game, Ovi and Nicky popped up in an animated promo at the bottom of the screen, encouraging viewers to watch the CSKA/Dynamo Moscow playoff series. Because they’ll be there! Er…

That’s one fancy looking one-timer. Russia, you stole out players for three months. Isn’t that enough?!

Additional reporting by Fedor Fedin.

AP Photo/Ted Richardson

[Doug Johnson of the PuckBuddys is back! And he has this preview. Yet another preview. Which, for the record, he doesn't need to do, he just chooses to do. He could stop at any time. Really. Just this one more. Go be co-dependent with him here.]

Morning Skate: Well fiddle-dee-dee. No sooner do we air out the Rangers’ stank from Verizon than the hillbillies from Hooterville return, bringing with them an undiscovered country of smell. Yes y’all, the Carolina Hurricanes are blowing back in, bringing with them their corn-pone, possum caps, crystal meth and Alex Semin, in something like that order.

Of course “stank” is something we all got a heapin’ helpin’ of this weekend. Must we really bring it up again – the juvenile penalties, the evaporating puck-management skills, John Tortorella’s stupid fat face? Apparently, yes.

Just what is happening in hockeyville? What is at the root of this existential struggle? I was contemplating this conundrum when a colleague at work asked me about the loud whooshing in the vent above my desk. “Is it blowing or sucking?” he asked.

Exactly.

Perhaps it’s just that the Capitals suck. Inconsistent play between and even within games, a superstar Captain who fans more than he shoots, and lines that seem more improvised than a John Cassavetes movie (ha!). Could it be that the 2013 incarnation of the Caps really aren’t that good across the board, and we should just focus on the 2014 rebuild?

Or maybe it’s blow. Yes, let’s stick with that one for a moment. As in blowing leads, blowing shots, and blowing opportunities, leading to the Caps faithful blowing chunks. I’m sure there’s an emoticon the kidz have come up with for that, but I can’t care.

Do you see the difference? Suck is what you are; blow is what you do. This dazzling insight, arrived at after at least, oh, a minute of thought, jibes with Peter’s ambitious analysis, though with much less of the word stuff and more of the… well I just don’t know how to finish that sentence. Ergo: the Capitals blow. And this is good news, because blow is fixable. Suck is forever.

The Puck Drop: Which, what a coincidence, brings us to Carolina. From its earliest days as South Carolina’s ugly little sister, North Carolina has remained one of the best reminders of why we might have been better to just walk away from that whole Civil War thing and leave good enough alone.

You would be hard pressed to find a place as simultaneously dull and ugly as North Carolina. Trust me on this: after spending just one week in Charlotte for the Democratic National Convention last year, it is one of the few spots on Earth that a tropical storm would improve.

Craig did this. The minx.

Sadly, the same cannot be said of the Hurricanes, née the Hartford Whalers, now residing in that pop-up book of a city, Raleigh. At 7-3 in the last ten games, they now seem to be pulling it together after a slow start, much like another team had been looking of late.

Of course, one of those losses was from us, here at home, when seemingly nobody came ready to play except Cam Ward, who — it must be noted– is performing better than any of our three current goalies and is infuriatingly cute. I would offer up performance comparisons here, but seeing as at least a few Hurricanes fans will have this read to them and mathematics is still legally considered “a demonye vice” in Carolina.

The Canes are simply playing better, and better as a team, than the Capitals right now. As are most teams in the Eastern Conference. And in other news, the Earth is still revolving around the sun. Moving on…

The Hot And The Not:

• Not – Missing, one Manimal; Answers to Troy. Early in the season, Troy Brouwer was performing exactly like we expected, tearing it up and generally playing like a robo-wolf wearing jetpacks and a katana. That said, he’s been weaker of late, adding just one goal in the last five despite logging serious ice time. We think we know the reason: Troy’s drought began at the same time he started started gassing it up about Alex Semin’s work ethic, right before our last game hosting the Canes. Coincidence, or something else, hmmm?! Did Sasha put the Evil Eye kabong on Troy? Is he so wracked with guilt about trash-talking a good player that he can’t perform? Am I just completely making crap up just for one more line of copy? I think you know the answer.
• Hot – The Sasha Line. Ugh, you know like when you break up, and you’re feeling pretty good about the whole thing, and a year later you run into each other on the street, and your hair is awful and your breath reeks and you’re wearing your “I just give up” stained sweats while they’ve lost 10 pounds and had their teeth whitened and smell like fresh peaches and are all like “Excuse me? Oh…oh Hi! Well just look at you!”? [ED: YOU'RE OVER-SHARING AGAIN]. That’s sorta what welcoming back Alex Semin once more feels like. 1/3 of the Canes top line, Sasha is scoaring, and even more assisting fellow line mates Eric Staal and the adorably named Jiri Tlusty do the same. We’ve faced some pretty good lines lately — see Pens and Islanders — but this may just be the best of them.
• Not -Ref You Cray!Is it possible that the NHL zebras have a thing against the Washington Capitals and are calling penalties on what other teams get away with? Hmmph. More possible is that some of the refs have their knickers knotted over a few Capitals players in particular, and I would rate it almost probable that one of those players is Alex Ovechkin. Let’s say that’s so, because why not. Then what? Do we think jawing the ref is really going to help him see the error of his ways? That puerile fan taunts help clear their souls? The PuckBuddys totally get the frustration, even letting fly with a few choice comments directed their way from time to time (read after three beers.) Boo hoo not fair fap fap, now just accept it and move on please.
• Hot – O Hai Nicky! We have a saying around our house. “You’re DUE, Nicky!” I guess it’s less a saying and more something we shriek at the TV. Anyway, Nicklas Backstrom remains one of the best all-around assets in the Capitals toolbox. Although not as good as last year, he’s good on the dot for us, he’s even better at landing assists, and was brilliant against Boston. Still, we’ve only seen 3 goals from him this season, way below where he wants to be and where we need him to be. It’s quite likely this is uninformed drivel, but Backstrom at 25 seems to be one of the most even-keeled guys in red out there.
• Not – Under Pressure. Even the Ecuadorian gas rats (look it up!) at the National Zoo can tell you that these next two games – Canes at home, Canes away – may well decide our playoff picture. Not so much in a point-counting way, although I’m told that’s still the way they do it. No, think spirit and energy. If this team believes they will defeat the Canes, and are able to do that, it’s going to be an enormous boost in esteem and confidence for this squad.
• Hot – Steve gOAleksy. What can be said about this miracle from Michigan hasn’t already been said? But let’s just bathe, for a moment, in the wonder that – at the moment – is Steven Oleksy.   …   There, bathed yet? Feelin’ fine? Because that is exactly what we need right now. Everyone feeling fine.

The Late Line: So here it is. Boston had it all over the Caps on paper, and what a thing of beauty that was. The Islanders should have been something approaching doable, until we were the ones that got did on. If I worked the book in Vegas, I wouldn’t be working the book anymore in Vegas. But be bold! Chaos is a ladder! And other Game of Thrones quotes I’m supposed to know!

Caps 3, Canes 2.

Sue me if I’m wrong. Or take it up with my bookie.