Photo was touched up to remove the NHL executive handshake-passing the ref a 100-dollar bill. (Photo credit: Greg Fiume)

With their 5-0 loss to the New York Rangers in game seven, the Washington Capitals have been ungently booted from the postseason again. A period of healing and reconciliation now begins (also probably some suntans), but first we need to take a look at the sadness. The infinite, infinite sadness.

Let’s just take it all in, mope around for the next day or two like red-rocking Eeyores, and wallow in the wah wah wah (that’s what a sad trombone sounds like). It’s not fun; no, but we need to give the grieving process time to do its thing.

A rare moment in which Ribeiro stank both literally and figuratively? (Photo credit: Greg Fiume)

Clockwise, starting from Ovi: Stunned, annoyed, yawning, guffawing, free agent-y, and totally over this crap. (Photo credit: USA Today)

Oh great, next time you wanna be super-depressed, you don’t have to watch Requiem For a Dream. You can just pop open this GIF and save yourself two hours. (GIF by SBNation.com)

“Boredom is the root of all evil, the despairing refusal to be oneself”. – Kierkegaard (Photo credit: @dcsportsbog)

Sad dad. Sad dad. Sad dad. (Photo credit: @recordsANDradio)

Oh criminy, now we are zooming in on sad dad? Have you no decency, cameraman? (Photo credit: @dcsportsbog)

“I know it was you, Henrik. You broke my heart. You broke my heart!” (Photo credit: Patrick McDermott)

“Well son, since you haven’t learned to respect your elders, it’s time you learn to respect your betters.” (Photo credit: Alex Brandon)

This handshake nearly caused a goals-versus-threshold singularity that would have swallowed Marc-Andre Fleury whole. (Photo credit: Patrick McDermott)

The Building of America’s Hockey Capital is running a bit late and over-budget. (Photo credit: Alex Brandon)

ARE YOU KIDDING. DUDE, THIS IS THE SADDEST THING EVER. CANNOT EVEN CAPTION THIS. WOW. WOW. (Photo credit: Alex Brandon)

Someone in the press corps just told Oates that Sun-In Hair Lightener is no longer in fashion. And that punk is dead. (Photo credit: Nick Wass)

How this guy got no points in seven games is a puzzle for the ages. (Screengrab via Monumental Network)

Karl Alzner forced to stand by silently while his beard conducts a lengthy interview. (Screengrab via Monumental Network)

Green looks like a tougher and only slightly sadder version of the singer from Brand New. Who sucks by the way. (Screengrab via Monumental Network)

Mama Backstrom is disappointed in her son’s play, sure. But his facial hair is an outright disgrace to the family name. (Screengrab via Monumental Network)

No snarky caption. This guy is boss. Plus: hands-down best neckbeard on the team. (Screengrab via Monumental Network)

The sadness will pass soon. Try to put a smile on your face. And keep your head up. <3 RMNB.

Photo credit: Scott Levy

I don’t know how you guys are coping, but I am doing poorly. A playoff series between the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers seems constitutionally incapable of being stress-free. Game three’s penalty problems continued in game four, and the Caps struggled with special teams and other complex ideas such as shooting and passing. The Rangers seemed to be able to summon a lead on a whim, leaving the Caps to mount a comeback pretty much throughout.

Despite the Caps getting better (and more desperate) as the clock wound down, the Rangers won another game on home ice.

Rangers beat Caps 4-3. Series is tied 2-2.

• Braden Holtby dun goofed. Handling a loose puck, Holtby eyed a saucer pass to neutral, but instead found Pyatt Pree‘s stick hanging in the air. Brad Richards got on the puck and scored on a mostly vacant net to make it 1-0. Holtby’s been both lauded and criticized for his eagerness to play the puck, and he’s been burned more than once for it. This was the worst of al. This was worse than what Jonathan Quick did last week. Because it happened to real people.
• The Capitals’ first period power plays were rancid. The Caps allowed three shorthanded chances, the third one leading to total troublefunk in front of Braden Holtby. Martin Erat and Alex Ovechkin closed in on Derek Stepan– Erat reaching from behind while Ovi was picking up steam. The three collided in a tangle, with Erat landing wrist-first in the net and Ovechkin skating back to the bench before getting beckoned to the box. A hooking penalty for Erat was reasonable, but — inconceivably– Ovechkin was given the old wild-card penalty: charging. Pierre McGuire, who has yet to master the name Oleksy, proclaimed it an obvious headshot. It was not, but the Caps still had to kill a 5 on 3– which they did excellently, but the penalty was more fuel to the Gee willikers! These refs are atrocious! fire. Erat did not return to the game, replaced on the second line by the similarly awesome Eric Fehr.
• From the circle, Carl Hagelin got a knuckley puck past Holtby’s glove side halfway through the game– at which the Caps had just 5 shots on goal during even strength. D’oh.
• But thank goodness for Joel Ward and Mathieu Perreault, who teamed up to put the Caps on the board. Ward had some pretty moves to put the puck on net, and then Perreault crashed it like a tiny French Canadian Knuble.
• The Caps tied it before the end of the second period with a nifty Troy Brouwer backhand while the Rangers got a bit indolent on the breakout. Brouwer was due, and it was greatly appreciated.
• After the Caps improved their possession (as measured by even-strength shot attempts) through the last three games, the Rangers stole it back decisively on Wednesday. Even with a man-up, the Caps were unable to generate offense as the Rangers refused to take the bait of Washington’s fancy passes. The Caps were thus kept on the outskirts and generated no real power play chances.
• A Charmin soft interference penalty on Jason Chimera at the buzzer of the second period led to a Girardi PPG in the first minute of the third, putting Caps back in their one-goal hole, but only temporarily as Marcus Johansson’s inability to clear the zone gave NYR’s Stepan space and time to make it 4-2.
• Ovi was pretty much nullified. Most of his (scarce) shot attempts were blocked, and he — and this is weird– seemed to get hit more than he hit others. I’m not really used to that, but hats off to the Rags for sticking it to him. I’m not sure they’ll be able to do that back in Verizon Center, where the Caps will get last line change.
• Karl Alzner kept it close with an outside slapper (that have got a piece of Perry) with just a bit over 12 minutes left. Because apparently this series was too relaxing for some people.

Joe B suit of the night

Aaaalright, the Caps may have gotten a bit off their game there.

You can chalk some up to the refs, but we can’t pretend like this game was stolen from the Caps. Mysterious decisions on defense and some bad moves on the breakout sort of doomed the effort. The Rangers won the physical game and seemed to have figured out the Oates’ power play. That might make the rest of this series difficult. Or at least interesting. It’s as if the gauntlet has been thrown.

That doesn’t mean it’s undoable. The Rangers have no advantage whatsoever. All they have done is restored the series to neutral. The Caps own on home ice, and they’ll have to flaunt it to win this series.

Friday. Be ready.

Okay not the psyche-up song I wanted. I’ll try again later.

Photo credit: Francois Lacasse

The Washington Capitals’ final road game of the season was a demonstrable blowout. The Montreal Canadiens, purportedly a good hockey team, played like a troop (sorry, troupe) of clowns led by their porous ringleader Carey Price. The Habs got just one past Braden Holtby, and the Caps served wings and discount pizza to their loyal fans.

Caps beat Habs 5-1.

• Alex Ovechkin opened things up early with a five-on-five goal from his favorite powerplay spot. It was lazy-looking goal, but still good for Ovi’s 29th, still the league’s best. Better than all the rest.
• Troy Brouwer followed up a few minutes later with an outside shot, possibly tipped in by Mike Ribeiro, whose name I totally spell right all the time now without even checking it yeah. Those two goals comprised an electric start by the Caps– tilting the ice and making Carey Price like a decent backup goalie on an off-night who just happens to be debilitatingly attractive to some of the population around me as I write this.
• Troy Brouwer, despite struggling a bit on a talent-lite second line for much of the year, is producing like he’s in his prime. His second goal was a serene wrister from the circles, but hey it worked. And all of a sudden I’m regretting promising to wear zumbas to a party if Brouwer gets the hat.
• Daaaamn, that was a pretty power play goal. It took half the game for the Caps to go a man up, but they made it count when Ovechkin set up Backstrom a the back door for a goal so pretty the war room in Toronto pretended it was under review so they could watch it some more.
• The Capitals’ penalty kill rehabilitation tour continued in Montreal, where the PK unit withstood a whole bunch of man-down time terrifically, limiting the Habs to a handful of shots, maybe one or two real scoring opportunities, and a whole lot of effete French swear words.
• In a game where the Caps dominated puck possession, Aaron Volpatti saw more pucks go against his team than the other guys. That ain’t good and I still don’t get it. Hashtag Wolski for Masterton.
• A third period power play gave Alex Ovechkin his 30th goal of the season, and other sentences I did not think I’d write this year. I really do think Ovi is a real Hart contender, and I’ll explain why in the next day or two. For now, let’s just revel in the universally acknowledged and peer-reviewed fact that Ovi rocks your face.
• As the game pressed on, more and more attention was spent on Braden Holtby and his ability to refuse every shot sent his way. In the end, Patches was the first and only Canadien to best Braden. Whatever, s-words are silly anyway.

Joe B Suit of the Night

I wanna thank the PuckBuddys and Nellie’s for hosting a terrific viewing party. A good time was had by all, and enjoying a game like this is so much better when in the company of friends.

This win was big. Like literally big. I mean, not literally literally big, but definitely figuratively literally big. The Caps hold on to their lead of the Southeast, but Tuesday’s game against the Jets will still be literally gigantic.

Crash the net.

Photo credit: Patrick McDermott

Thursday night against the Hurricanes, the Washington Capitals continued their march up the Eastern Conference standings with some Ovi scoring and Brouwer yelling (what else is new) as they defeated the Carolina Hurricanes. Tonight, they looked to extend their six-game winning streak against another flailing Southeast Division team from more humid parts, the Tampa Bay Lightning. They did. It was fun ’cause the Caps scored a lot of goals, until Tampa did that too.

It started with a Brouwitzer, then a Hillen blast (just kidding), and then some Russian dude with a missing tooth. In the second it was JASON FREAKING CHIMERA, Panik for Tampa, Panik puns for people on Twitter, and a Fehr tap in. The third, as usual, was where the Caps screwed things up, with two St. Louis goals, another for Panik, and one for Purcell. However…

OVERTIME = GAME OVER GREEN.

In the end, there were wings for the people in the stands and two points for the people on the ice. Caps edge Bolts 6-5 (OT).

• Tonight was a matchup between the league’s top two scorers: Alex Ovechkin and Steven Stamkos. If the Lightning were any good, it might even be a matchup of two MVP candidates. Ovi wasted no time taking over the lead with the final scoar of Washington’s three goal first period. Forehand, backhand, one-legged flying celebration, glass smash.
• The amazing turnaround for Ovechkin continues. The hockey world had given up on Ovi two months ago; now he’s on pace to win his third Rocket Richard Trophy.
• Nine shots on goal for Ovechkin, seven for Mike Green. I hear these guys are doing well lately. Greenie won it in overtime.
• Seventeen goals in 15 games for the Great Eight. EVERYBODY TO RIGHT WING.
• Troy Brouwer is also hot hot hot. Unleashing another Brouwitzer on the power play, Troy registered his third goal in two games. Sadly, though, he didn’t swear maniacally at Alex Semin after this one.
• Also, also doing well lately: Jack Hillen. This guy’s month just keeps getting better. Contract, baby, goal, goal. Don’t look know, but JH38 is becoming a fan favorite. Seriously.
• Jason Chimera scored his first goal since NBC was worth watching — March 17 — tonight, converting a sublime tick-tack-toe with Mathieu Perrault. And Peter missed it. Again. Because he was in New Jersey. I know.
• The third line was super awesome tonight. In addition to Chimera’s goal, Eric Fehr had a tap-in tally and Matty P. had two succulent assists.
• Nate Thompson‘s unplanned meeting with a Green slap shot shows once again shows that visors are good for you. Yes, Thompson ended up bleeding all over the ice, but he could have easily lost an eye — that’s what was behind the shield.
• The Caps keep collapsing late in the game and it continues to be super annoying. This game was 5-1 at one point. Please stop, guys.
• Richard Panik put some fancy moves on while all alone in front and Marty St. Louis (that short dude) fired a delicious snipe over his catching glove to start the Tampa comeback. In the third, it was those two guys again.
• And then… disaster.
• With two and a half minutes left, Teddy Purcell fired a backhander past Holtby. Verizon Center could not believe it. The fans should know better by now.
• The Capitals gave up 40 or more shots for the second straight game.
• There’s a reason Tampa’s hockey team is called the Lightning: thunderstorms are forecasted in the area for the next three days. This information is useless to you.
• This tweet made CSN. Ian is very proud.
• Marcus Johansson deserves all the credit in the world tonight. His beautiful move to the net drew the game’s decisive power play.

Joe B. Suit of the Night

I was one of the team’s biggest doubters in the winter, but after seeing Adam Oates’s handiwork — with the system, the power play, and Alex Ovechkin — it’s hard not to think this team might be able to make a run in the playoffs. This team, believe it or not, may actually be good — as long as you play a two period game. This game was a tale of two different teams. The first one was unstoppable, as fun as those amazing (regular season) Caps teams from a few years ago; the second was pathetic. At least they still won, their seventh victory in a row.

Pete H. will back in the saddle for Leafs v. Caps on Tuesday. Enjoy your Sunday. Boo Orioles.

Request for #Caps fans: Please start chanting MVP after Ovechkin goals.

— Ian Oland (@ianoland) April 13, 2013

Photo credit: Evan Vucci

Troy Brouwer’s return to the score sheet for the first time since March 30th came in three parts. First was the power play goal, a zippy shot from the slot set up by Mike Ribeiro. Then came the empty-netter, in spite of Alex Semin’s cross-check, sealing the deal with only seconds to spare. And finally came the trash talk: Troy Brouwer letting ex-teammate and international man of mystery Alex Semin know what he thought of — well something, I guess. Lipreading is not our bag. If lipreading is your bag, give it a try in the comments below.

Alex Semin lashing out while trailing behind a shooter? I’m shocked. Shocked! /Casablanca

No really: what is Brouwer saying there? It could be anything, as these guys have a bit of a history. Of all Semin’s ex-teammates, Brouwer was first to say how over the break-up he already was. “It was tough to lose his scoring ability when he wanted to play,”  Brouwer told the Washington Post. “But all in all, I think we’ve been doing well without him.”

Six wins in a row, leading the division, and smiling all the way to the postseason. Yeah. Troy is right.

GIFs by welshhockeyfan. Additional reporting by Ian Oland.

Photo credit: Patrick McDermott

The Carolina Hurricanes lost 9 of their last 10 games before visiting the Washington Capitals for their final meeting of the season. Since re-signing a contract for too much and too long, Alex Semin had cooled off in a way that literally no one on earth could have expected, but the team was motivated to climb out of their rut on Thursday night. Dominating the early minutes, the Canes seemed to have a handle on the game until Verizon Center released the long-dormant kraken of secondary scoring.

Caps beat Canes 3-1.

• This felt like a letdown game, didn’t it? The Canes kept the Caps without a shot for the first 10 minutes, scored on an power play, and kettled up the home team in their own zone. It coulda been bad, but the Caps eventually clawed their way into a possession tie by the end of the first period.
• Hay, Troy Brouwer scored his first goal in two weeks, a monster shot from the slot on the power play. Sassymouthed Mike Ribeiro set him brilliantly, patiently waiting for the right moment from the goal line. Brouwer has been pretty dull of late, suffering on a weary second line, but his goal was everything the Caps want from and love about Troy— smart positioning, net crashyness, and shooting the puck so darn hard that Joe B dubbed it the Brouwitzer.
• Troy got two– with an empty netter in the final seconds. It’s great to see Troy get back in the game– but even better to see him have words with his old frenemy Alex Semin. Hopefully those words were small and spoken slowly.
• It was a night of pretty goals: Mike Green spanned the space from the blue and the faceoff dot like a stalking lion before releasing a roofer to Justin Peters‘ far side. I dunno if Green is “back” in the mythical way that we hope Ovi is back, but I’m really eager to find out. When he is on, Green is among the best in the league.
• Some explain to me how Maria gets cell signal in Verizon Center? My iPhone turns into a 400 dollar brick when I’m in there. (Actually all the tweeple are telling me that the fan wifi has been solid lately. That’s awesome. I’m gonna watch YouTube videos and download episodes of Arrested Development next time I’m at a game).
• My least favorite thing about Mike Ribeiro is that when he’s on the ice most of the shots go towards his team’s goalie. My second least favorite thing about Mike Ribeiro is how he jaws at refs and players at every turn. I don’t know if his trash-talk led to the soft cross-check penalty that neutralized a first period Caps penalty, but I wouldn’t be surprised. I mean– how does he talk to waiters? Cause that’s a deal-breaker to me.
• 15 shot attempts– 6 of them on net for Alex Ovechkin. He’s not gonna score every night, but if he shoots like that he’ll come darn close. Ovi was also a big factor in Green’s goal: he was all up in the goalie’s grill, presumably chatting about his golf swing and passing on musky odors.
• I’d write about the Matt Hendricks-Nicolas Blanchard fight, but it’d be like describing the taste of water. It happened and then it was over, and that is all there is to say about it.
• Braden Holtby acquitted himself quite well after two games off. After a scary start, Holtby dialed in and was offering up his typical inhuman rampage saves by late in the third (that glove in the last 90 seconds? Sheesh.) 43 saves!
• The mini-brawl between Skinner and Johansson was just adorable. Anne Geddes cute. Awwwwww.

Joe B suit of the night (thanks, Clare!)

It’s tempting to turn every game into a “Did Ovi Scoar?” thing, but we can’t. The Southeast is still tight, and wins gotta matter more than goals right now. And besides– if Ovechkin can play the way he did tonight, he’ll get his.

I like the way the Caps played this one. It was an atrociously and unacceptably slow start, but they found their groove didn’t allow Carolina to tilt the ice.

Caps are on a streak. Six wins in a row. Jets gained no ground tonight. The stars are shooting and the Holtby is halting. It’s springtime in DC. Buckle up.

And oh yeah, totally called it:

This power play. #thebank

— RMNB (@russianmachine) April 12, 2013

Photo Credit: Nick Wass

The Washington Capitals think they have a shot at the Stanley Cup. This season began with a pitiful start under new head coach Adam Oates, but the team is better now. They’re used to his system, they’re healthier, and they’re picking up pieces to help them in the short-term.

“We weren’t going to be sellers,” said George McPhee yesterday. “You never know once you get in. Let’s see what happens.”

“We have a good thing going here,” said Mike Ribeiro. “We know how good we can be.”

“I have complete confidence in the guys in this room,” said Troy Brouwer. “We have the ability in here to make a splash in the playoffs.”

“I want to play for the Stanley Cup,” said Martin Erat. “Washington is one of the places where you have a chance.”

On Thursday, the Caps moved into playoff spot for the first time this season.

The Capitals want to win now. They don’t want to endure another rebuild, albeit a smaller one, that might help win them a Cup in five years — that’s why they traded an elite prospect to fill a hole in today’s lineup. Washington may have been in 10th place in the Eastern Conference when they made the trade for Erat, but they are going for it. That plan, though, requires one thing: that the Capitals are the team they think they are, not the team we’ve seen so far this season. Thursday, they were a little bit of both — not without fault, but good enough for now. With a loss by the Winnipeg Jets (3-7 in their last 10), the Capitals moved in first place in the Southeast Division and third in the Eastern Conference.

The Erat Era — okay, that’s a bit of hyperbole — has just begun in Washington. His debut was solid, if uneventful. He skated on the third line with Mathieu Perreault and former Nashville teammate Joel Ward. Erat didn’t register on the scoreboard, but made a couple nice plays. The Caps beat the Islanders 2-1 in a shootout. Soon he will get a bigger role, perhaps as the first line left wing.

“It’s kind of hard for me you know with all the crazy stuff that comes with the trade,” Erat, who woke up at 4:30 am today, said after the game. “My plane was leaving at six o’clock in the morning which means I didn’t get enough sleep. I was so excited to be here, and excited to be in this city.”

After watching him for a little under 15 minutes on the ice, Erat’s new coach had glowing things to say about his game.

“I thought he did a great job, I really did,” Adam Oates said. “Getting traded is not always easy. He played with that franchise a long time, he had to go out the door and say goodbye, meet new guys, step into a lineup; it’s nerve-wracking, it’s stressful.”

One thing stood out the the first year coach the most: “his IQ.”

“He knows how to play his position, he knows how to play in the game,” Oates added of Erat. “He didn’t put himself in bad positions.”

Erat’s play, though, will not be the judge of this deal. Instead, the move will hinge on what the Capitals do this season and the two after that, the years left on Erat’s $4.5 million yearly contract. If Washington makes a deep playoff run, the deal will seem smart. If they don’t, George McPhee will look short-sighted. For Erat’s perspective, it’s the same. He didn’t request a trade to play in a bigger market or get more ice time, he came here because he thought the Caps were an elite team.

“That’s why I came here, that was my goal, to come here and play for the Stanley Cup,” Erat said.

Early Morning Skate: So, the last time we were here, we were there. Filthy Philadelphia, needing a solid road win, and feeling optimistic to start. In fact, we were all, like, yay here we gowhattheflipwasthat?! and c’mon Holtbeast get it together and then yay Groooouuubsie and boooo Max Talbot grrr grrrr and ow that traffic-cone orange makes my soul weep and that was pretty much the best summary of that ugly mess of a game I can imagine.

Mmmm…tastes like Cheez Whiz

What exactly was it that happened that terrible, cold February night at the F-U Center? Where, exactly, were manimal Troy Brouwer and Captain 8 (despite being probably the best in Red on the ice that night) and John “Towelie” Carlson and the Millionaire and his wife and the nameless rest? Certainly not there to play hard, or at least battle back through a tough start. And why was it, exactly, the Lord Supreme in His wisdom didst create that dung-heap of a burg to begin with?

Now this is our idea of a hot Fly team. Really.

You see, I’d like to chalk up that bumbling bungle of a game simply to our visiting the giant spirit suck that is Philly and its moronic fans. Like to, but cannot. Yeah, there were a couple fluky puck bounces and what-not, but those things give as much as they take. No, what we saw was a failure to launch by the Capitals after a dis-spiriting start. It was not, in any possible permutation of the concept, ‘good.’

The Puck Drop: But it’s Spring, and Easter (for some) or Maru (for others) or Passover or Nowruz or we’re just going to stop this now. Traditionally, it’s a time for rebirth and renewal and rejuvenation and reloading and all that. For the Capitals’ flock, it’s once more the race to the playoffs.

For several years now, the Capitals have demonstrated fine mettle in April, much like the pale gossamer jonquils besotting the landscape, if those jonquils were angry, snarling, forechecking, glass-smashing monsters made of steel and laser beams.

In short, there’s two ways this ends. One: we leave Filthydelphia redolent of Whiz, covered in soot and chagrin; or two, you can eat me Peter Laviolette. No wait, that’s a given. Oh yes; or two, we bounce outta Barftown and kick it into grinder gear for the coming match-ups against the Canes and ugly Islanders (revenge want now) and be the team that showed up to rub Winnipeg’s nose in its own dark, dark shame. I know which one I’m hoping for.

So let’s git ‘er done.

Who’s Hot and Who’s Snot

• Let’s just get this out of the way: what is it with you and first names, Flyers? Maxime? Jody? Zac? Zac?! Fine if you’re a British boy band, but Zac? Ugh, sign two players named Herp and Derp and you’ve got a full house.
• There’s an old adage that goes ‘What comes up must come down’, which is patently untrue if you are helium or the Blackhawks or Lindsay Lohan’s legal bills. We prefer ‘What goes down stays down,’ which we just made up but will use to prove our point. The Flyers haven’t so much been stumbling of late as they have been losing, while the Capitals overall (let’s not quibble, shall we?) have been demonstrating real hockeytude across the squad. The Flyers must therefore lose, QED.
• The Flyers do have some genuine stand-outs – Jakub Voracek and Claude Giroux and a Schenn or something – who can be good deal sealers. But like we saw in their recent outings with cross-town rivals the Pittsburgh Flightless Stenchbirds, the energy and kick appears bottled up in just a few players, while the Pens (and oh how I hate myself for saying this) work well together across the squad, and that was before getting Iggy. We were suffering from this dread condition earlier in the season, too, but have at least mitigated it. Which is better: a few star talents and a bunch of mugs, or a more even distribution of skill? Capitalism or soshulizms? Hmmm?
• I have it on good authority that Jesus would particularly like a Capitals win today.
• To be “fair and balanced” – ha! – it is true that the Crapitals have some players who feel a little like large leaden weights tied around our ankles while we’re trying to swim. Marcus Johansson appears to be skating with one eye scanning for the door. Jeff Schultz (who is probably among the most decent people around, so, sorry) might as well be eating Doritos out on the ice, and Mike Green…oof, where to start. I’ve seen more spunk among members of the Whitehills Senior Center’s “Jeopardy!” fan club. (If you’re reading, Mr. Trebek, I love your show!) Is this a “Tale of Two Teams” moment? “It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times.”
• Conventional wisdom – which is never wrong I’ll have you know – has it that Adam Oates has at least one more good year here to show progress before GMGM hits the ejector button, while Coach Laviolette – which actually means “smelly cheese” in French, look it up – has but a few more games. Oooh, everyone’s getting a little snippy, aren’t they? I wonder what could be on people’s minds. I wonder…
• Rough trade. Is what’s on people’s minds, I mean. You know, like the trade deadlines? What…what did you think I meant? Ohhh…and on Easter Sunday, of all days. Hmmph. Oh, one last thing:
• JINX! Jinxjinxjinx. Doublejinx! There, you silly nannies, for those who believe in ‘jinxes’ we’ve just double-finger-crossed the jinx spirits and you can put your delicate little heads to rest now about the PuckBuddys curse, OK?

The Late Line:

While intubated in the emergency room following the Hinckley assassination attempt, President Reagan scrawled a note to one of his nurses. Cribbing from W.C. Fields, it read “All in all, I’d rather be in Philadelphia.” It was touch-and-go, but he survived.

On the whole, I’d rather we not have to be in Philadelphia. There should be a law against having to travel there on a High Holy Day, or a birthday, or any day with a “y”. But here we are. At least Jaromir Jagr isn’t around anymore (tee hee.)

Flyers lead early, Caps battle back, 4-3, but close, kids.

Photo credit: Bill Wippert

The Washington Capitals came out ice-cold against the Buffalo Sabres in a game they should’ve been highly motivated to win. With the playoffs still possible, the Caps let the Sabres run away with a two-goal lead before mounting their comeback. The Caps ran the cycle — with goals by Ovechkin on the power play, a shorthanded goal by Brouwer, and 6-on-5 goal by Mike Green.

Overtime couldn’t decide the game, so to the shootout we went. Ovechkin won it. Because he’s a big damn hero, sir.

Caps beat Sabres 4-3 (Shootout)

• Troy Brouwer and John Carlson lost a battle for the puck along the boards, allowing Jochen Hecht to set up Christian Ehrhoff for a wide-open shot at the game’s first goal. That wasn’t the only goal the Caps have allowed recently after losing a puck battle. That trend has gotta end.
• Ville Leino got two goals on Saturday. I didn’t even know they still made Ville Leinos. But there he is: scoring two goals on the Washington freaking Capitals.
• Leino’s second goal was scored while Jack Hillen was in the box. That was actually a good move, as the Caps got absolutely pummeled while he was on the ice. As the Caps fell into a two-goal hole, Hillen had the team’s worst possession numbers by far. He did complain about the ice during the first intermission, but I think the other players might have been playing on the same sheet.
• Alex Ovechkin continues to be Russian hockey dynamite. He’s got points in 7 straights, tonight’s being a fantastically accurate power play goal from way outside. Ovechkin had 10 shots on goal– which is rigoshdarndiculous. Ovi has been a true captain in the back half of March– something we should all keep in mind next time critics foreign and domestic start talking trash about him.
• Jason Chimera didn’t have a shot on goal in his last three games. Against Buffalo he had two! One was almost a goal, until the cosmos realized it was Jason Chimera shooting it and decreed, “Hahaha yeah right.”
• Troy Brouwer shorty!  Yayyyyy! Shorties are the funnest kind of goals. They’re like when the people at Chipotle put extra guac in your ‘rito and don’t even charge you for it. Braden Holtby got the assist on that guac-laden burrito.
• Mike Green rang the post tragically in the third period. It could have been the tying goal, but the hockey fates said nay. Green was unfazed I guess, because he tried again in the game’s final minute. He hit the post again, but a friendly zephyr whispered it netward. High dramatics to tie the game and force overtime. 5 shots, 1 goal, 1 assist, 27:16 ice time. Stunning.
• Buffalo’s Jhonas Enroth was awesome. His glove save on Mike Ribeiro’s slim-angle shot in overtime was picture perfect if you like your pictures to break your hockey heart into a zillion pieces. That robbery left the game unresolved after 65 minutes, so …
• SHOOTOUT BULLET! Pominville rang post. Hendricks paralyzed Enroth. Ennis swatted by Holtby. Ovi five-holes Enroth! WIN!

Joe B suit of the night

The Buffalo Sabres are not a good team. They’re dead last in possession and seem to be selling off assets as of this afternoon. Yet, they played with purpose in the early goings, stealing a lead and protecting it capably.

Which is my way of saying that a team without anything to play for can still play well. If the Caps don’t make the playoffs this year, it ain’t the end of the world. They can still play good hockey until the end of April and the come back even harder in the fall.

In sizing up the Caps’ chances at a) making the playoffs, and b) actually performing well in the playoffs, I want to point to this game’s first 20 minutes, in which the Caps were utterly dominated by the aforementioned weakest puck possession team in the NHL. I’m not saying every night has to be lopsided like that, but daaaaaaaaaamn that first period sucked.

Thank goodness for the oft-maligned (including by us) Mike Green. That puck lost between his skates earlier in the week was all but forgotten when he secured a point with that 6-on-5 goal. Redemption has been granted. Let us speak no more of his shame.

And let’s all be glad that our preferred team is led by Alex Ovechkin, a guy whose favorite thing to do is shoot pucks at nets. I don’t know much about leadership, but I bet Ovechkin does. What a dude.

Catch you guys tomorrow evening at 6 PM. It’s Philadelphia, so make sure you have soap and bleach and Cipro at the ready.

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