By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Managing Editor

There is an old adage in professional sports about how it is easier to fire a coach than it is to fire 23 players, and that could not have been more true in this morning’s axing of Bruce Boudreau by the Washington Capitals.

Following a team-best 7-0-0 start the Caps had fallen on hard times in recent weeks, going just 5-9-1 over their last 15 games.

There were obviously issues in the dressing room that revolved around new implementations by Boudreau, involving accountability of his club’s numerous star players.  The coach was apt to bench anyone if they were playing at a level deemed less than what was expected.

The situation between Boudreau and Ovechkin may have been 'irreconcilable'. (Photo credit: Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)

One of the most-publicized – and perhaps damning - incidents occurred on November 1, when Boudreau sat captain and face-of-the-franchise Alex Ovechkin in the last minute of a contest that Washington trailed by a goal.

Even though Nicklas Backstrom would score both the game-tying goal late in regulation and the game-winner in overtime, cameras caught Ovechkin - who was visibly unhappy - murmuring on the bench.  If you are good at reading lips, Ovechkin’s displeasure at Boudreau’s decision to leave him on the pines at a critical time in the tilt was crystal clear.

Prior to last year, Ovechkin had scored 50-or-more goals and 100-or-more points in four of five NHL campaigns.  Even in his sophomore season of 2006-07, when he did not attain those levels, he still recorded 46 goals and 92 points.

Already coming off a career-low 32 goals last season, Ovechkin was slumping badly again in the season’s first two months this year. 

After 22 games, Ovie had all of eight goals and 17 points – good for second on the club, but far below the numbers usually put up by the 26-year-old Russian-native.  He had all of one goal and three points in his last eight contests, a stretch in which he also was tagged with a -7 rating.

Something had to change, and there was no way that Ted Leonsis and the Capitals were about to move Ovechkin.

Not surprisingly, it was Boudreau who ended up as the one on the chopping block.

Stephen Whyno, the Caps’ beat writer for The Washington Times, tweeted this quote from Bill Watters, who was Boudreau agent during his playing days.

“I called this a week ago. It was inevitable with Ovechkin. I don’t know whos going to be the second victim, but Bruce is the first.  When they decided that keeping Alex Ovechkin happy was secondary to winning a Stanley Cup, that was the end of Bruce Boudreau.”

In hiring former-Capitals captain Dale Hunter as Boudreau’s replacement, there is no doubt Washington is getting another incredible bench boss.  He has spent the last 11 years as coach of the OHL’s London Knights, sporting a gaudy 451-189-23-24 mark.  There is no reason to believe Hunter won’t attack this opportunity with the ferocity that helped him to become the only NHLer ever to record more than 1,000 points and 3,500 PIMs during his 19-year career.

But one has to believe that Boudreau deserved a better end to his time with the Caps.  He took over a team that was very much in disarray in 2007, and turned things around to the tune of an amazing 201-88-40 record.  He won the Jack Adams Trophy in 2008, and became the coach to win 200 games the quickest in NHL history.  Now he is out of a job, but there is no doubt Boudreau will be picked up by another team at some point during the remainder of the regular season.

With the air of frustration and dischord surrounding the team, a change definitely had to be made.  The disinterested play exhibited by Ovechkin, as well as that of fellow-Russian star winger Alexander Semin (five goals, 10 points, -3 in 21 games), seemed to seal Boudreau’s fate.  

Thrashings at the hands of the Winnipeg Jets (4-1 on November 17), Toronto Maple Leafs (7-1 in on November 19), New York Rangers (6-3 in Washington on November 25), and to an injury-depleted Buffalo Sabres squad (5-1 this past Saturday night) also could not be ignored.

Boudreau’s biggest downfall during his time in America’s capital was his 17-20 playoff record.  By acquiring character players such as Mike Knuble, Jason Chimera, Joel Ward, and Troy Brouwer over the last few years, the Capitals had added several character players to not only help push the club over the hump in the postseason, but also to get them through the times of adversity.  This is certainly one of those times, and it will be interesting to see how they react and get the players to respond.

Sure, Boudreau deserved a much better fate in Washington.  But it was easier to change coaches than to go through a massive rebuilding stage for a club that appeared destined to make a run at the Stanley Cup.

Sometimes old professional sports adages ring true far too often.

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

By Alexander Monaghan
President 

By Bridget Samuels (originally posted to Flickr as IMG_6946.jpg)

A quick glance at the League leaders in scoring would yield some household names. Budding forwards Jamie Benn, Phil Kessel and Claude Giroux sit atop stats pages with a familiar name sandwiched in between. That name is Nicklas Backstrom, a once 100-point producer whose production — much like the rest of the Washington Capitals — simply fell off a map last season.

Backstrom has been excellent, sitting third in the League in total points and first in assists. He’s the first player to double digit power play assists and power play totals overall. The crafty Swede is a huge reason why the Caps hold the fourth-most efficient conversion rate with the man advantage. Their power play efficiency was actually a huge reason why the Caps fell from first in scoring to 19th last season.

Looking back at those initial statistics, you will find Alex Ovechkin a bit farther down the list. Not necessarily struggling but also not proving himself statistically as the best player in the League. His six goals and 13 points tie him for 28th overall in scoring. More importantly all six goals scored have been assisted by Backstrom; the six notches this season are only one more than his pivot, making Backstrom’s totals that more impressive.

We all knew Backstrom was a top-notch talent but perhaps he is now ready to break free as a true superstar, not just Ovi’s center.

On Monday, the Gavle, Sweden received a bit of notoriety, earning the third star of the week thanks to three dominant games. Over those three tilts he potted three goals and six points — out producing everyone except fellow Swede Loui Eriksson. His accolade acknowledged his excellent streak but it did not define his contributions on the ice thus far.

He actually has continued his tear, moving from a three-game point streak to a current five-game streak. In addition, these consecutive point totals mark his second streak of the year and second five-game streak for that matter. In fact, he only has two games played without a single point and eight multi-point games over the course of the season.

Last season we saw Backstrom post three multi-game point streaks with only one sustaining a five-game length. More importantly, he only scored a point in 37 of his 77 games played as he struggled with injury and inconsistency. While he took 202 shots on goal, and has taken over 200 shots for two straight seasons, he contributes his early success to throwing more pucks at the net. From Capitals Insider:

“Obviously even if I like to pass — and I like to pass — I’ve got to try to shoot it more too,” Backstrom said. “That’s what I’m trying to do this year.”

More shooting has led to a 13.2 percent shooting percentage. His career high 33 goals came with a 14.9 percent success rate so an uptick could be sustainable. However, it should be noted that his career average is a bit below at 11.7. What’s most important is the total amount of shots he projects to take: 240 — a would-be career-high.

At this current rate, Backstrom is on pace for 32 goals and 120 points while Ovechkin looks like a 38-goal, 82-point winger. Again, nothing to sneeze at but not the most talented player in the world and possibly not even the top guy on this team.

The buzz word in Washington has been accountability. When Ovechkin was recently benched for the final minute of play against the Anaheim Ducks it was Backstrom who skated out as the extra attacker. Furthermore, it was Backstrom who scored the tying goal in the final minute. Alexander Semin had his ice time slashed due to too many minor penalties during Tuesday night’s 5-2 loss to the Dallas Stars but Backstrom finished second in ice time.

In a more evenly-distributed and accountable hybrid system, Backstrom is once again thriving under coach Bruce Boudreau. Moreover, he may give the Sedin Twins a run for their money as the top scoring Swede in the NHL.

By Alexander Monaghan
President of NHLHotStove.com

About a month ago to the day, we discussed the possibility of Head Coach Bruce Boudreau getting the ax should the Washington Capitals not advance at least into the Eastern Conference Finals. After four short, painful games his Caps team could simply not beat the 1-3-1, or modern day “trap”, rather falling to their Southeast Division rival Tampa Bay Lightning.

Clearly with failure, the blame gets put at the top with a trickle-down affect. In case you live under a rock during the past two weeks, here is how the blame was passed around.

Photo Credit: scriptingnews / Flickr

Outspoken owner Ted Leonsis took to the blog and congratulated the Bolts on their win, putting the focus on how well they played opposed to how poorly the Caps played against them. In his opinion the team let the fans down, as referenced by these excerpts:

“The best course of action for us though is to let a few days pass; be very analytic about what needs to be improved; articulate that plan; and then execute upon it…

…Clearly we know we have to improve to build a franchise that is as good as our fan base…

…Thank you for caring so much. I am so very sorry we let you all down.”

That blog entry came a short six days ago yet the Capitals have not made a single knee-jerk reaction. That same day acting GM George McPhee said that he expected Boudreau to return for another season. McPhee sounded confident when speaking to Tarik El-Bashir of The Washington Post, saying “I expect him to be back, yeah. He’s a good coach.”

It sounds like the team has the guy they want to coach them to the Stanley Cup, but honestly is Boudreau the right guy?

When asked whether Boudreau and his 17-20 record when the games matter most is the right guy, McPhee remained on his side:

“Someone said he’s not a good playoff coach. There’s no difference between a playoff coach and regular season coach. Either you’re a good coach or you’re not. He’s a good coach.”

If McPhee is referring to Boudreau’s success in the AHL, internal options Mark French and Bob Wood have had success themselves in guiding the Hershey Bears to the Calder Cup. However, a more experienced playoff coach would be a better bet after all Boudreau has coached four Southeast Division winners and somehow holds only two playoff series victories, with both coming against the lowly New York Rangers. One has to wonder whether the team is afraid of change or simply afraid of accountability amongst their beloved staff.

Well, one thing we know is true–Leonsis will not be making the decisions.

Yesterday, according to Katie Carrera at The Washington Post, McPhee will make all the decisions. If he is a man of his word — which we have no reason to doubt after his 30+ years in the business — then Boudreau will stay on as coach. His firing seems like the logical decision as this team simply has not crossed the barrier from elite regular season team to elite playoff team. The San Jose Sharks took years of retooling, coaching changes and development to get themselves into the Western Conference Finals. At no point did they not make strong moves in order to get them into better position.

So Leonsis won’t be firing McPhee, McPhee won’t fire Boudreau. Then should all the blame get passed onto the players?

Photo Credit: Dan4th / Flickr

Nicklas Backstrom took a good deal of chirping after his no-show effort during the playoffs. Mike Green looked exposed in his brief time playing in the series. Alex Ovechkin, who also will not be blamed, could also have been better. Ovechkin will not be known as the problem, this entire team was built around him and he will use his undisclosed injury as a reason for not playing better. That same nagging injury that puts him in the World Championships as I digress.

With a few good young players already with the team in Marcus Johansson, Karl Alzner, John Carlson and Michal Neuvirth the Caps are in good hands but also in transition. Will those guys replace players like Backstrom, Green and Semyon Varlamov or simply supplement them. When all of their players are in their prime, there will only be so many minutes to go around. Keep in mind, the team holds bluechip prospects like Evgeny Kuznetsov,  Braden Holtby, and Dmitri Orlov and other budding youngsters like Cody Eakin, Patrick Wey and Stanislav Galiev.  All of these guys, should they pan out, will also need to slot in somewhere to succeed.

An educated guess would say the team will make a minor heart transplant, replacing players like Jason Arnott, Marco Sturm and even a blueliner like Jeff Schultz in hopes that their big guns bounce back in a big way.

The question is, when that plan fails next season, who will then take the blame in Washington?

By Alexander Monaghan
NHLHS President

Earlier today the NHL announced their finalists for the coach of the year, otherwise known as the Jack Adams Trophy. The three chosen — Alain Vigneault of the Vancouver Canucks, Barry Trotz of the Nashville Predators and Dan Blysma of the Pittsburgh Penguins — are the consensus amongst the decision makers as they represent a blueprint for how to properly perform their duties.

Trotz, who received his first nomination last year before losing out to Dave Tippett, may very well win the award as his Preds try to squeak by the heavily favored Canucks. Blysma essentially gets consideration mainly due to winning without superstars Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby all season. Vigneault fills the quota for the NHL honoring the best regular season team.

However, with these nominations, there are always the snubs and this season more than most we witnessed some fine coaching. Considering only three deserving bosses get the nod we felt the need to honor the deserving.

Photo Credit: Arnold C

The newly-extended Lindy Ruff did not receive a nomination despite being up for the award twice since the lockout and winning it back in 2005-2006.  Behind the bench since 1997, the former Buffalo Sabres player guided his team without their best forward to a 14-4-3 record since March 1st and pushed the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference into the seventh game. On top of that, he did it without a fully healthy Ryan Miller. His extension is well deserved and honestly in any other year likely would consider an nomination.

Likewise, Washington Capitals bench boss Bruce Boudreau likely deserves some attention for reinventing his team’s system into a well-balanced machine. Similar to Ruff, his team came on strong down the stretch, earning the top seed in the Conference. Due to the Caps winning the President’s Trophy last year, their success likely was more expected which puts a guy like Blysma higher on the depth chart. However, if Washington finished with 117 points, one would have to believe Boudreau gets the nod.

Perhaps the more glaring omission would be first year head coach and Boudreau’s second round opponent — Guy Boucher. After coming out of the QMJHL to success under the Hamilton Bulldogs, the Quebec native guided a team that did not make the playoffs and was mostly new acquisitions into not only a playoff team but a team who won their first playoff series since winning the Stanley Cup. His system kept Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos producing at an elite level while allowing players like Vincent Lecavalier, Ryan Malone, Teddy Purcell, Simon Gagne and Steve Downie to contribute without the pressure of being primary producers. He made a big impact in the NHL, leading pundits like Mike Corcoran of ESPN, via Twitter, to expect a nomination.

The last coach to man the bench for the Lightning winning a series was John Tortorella and the New York Rangers benefitted from his guidance this past year. Coaching a team devoid of skill and in the middle of a rebuild, Tortorella got everything he could out of his team as they made the playoffs for the second time in three years with him behind the bench. Although as Steve Zipay of Newsday remarks, via Twitter, there is very little flair in guiding an underachieving team to barely achieve anything. Regardless, his work with numerous rookies as well as developing Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan into viable leaders will help their team now and in the future.

Our final mention goes out to interim coach Jacques Lemaire, who brought the New Jersey Devils within 12 points of a playoff berth. While he will not return next season and did not get the team back into the playoffs, he deserves some attention for nearly achieving the impossible.

For the most part there were several coaches deserving of nominations. The general consensus seems to be that Blysma will win the award for the first time in his career. Without his star players, the young coach earns everything he will get as he got the most out of grinders like Pascal Dupuis, Tyler Kennedy and Mark Letestu as the entire team bought into a team-first concept. Despite getting a career year out of Marc-Andre Fleury, the Pens overachieved considering their personnel, or lack there of.

Who do you think deserves the Jack Adams Trophy? Feel free to comment below with your thoughts.

By Alexander Monaghan
NHL Hot Stove Founder / CEO

Yesterday, Cory Clouston got off a plane and was relieved of his duties.

This morning, the Florida Panthers told Pete DeBoer his services would no longer be necessary. This afternoon, Jacques Lemaire stepped down as head coach of the New Jersey Devils, again.

Are we done with these firings or is there yet another wave of unhappy owners ready to find a scapegoat?

Of course, time will always answer our questions, but a reasonable guess would indicate a bit more firings in this wave followed by yet another set of firings following post-season shortcomings. Other bench bosses such as Todd Richards of the Minnesota Wild and perhaps even Joe Sacco could get the axe after disappointing seasons, respectively. Regardless of where these teams are in their rebuild or the expectations they may have unfairly placed on their coaches shoulders prior to the season, someone has to answer for a down season, and that person is more ofter than not the coach.

Both Colorado and Minnesota finished their season today so we very well could witness their firings withing the next 24 hours.

Richards missed the playoffs for the second time in two seasons as the coach of the Wild. While he and GM Chuck Fletcher were brought in to reinvigorate the team’s offense, their creation has failed to make any strides as far as developing players or even a consistent system. Both years the Wild finished in the bottom 10 as far as goals forced are concerned while Niklas Backstrom and company allowed closer to three goals per game in both years — although this season was an improvement in net. Firing Richards, while not an immediate fix, will show the rest of the team’s personnel that they need to mesh together and form an identity or else they too will find themselves jettisoned.

On the other hand, Sacco helmed the most disappointing season in Colorado Avalanche history. It could have been due to the astonishing amount of man-games lost. It also could have been the Erik Johnson blockbuster trade which dismantled his offensive chemistry. Regardless, someone has to pay for the worst season to ever come out of Colorado, only one year removed from another lottery pick. If you ask me, GM Greg Sherman should be on the way out, not the creative, offensively charged Sacco. Nevertheless, someone needs to take the blame.

These guys had it coming, we could see it as clearly as an advertising on a side-wall. However, there should be some musical chairs before the NHL Entry Draft or the Free Agency period.

Photo Credit: dbking / Flickr

Prior to his late-season surge, Washington Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau found himself on the hot seat from game one. After watching an off-season from Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green, Boudreau needs to get his Capitals team into the Stanley Cup Finals and take home the game’s biggest trophy. Failure to do so should mean he finds himself screaming obscenities to a lesser audience next season —  which very well could happen. The Capitals at the very least would need to plow through the New York Rangers. whom they hold a 1-2-1 record against in the regular season. The Rangers also held Ovechkin to no goals over those four games.

Similarly, Los Angeles Kings head coach Terry Murray could find himself on the way out should the Kings once again fall in the first round. For years now this team has been on the verge of something special but they may need a different coach to push them over the edge. Although both Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams find themselves tending to injuries for the first round, there is still a good deal of experience and talent in the lineup coupled with the steady hand of Jonathan Quick. If Murray can’t lead this team to at least a first round victory he may get fired quicker than he can shuffle the Kings’ forward lines.

Finally, and perhaps the answer nobody wants to hear. Peter Laviolette could find himself on the hot seat should the Philadelphia Flyers bow out early. After dominating the earlier portion of the season, the Flyers limped into the playoffs with a 3-4-3 record. For everything Laviolette did last season, he would likely take the blame for his overly-talented bunch bowing out early making it the first time in a while the Flyers would not be blaming their starting goalie. Chris Pronger truly cannot return soon enough for the Flyers as they could use his leadership on and off the ice in order to save their season.

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We understand that most people reading this would probably not agree with our picks. Please feel free to argue your points in the comments as this is a democracy not a dictatorship! In addition, you can follow us on Twitter @NHLHotStove

The latest installment in a weekly series from NHL Hot Stove correspondent David Strehle that examines teams, players, and issues from around the Eastern Conference.  In this issue:  Recchi Leaves Mark on Chara – Pacioretty Incident; Bylsma for the Jack Adams Award; Power Failure in Montreal; Boudreau’s Tough Decision in Washington

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Philadelphia Flyers Correspondent

Recchi Leaves Mark on Chara – Pacioretty Incident

Just when it seemed that the fallout from the Zdeno Chara-Max Pacioretty incident was finally calming down, the NHL’s version of Methuselah re-stirred the pot with some rather surprising comments.

Or did he?

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

This past Wednesday, Mark Recchi of the Boston Bruins made headlines around the hockey world regarding injuries resulting to Pacioretty after taking a thunderous hit from Chara into the stanchion where the glass begins at the player’s benches.  Recchi suggested that the extent of Pacioretty’s injuries, which included a broken vertabra and severe concussion, may have just been an exaggerated ruse by Les Habitants in an attempt to see the Bruins’ captain suspended by the league.

The 43-year-old Recchi supposedly based his observations on a March 14th post on Pacioretty’s Twitter feed regarding going to the movies.  Recchi’s feelings were that the severity of the injuries sustained by the Montreal Canadiens’ forward - which were being called “possibly career-threatening” – couldn’t possibly have been as dire as what had been represented, if he was able to go out to the movies just six days after the March 8th occurrence.

Always one of the classiest players in sports, Recchi’s comments appeared at first glance to be in very poor taste.  Even classless.

But Recchi came clean after the Habs-B’s rematch on Thursday night, explaining that his statements were to take the anticipated excruciating focus off of Chara leading up to the game.  By the way, the night ended up being no contest, ending in a 7-0 drubbing of Montreal by the hometown Bruins.

Say what you will about Recchi’s comments, but there is little that the wily veteran has not seen during his 21-plus seasons in the NHL.  He knows what works in helping out his team and teammates, and Thursday’s result is proof-positive.

Bylsma for the Jack Adams Award

In addition to bringing a Stanley Cup to Pittsburgh two years ago, there was another reason that Penguins’ GM Ray Shero inked head coach Dan Bylsma to a three-year contract extension earlier this month.

Not enough can be said about the job that Bylsma has done with his team through a tremendous amount of adversity this season.

Through play on Sunday, the Penguins had the sixth-highest man-games lost to injury in the league at 326.  That’s bad enough as it is, but the calibre of player that has been missing from the Pittsburgh lineup makes that an even more-telling statistic.

Superstar Sidney Crosby has missed the last 35 since suffering a concussion on New Years’ Day in a freak collision with the Capitals’ David Steckel.  He did manage to play in the next contest against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but took a heavy hit from defenseman Victor Hedman that aggravated the injury.

Also on the list of missing star players is Evgeni Malkin, who suffered a season-ending injury to his right knee on February 4th when six-foot-eight inch, 227 pound Buffalo Sabres’ defenseman Tyler Myers fell on his leg as they battled for the puck along the boards.

That’s not only two of the team’s top forwards, they are also two of the premiere players in the National Hockey League.

Bylsma has altered his club’s game in the interim, tightening up their defensive play and relying more on the play of the defensive unit and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

With Crosby skating again and reportedly feeling much better, it would be a tremendous infusion of scoring if they can add their captain back into the lineup in the postseason.

Through it all, the Penguins are still in the running for the Eastern Conference crown.  With a regulation victory tomorrow night over the Philadelphia Flyers, it would tie them for both the division and conference leads.

Amazing.

There is no doubt, Bylsma has got to be in the final three for this year’s coach of the year honors.

Power Failure in Montreal

After delivering an 8-1 beat down on the Minnesota Wild last Sunday, the Montreal Canadiens served up a disastrous hat trick by failing to score a single goal in their next three games.

Perhaps most troubling of the three was a 7-0 drubbing at the hands of the arch-rival Boston Bruins, which was sandwiched between a pair of 2-0 home losses – one to the Buffalo Sabres, and the other to the Washington Capitals.

Also interesting to note is the decreasing shot totals throughout the week.  After registering 32 in the Wild blowout, Montreal managed 31 against Buffalo on Tuesday, 24 against the Bruins on Thursday, and just 18 on Saturday against the Capitals.

The Canadien’s streak of goal-scoring futility currently stands at 186:05, and their 200 goals is the lowest total of any of the top eight teams in playoff spots in the East.  As a matter of fact, Montreal’s total is the lowest of any of the current 16 teams that are in qualifying slots for the postseason.

“Nobody’s really having much fun right now“, Canadiens’ netminder Carey Price told the Associated Press after the most recent shutout loss to Washington.

Montreal will attempt to right the ship when they faceoff Tuesday night against the Atlanta Thrashers at Bell Centre.  And they had better do something soon – the red-hot New York Rangers have tied them with 87 points for sixth place in the East.  Buffalo is just two points behind, but holds a game in hand on the Canadiens.

“Scoring goals comes as the result of doing a lot of little things right. It’s obvious that there are things that need fixing right now”, head coach Jacques Martin told NHL.com. 

Boudreau’s Tough Decision in Washington

Capitals’ head coach Bruce Boudreau may have a dilemma on his hands when it comes to determining his starting playoff goaltender.  Some coaches may have to decide between two backstops with which to hand the postseason reigns, but Boudreau may have a trio of youngsters from which to choose.

Michal Neuvirth and Semyon Varlamov, both of whom will be 23 years old in the playoffs, have taken turns providing Boudreau with excellent netminding this season.  Neuvirth has started 41 games and posted a 24-11-4 record, with a 2.46 goals-against average, .915 save percentage, and four shutouts.  Varlamov has posted a 10-9-4 mark, with a 2.26 GAA and .923 save percentage, and two shutouts in 23 starts.

Varlamov has continued with a myriad of injury problems that have plagued him in the infancy of his career, and that has led to the emergence of a third youngster in the Caps’ crease.

21-year-old Braden Holtby has been recalled at different times during the season, and has the best numbers of the three.  He is 10-2-2, with a miniscule GAA of 1.79, an outstanding .934 save percentage, and two shutouts.  After shutting out Montreal Saturday night, Holtby was again sent back down to the AHL’s Hershey Bears.

Of the three, only Varlamov has any NHL postseason experience.  He is 10-9, winning one playoff series and on the losing end twice over the past two years.

Neuvirth has led the Bears to the Calder Trophy as AHL champions in each of the past two seasons, and Holtby served as his backup in last year’s run.

It will be interesting to see who gets the call, but one thing is certain – Washington stands a much better chance of attaining postseason success this year.  With a transformation to a defense-first style of play and a healthy infusion of gritty, character-type players, Boudreau’s club is built for the playoffs.

The bet here is he will go with Neuvirth.  But whichever of his young goaltenders gets the call, the team will be in good hands.

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If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter - @David_Strehle.

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Philadelphia Flyers Correspondent

The Philadelphia Flyers have had their difficulties in recent times playing with and holding onto leads in home games.  On Tuesday night against the Washington Capitals in a battle for the Eastern Conference lead at stake, Philadelphia was the team that would have to come from behind.

After seeing just five of their first 69 games go to a shootout, the Flyers found themselves in their third straight contest go beyond overtime.  With the way the night started out, not many believed it would get to that point.

Nicklas Backstrom opened the scoring, sending a wrist shot from high out at the top of the right circle that somehow found its way through Flyers’ starter Sergei Bobrovsky and trickled into the corner of the net.  The soft goal gave Washington a 1-0 lead.

Late in the first, Philadelphia defenseman Sean O’Donnell attempted to check ex-Flyer Mike Knuble along the wall in the right wing corner.  O’Donnell was the one who fell to the ice, and Knuble sent the puck behind the net and headed to the front.  O’Donnell was slow to recover and cross-checked Knuble just as Brooks Laich’s arrived.  Knuble was able to chip the puck behind Bobrovsky at the 17:46 mark to give the Capitals a 2-0 lead after one.

With Dan Carcillo still in the penalty box for a cross-checking minor near the end of the first period, defenseman Dennis Wideman’s point blast found its way through Bobrovsky.  At 1:22 Philadelphia found themselves down 3-0.

After such a strong game in Dallas Saturday night in a victory over the Stars, three questionable goals allowed by Bobrovsky led head coach Peter Laviolette to make a change in net.

“It’s going to happen throughout the course of the season“, Mike Richards said after the game.  ”He played unbelievable for us in Dallas and he won us that hockey game.  He had a couple bad bounces tonight.”

Brian Boucher came into the game, and the momentum seemed to turn.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

The Andreas Nodl-Claude Giroux-Jeff Carter line was especially dominating in the second period, keeping the Capitals pinned in their own zone for long stretches of time and creating scoring chances.

Danny Briere said it was that line that gave the team energy.  ”It was good, even Nodl, to see him play the way he did tonight“, Briere beamed.  ”He was all over the ice, hitting, finishing checks, scoring, passing.  He was doing it all tonight. That was a great game, and their line got us going.”

With Philadelphia buzzing around Washington starter Michal Neuvirth, it was Kris Versteeg who got the Flyers on the board.  He scored his 19th goal of the year at the 8:05 mark, as he banked the puck in off of Wideman’s skate in the Caps’ crease.

The goal was Versteeg’s fifth in his 17th game since coming to Philadelphia, and his first point in the last eight contests.

After Andrej Meszaros had drilled a one-timer in close off the post, the Flyers would get another opportunity before periods end.

Nodl moved in at the top of the right wing circle.  As he was about to shoot, he spotted Giroux alone to the right of Neuvirth.  Nodl made a perfect pass, and Giroux made no mistake as he buried it for his 24th of the season.

“I wanted to shoot but then I saw Giroux open, and I passed it over to him“, Nodl said after the game.  ”He made a good shot, and we scored.”

After two periods, the Flyers had battled back to within one at 3-2.  Philadelphia, who had left to a chorus of boos after the first, received a well-deserved standing ovation as they skated off after the second.

The third saw more of the same, as the ice surface appeared tilted in Philadelphia’s favor.  The Flyers were attacking the Washington net in waves and midway through the stanza, they hit pay dirt.

Giroux drilled the Washington defenseman in the right wing corner, sending the puck in front to Nodl, who was all alone.  The 24-year-old Austrian, playing in just his second game after being a healthy scratch for the previous five, sent a shot past Neuvirth at the 9:58 mark.

Unbelievably, the game was tied at 3-3.  Washington coach Bruce Boudreau took his timeout, but it didn’t help.

Less than five minutes later, Briere gave the Flyers their first lead of the night, putting home his 32nd of the season.  Briere’s deft deflection of a Kimmo Timonen point shot to record his 100th goal as a Flyer.

But that didn’t last long, as Marcus Johansson one-timed a Knuble feed from the top of the left circle that beat Boucher with just 3:19 left in regulation.

Both teams had some excellent scoring chances in the overtime period, but neither goaltender would yield a goal.

In the shootout, only Giroux would be stopped out of the six shooters.  Ville Leino and Briere scored for the Flyers, but Matt Hendricks, Backstrom, and Alex Semin all tallied against Boucher to pick up the extra point for the Caps.

In the end, Philadelphia could be satisfied that they had come back from a big deficit and still managed to take home a point.

“We knew it was a big game for us and when we were down 3-0, guys got pissed off a little bit“, said Giroux, who may have also been a bit miffed at the 15-20 stitch gash he was sporting on his chin from a first period high-stick he took from Semin.  ”That’s not the way we wanted to play and then we played a solid 65 minutes.”

“It was pretty close to a complete game“, Briere said after the game.  ”There was a lot of positive in that game.  A lot of good things happened, so honestly I was happy with the whole game.”

Regarding the goaltending situation heading into Thursday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Laviolette said he is noncommittal at this time.  “I’ll probably address that in a day or two,” he said in his post-game press conference.

The head coach did take some great encouragement out of his club’s effort.  ”If I would evaluate the game and the way our guys played, that’s about as honest an effort we have had in about a month.”

And that’s really what Laviolette has said for some time, that he wanted a better effort from his club.  He got that from them tonight, and they were able to come back and take a point to retain first place in the East.

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Taking a Flyer:  Alex Ovechkin missed the game with an “undisclosed injury”.  The Caps’ superstar is listed as out for seven to 10 days…Meszaros played 29:00, Braydon Coburn 27:26, Matt Carle 27:02, and Timonen 26:28 as Laviolette shortened his bench for the defensemen once again.  O’Donnell saw just 9:54 of ice time, and Nick Boynton 5:54…Carle and Nodl finished the night a +3…Briere and Carter led the way in shots for all skaters, each putting five on Neuvirth…Meszaros played a very physical game and ended with a game-high six hits, and led the Flyers with five blocked shots…the Flyers earlier in the day announced that forward Jody Shelley would need to undergo surgery on a broken orbital bone suffered when he was hit by a deflected puck at practice Monday.  Shelley is expected to miss up to a month…defenseman Danny Syvret was recalled from the Adirondack Phantoms early Tuesday.

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If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter - @David_Strehle.

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Philadelphia Flyers Correspondent

The Philadelphia Flyers’ run to the Stanley Cup Finals last June should provide building blocks with which to create a foundation in eventually bringing Lord Stanley back to Philadelphia.

But remember - thanks to Jaroslav Halak and the Montreal Canadiens, the Flyers’ playoff jaunt occurred without having to face two of their biggest rivals – the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals, both of which Philadelphia will face this week.

To say that this is an immensely important week for the club is an understatement.

Tonight the Flyers (44-19-8, 96 points) return home to the Wells Fargo Center to face the red-hot Capitals (42-21-10, 94 points), and Thursday the cross-state rival Penguins (42-23-8, 92 points) make their last regular season visit to the unfriendly confines of the City of Brotherly Love.

This week will be a good test to see just how well the Flyers stack up against two of the prime playoff competitors from their conference.

Led by leading goal scorer, Jeff Carter, the Orange-and-Black are hoping to get untracked offensively.  While Carter has three goals in his last three games and 17 in his last 27 – a 50-goal pace over the course of an entire regular season – Philadelphia has struggled somewhat in finding the back of the net since the NHL’s All-Star break.

In the 21 games since January 25th, the Flyers have scored more than three regulation goals on goaltenders just once – March 12th in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Atlanta Thrashers.  The only other times the Flyers have scored four in regulation have been via the empty-net variety, with their opponent’s netminder pulled for an extra attacker late in a tight game.

Other than Carter, Philadelphia’s other top scorers have started to show signs of coming back to life.

Danny Briere went without a point for the first time in six games in Dallas on Saturday night but prior to that, he had picked up three goals and eight points in a five-game point scoring streak.

Photo courtesy of jbehindtheglass

Wunderkind Claude Giroux has two goals and seven points in his last seven contests.  Captain Mike Richards has a goal and five points in his last four.  Ville Leino has three goals and five points in his last four.

What the club could use is more from Kris Versteeg and James van Riemsdyk.

Versteeg has managed only four goals and five points in the 16 contests since he was acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs.  After picking up three goals in the first two games of March, it appeared that he was finally beginning to develop some chemistry playing with Richards.

But Versteeg has not picked up a single point in the last seven games.

The 21-year-old van Riemsdyk had recorded a goal and two points in four games, but has gone without a point in his last four since that time.

The constant line juggling by Peter Laviolette as he attempts to find combinations that work may play a part in establishing continuity and familiarity among the forward lines.

It had been discussed for some time in serarating the trio of Scott Hartnell-Briere-Leino, as the line that had been the team’s best since the playoffs last year had not enjoyed the same success recently.  The coach finally made some adjustments.

In the last couple of games, Laviolette put together new lines of Giroux-Briere-Carter, Hartnell-Richards-Leino, Carcillo-Versteeg-van Riemsdyk, Jody Shelley (*although Shelley was injured in practice yesterday and needs surgery – out four weeks per Tim Panaccio’s Twitter update / Andreas Nodl-Blair Betts-Darroll Powe.

Laviolette has also been shifting his defensive pairings in the absence of Chris Pronger.  Most of the time he has kept Kimmo Timonen-Braydon Coburn as partners.  Matt Carle, Andrej Meszaros, Sean O’Donnell, and Nick Boynton / Erik Gustafsson (*with the road trip completed, Gustafsson has since been loaned back to the Adirondack Phantoms of the AHL) have been sharing the ice together at one time or another.

And per the Flyers’ official Twitter account, Danny Syvret has been recalled by the club today.

Laviolette used six different combinations on the blue line in one game last week.

The goaltending has been strong of late, especially from Sergei Bobrovsky.  The Russian rookie played a spectacular game Saturday night against the Stars, and single-handedly got the extra point for the Flyers in the shootout.

Laviolette has a chance this week to start the goaltender against elite opponents in a playoff-type atmosphere.  It might be an opportunity to see how Bobrovsky handles the additional pressure in preparation for his postseason planning.

Philadelphia has had their issues as of late, but have still managed to post a 4-0-2 record since a 7-0 dismantling at the hands of the New York Rangers just over two weeks ago.  That was the last in a four game losing skid, thus the Flyers have labored through an uneven 4-4-2 in their last 10.

They have seen their once nearly double digit Eastern Conference lead evaporate to just two points over the Capitals, as well as holding just a four point lead over the Penguins for the top spot in the Atlantic Division.

Even if Philly finishes ahead of Washington, maintaining a lead over Pittsburgh is imperative.  It’s the difference between first and fourth place in the conference, and with other clubs scratching for every point could mean an even larger fall in the standings down the stretch.

Washington, winners of ten of their last 11 contests. will be without one of the very faces of the National Hockey League tonight, Alex Ovechkin.  It was announced Monday that the “Great 8″ will miss the next seven to 10 days with an “undisclosed injury”.

Head coach Bruce Boudreau said it has been a lingering “ailment” that has bother Ovechkin “for a couple of months”.  While it will hurt Washington to not have him in such an incredibly important tilt in the battle for Eastern Conference supremecy, the much larger picture is that the team wants Ovie healthy and at full capacity once the playoffs begin in another three weeks.

Pittsburgh had knocked the Flyers out of the playoffs the previous two postseasons prior to last year.  With coach John Stevens at the helm, Philadelphia seemed to have developed a mental block when playing against the Pens.

A club absoluted devastated by major injuries to key players, Pittsburgh has not only somehow managed to keep its collective head above water, but continue to battle for the conference lead.  Dan Bylsma has to receive some very strong consideration for the Jack Adams Award as the league’s top coach, as his team has pushed on though playing much of the year without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

Even though ex-Flyer Arron Asham recently returned to the Penguins’ lineup after missing time with a concussion, there are still a good number of players absent – in addition to Crosby (concussion) and Malkin (right knee surgery), defenseman Brooks Orpik (broken finger), and forwards Mark Letestu (upper body) and Eric Tangradi (concussion), among others, still remain on the shelf.

But thanks to Bylsma, the team continues to win.  They are 6-2-2 in their last 10 game, including last night’s victory in Detroit.  It was a game where Pittsburgh led the Red Wings 4-0 late in the second, but had to scratch and claw for a 5-4 win in a shootout.

It has been like that for the Pens.  Some of the contests aren’t pretty, but they’re still finding a way to gather points in nearly every game they play.  But with the need for a M*A*S*H unit to take care of their wounded, that is how Bylsma has had his club fight through some of the worst adversity they’ve faced in years.

And it will definitely make the Penguins a dangerous team down the stretch and in the playoffs.

The fact that the Flyers became the first team in the East to clinch a spot in the postseason gave Laviolette very little to celebrate.  “We’ve never talked about clinching a playoff berth“, the head coach told reporters after Saturday night’s 3-2 shootout victory over the Dallas Stars.  ”We’ve always talked about home-ice, all rounds, starting in our building – Game 7 if it comes to that.  That’s why we continue to push.”

And push, they should.  After a trip to the Finals last season, Laviolette and his club want to take the next step – not a step backwards.

The flu bug that ravaged its way through the club for a couple of weeks appears to finally have run its course.  With their players getting healthy again, now is the time for the Flyers to re-established the fact that they are an elite team.

And they have the perfect opportunity to make a rather loud declaration against two of their top rivals this week.

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If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter - @David_Strehle.

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Special thanks go out to jbehindtheglass for the use of the Giroux photo.  Make sure to check out some absolutely amazing NHL photography at www.jbehindtheglass.com!

This is the first in a weekly series from NHL Hot Stove correspondents Jeff Quirin and David Strehle that examines teams, players, and issues from around the National Hockey League.

Western Conference

By Jeff Quirin
NHL Hot Stove St. Louis Blues’ Correspondent

Jarome Iginla Makes it 30 x 10

If any player in the league today can be stereotypical example of a “power forward”, it’s Jarome Iginla.  The rare blend of size, power, toughness, iron will and skill.  Will to grind out goals in the dirty areas and drop the gloves when the need arises.  His claim to the title grew stronger earlier this month as he scored his 30^th goal of the season.  The 10^th consecutive season he has done so.  Going back to the 1998-99 season Iginla has scored 20 or more goals in 12 consecutive seasons.

The likes of Milan Lucic, David Backes, and Corey Perry may take over in the future, but Iginla is still the gold standard today.

Elite Proving They’re Elite

Aside from the Detroit Red Wings, three of the four elite organizations in the Western Conference spent time below the cutoff line.  While the Vancouver Canucks over came their issues early and have gone on to dominate the NHL, the Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks needed a little bit more time to collect themselves.  Their problems proving an axiom to be true.  Your best players need to be your best players. Jonathan Toews and Antti Niemi finally came around for their respective clubs.  Toews has registered 11 goals and 28 points in 18 games since the All Star Game.  Niemi did a 180 in the same time frame.  Posting a 13-3-2 record with a 1.95 GAA .928 save percentage.

While it may have been sexy to pick the mighty to fall, getting cute proved foolish to doubt.

Is David Perron the Forgotten Concussion Victim?

With all of the recent attention drawn to the extended absence of Sidney Crosby, the slumping of the Dallas Stars while Brad Richard’s was out and the questionable hit by Zdeno Chara on Max Pacioretty, concussions and hits to the head are back in the spot light after a brief lull.

What about David Perron?  The fourth year forward has now missed 59 games thanks to a blindside hit from Sharks captain Joe Thornton on November 4th and will miss a total of 72 this season.

Why is his case seemingly not included in the debate?  Barely referenced as an example?  Is it because Joe is “a good guy”?  Alex Pietrangelo may have led Perron on a suicide pass?  He was accused of embellishing the hit by former players?

Even Rob Pizzo on Puck Daddy Radio had to get a little shot in the other day.  Completely perplexed.

Enough is Enough In Phoenix

Haven’t all of us around the NHL heard enough about Jerry Reinsdorf, Ice Edge, Glendale, the Coyotes, Matthew Hulsizer and the Goldwater Institute?  We all know matters are extremely complicated and entangled with all sorts of nonsense.

Can’t we just cut the fat and move on?

Moving hockey south was a great idea, in theory.  In practice it has failed except in Los Angeles, Dallas and Carolina.  Even Dallas is treading on thin ice with their own ownership issues.  In times of a weak economy the league has to make hard choices to cut losses to stay lean and flexible.  The albatross in the desert is a distraction and a money sink.  The potential $70 million in Winnipeg may not “be enough”, but the potential to survive seems much better in the frozen north than sweltering south.

Blues Ownership Up In Air

Another “soft deadline” has passed in St. Louis as managing (and minority) Owner Dave Checketts (of SCP Worldwide) seeks new investors to replace majority owner TowerBrook Capital Partners (TCP).  Fans and media members a like are more than slightly perturbed at the lack of communication from the powers that be.

Reports indicate that fellow minority owner, St. Louis area business man, Tom Stillman has the backing of “heavy hitters” with “local connections” and they want the whole franchise.  An idea Checketts will entertain, but only if his asking price, rumored to be close to which Terry Pegula purchased the Buffalo Sabres for, is met.  Stillman and his group did not offer that much.

Sadly, the Blues cannot compete on a $44 to $45 million budget in the West.  A budget not likely to grow for 2011-12 if Checketts cannot find someone willing to absorb losses, bring in more money than TCP or sellout right to Stillman or another potential buyer.  Ultimately that means little wiggle room on July 1^st even with General Manager Doug Armstrong’s payroll purge and asset gathering in February.

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Eastern Conference

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Philadelphia Flyers Correspondent

Never Doubt Lou Lamoriello

In the first week in January, the New Jersey Devils sat dead last in the NHL standings – and by a good margin – with a 10-29-2 mark.  The franchise was a complete disaster.  The Ilya Kovalchuk signing looked to have destroyed the team, and there were NHL sanctions that followed.  Top scorer Zach Parise was lost with a knee injury.  Goaltender Martin Brodeur was looking like the end of the line was near.

It was at this time that Lamoriello made the bold statement that his club would make the playoffs.  Everyone in the hockey world scoffed, including yours truly.

But with Saturday’s 3-2 overtime win over the red hot New York Islanders, the New Jersey Devils improved their record to 22-3-2 in their last 27 contests since that time.  Lamoriello brought back head coach Jacques Lemaire, Kovalchuk has been a force, Brodeur is once again his legendary self; and the Devils are miraculously within eight points of the last spot for the postseason.  Their biggest problem is that they have three teams between themselves and eighth place, but with 14 games left it isn’t an impossibility.

If New Jersey does make it in, it will be the greatest comeback from the dead by a team in NHL history – and just another reason to never doubt anything that comes out of Lamoriello’s mouth.

The Caps come alive

Speaking of hot teams, the Washington Capitals have caught fire at the perfect time of year.  After beating the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in overtime Sunday, the Caps have run their winning streak to eight games.

Head coach Bruce Boudreau’s squad looks like they’re finally adapting to the adjustments he has made to their game – and look much more suited for the postseason in doing so.

By far the highest scoring team last season with 318 goals, Washington has scored just 189 times in 70 games this year.  With 12 contests left , they have also yielded 62 fewer goals than last season.  With a revamped defensive corps that has added the likes of Scott Hannan and Dennis Wideman, and the first full seasons from John Carlson and Karl Alzner, and the excellent play of young netminders Michal Neuvirth, Semyon Varlamov, and Braden Holtby, this might be the best chance the Capitals have had to make some noise in the playoffs since the arrival of Alex Ovechkin.

No longer is the club attempting to run-and-gun and hope to outscore their opponents.  With an offense led by Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Alex Semin, they should still have plenty of offense to carry them deep into the second season.

Chara / Pacioretty Incident Brings Design Flaw to Forefront

There is no doubt that the hit that Zdeno Chara put on Max Pacioretty this past Tuesday has further heated up talk regarding concussions, and the issue will thankfully be discussed at length at the GM meetings in Florida this week.

The fact that Pacioretty suffered a fractured vertabra in addition to a concussion on the horrific-looking sequence is a tragedy, plain and simple.

Along with player accountability for cheap shots and improvements in player’s equipment, hopefully one aspect that will also be brought up is the terrible design for where the glass begins at the player’s benches.

There have been other players that have hit the small amount of padding along the edge of the glass before Pacioretty.  It was just a stroke of luck for the players and the league that no one was as seriously injured prior to Tuesday’s incident.

Coincidentally, Los Angeles Kings’ defenseman Drew Doughty had a similar incident occur on Friday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but at a much slower speed and luckily the young rear guard escaped injury.

The issue needs to be addressed and a redesign of the area explored, and there is no better time than today at the GM meetings.

The Passing of Sabres’ Legend Rick Martin

There was sad news yesterday with the passing of former-Buffalo Sabres’ left winger Rick Martin due to a heart attack while driving in the Buffalo suburb of Clarence, N.Y.  He would have turned 60 years old in July.

Along with Gilbert Perreault and Rene Robert, Martin helped comprise the legendary, high-scoring “French Connection” line of the 1970′s.  The Quebec-native was a two-time 50-goal scorer, and five times posted more than 40 during his NHL career.  Martin scored 44 goals during his rookie season of 1971, which was then an NHL record.  He finished with 384 goals and recorded 701 points in just 685 games, and had his career cut short by a severe knee injury in 1980.

Martin is survived by his wife and two sons.

The thoughts and prayers of all of us here at NHL Hot Stove go out to the Martin family at this time of incredible loss.

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If you would like to follow the authors on Twitter, their IDs are – Jeff Quirin is @618_STLBlues, and David Strehle is @David_Strehle.

They have been under much scrutiny this season and with a lose-then-win weekend that was almost a lose-then-lose-again, the Washington Capitals are a bit of a concern.

The Washington Capitals faced off against two Canadian teams over the weekend: a Friday night game against the hot Vancouver Canucks and a Sunday afternoon game against the struggling Ottawa Senators.

I attended both games, being in the Washington DC area visiting a friend with my brothers. And visiting this particular friend usually means partaking in as much hockey as possible in the span of three days.

Friday night was the second night in a row of hockey for the Capitals and that seemed to show with how sluggish the team looked (despite what head coach Bruce Boudreau had to say after the game). Although Matt Hendricks scored the first tally of the evening a little over five minutes in, the Canucks showed that they are one of the best teams in the league right now. The Canucks won 4-2 with two goals coming from Daniel Sedin.

Sunday’s game could have been a disaster. And it nearly was. The Senators scored barely a minute into the game on a bad giveaway in the front of the net. It took the Caps well over two periods to finally get a tally on the board. They scored three unanswered goals in the third period to win it 3-1. Finally, they looked like the team they have been the past few seasons.

Now, after watching the Detroit Red Wings in person seven times so far this season, watching the Capitals is definitely different. It’s interesting to watch and see how they handle certain situations in comparison to a team I’ve watched for years on end. Not to mention it puts into perspective how much we take Nicklas Lidstrom for granted, but that’s another article.

One of the first things I noticed was Mike Green. Tallying 76 points last season and 73 points in 2008-2009, he only has 21 points at the halfway point of this season. Watching him play is just bad, and I mean no offense to any Capitals fans. But in both Friday and Sunday’s games, he seemed completely out of it. He seemed inattentive and doesn’t seem to be playing the position of a defenseman.

Again and again, Green was jumping up on the rush and didn’t seem to be hurrying back to play defense. More often than not, he was the last person exiting the offensive zone when he should have been back covering the rushing Senators players. The passes he was making were lazy and led to turnovers one too many times. Or he would have a chance to clear the puck up the boards, but instead he would make a no-look pass behind him into a crowd of Senators or Canucks, which would lead to a scoring chance.

Can you blame this on an off-season for Green? He’s been nominated for the Norris Trophy the past two seasons, but his play that I saw this past weekend makes me wonder what’s going on. (Though I did hear that Green has been feeling a little under the weather, so that could be a factor…)

Another thing I noticed about the Capitals was this: When they have pressure in the offensive zone, they never seem to pass the puck back to the defensemen at the point. And even if they do, the defensemen aren’t ready to take a quick one-timer on net (or wide of the net in hopes of a good bounce out front). They take an extra second or two to set up and readjust and by the time they take the shot, the screen in front of the goalie is gone or an opposing player ends up blocking the shot.

When they have pressure, whichever player has the puck seems to try to do everything himself. Passes aren’t made as often as they should be, and because of this, scoring chances are missed. Is this a trait that has rubbed off from Alexander Ovechkin? Perhaps. But he seemed to be one of the players doing the majority of the passing. He didn’t seem to take as many shots on net as us hockey fans are used to.

Maybe all of this can be shoved under the “They’re trying to make themselves a more defensive team” caption, but if that’s the case, with everything I just said above about their star defenseman, it’s not a very good transition. Something’s got to give, and I’m not sure even the Washington Capitals know what it is.

I’d like to give a special shout out to the two ladies who sat behind me during Sunday’s game. Within two minutes of the first period starting, I knew it was going to be a very long three periods.

You see, these two ladies were new fans. They were at the stage where they know a good chunk of information about the game so that they sound like they know what they’re talking about, but what they’re saying doesn’t make sense to the fans around them. Also, they didn’t need to talk so loudly when they’re sitting four inches away from each other. I do love to see new fans getting into hockey, but not when their commentary is going on constantly throughout the game right behind me.

I’m giving them a special shout out because they had two great but horrible comments I just had to write down. The first one was a trivia question during a commercial break that had to do with a hockey franchise moving for a year before it was shut down way back in the 1930s. One of the choices just so happened to be St. Louis. One of the ladies behind me exclaimed, “St. Louis has a hockey team?!”

It gets better. I have no idea what the context of this next comment was, but it was uttered during the third period and had me nearly turning around to talk some sense into them. And I quote: “Maybe it’s just that Swedes can’t play defense.” I’ll let you ponder that one over.

Overall, for a trip made solely for watching hockey with friends, it was entertaining, even despite the fact that the Capitals weren’t as dominating as they were the last trip I made out there. Here’s hoping their game shapes back into what it used to be, or becomes something even better.

Christina Roberts
NHLHS Detroit Red Wings Correspondent
Twitter: @franzenmuth
Email: christina.roberts@nhlhotstove.com