On Saturday, Harry joined the Habs360 radio show and podcast in Montreal to talk about the Capitals game with the Canadiens that day, Alexander Semin, and the trading deadline.  Have a listen by clicking here.  The segment starts at the 15 minute mark.

Harry Hawkings is s college student who covers the Caps for RtR.  Follow him on Twitter here.

The Washington Capitals defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-0 on Saturday afternoon, backed by a 30-save shutout by Tomas Vokoun.  Dennis Wideman, Matt Hendricks, and Alexander Semin scored for the Capitals, who won their first road game in more than two weeks, their previous win coming inside the Bell Centre as well, also by way of a 3-0 shutout.  With their win, the Capitals are now one point back of the Panthers for the Southeast Division lead, but the Cats hold a game in hand.

The Capitals got off to a good start, forechecking well and getting some chances on Peter Budaj.  Slowly, however, the home team began to gain some momentum, getting their electric crowd engaged.  But it was the Capitals who broke on top after less than ten minutes when a Dennis Wideman point drive floated its way through the Canadien defense and over Budaj's shoulder.  After Wideman's tally, the Caps continued to carry the pace of play, and earned a power play with four minutes left in the period.

Given this chance to put some distance between them and their opponents, however, the Capitals were unable to convert.  They got great pressure and zone time early, but sputtered near the end of the two minute power play, even taking an offsides call.  Despite their failed power play, though, the Caps were able to keep their lead heading into the intermission.

Montreal came out hard in the second period, forcing turnovers off a forecheck and keeping possession in their attacking zone for long periods.  The Canadiens got some tough shots on Vokoun, too, but the veteran managed to hold the fort well through the early going of the middle stanza.  But even as the Habs continued to control play, the Caps did little to attempt to attack, instead sitting back on their hosts, and were bailed out by a brilliant Tomas Vokoun with nine minutes gone.  Right after that save, Troy Brouwer was sprung on a breakaway, and a beaten Peter Budaj threw his stick to stop Brouwer.

The ensuing penalty shot was stopped by the Slovak goaltender, but Washington was immediately given a power play after a tripping call.  Predictably, however, the Caps' power play was listless and achieved nothing.  Feeding off a great penalty kill and a saved penalty shot, Montreal began to push once more and almost equalized several times before drawing their first power play with just under four minutes left in the period.  The Caps were able to kill of the minor to Mike Knuble effectively, and the period closed still 1-0 in Washington's favor.

Clinging to their advantage, Washington again allowed the Habs to start controlling the game in the early parts of the third period.  But Vokoun was able to weather the storm, and the Caps caught a huge break when a Brooks Laich net stuff squeaked out into the slot and Matt Hendricks banged it home into an open goal.  Now with a two goal lead to protect, the Capitals went completely in to their shell.

With just over eight minutes left, Alexander Semin was sprung on a breakaway and hooked from behind, giving the Caps their second penalty shot of the afternoon.  Semin converted with ease, walking in and blasting a slap shot, from the hash marks, over Budaj's shoulder to make it 3-0.  Now firmly ahead, the Caps strolled down the final eight minutes and skated away 3-0 winners.

Observarions:

Alexander Ovechkin was average in his return from a three-game suspension.  The russian winger was blanketed by Hal Gill all game long and despite an early physical presence, was not overly involved.  He needs to shoot more, as always, but having some rust after a nearly two-week layoff is understandable.

This was a game the Capitals absolutely needed to win.  Thankfully, they did.  It wasn't particularly pretty and it was against an absolutely terrible team, but they got the job done, picking up two huge points on the road.  Now, they have to do it against the Bruins, who are about a hundred times better than the Habs.

The Capitals play the Bruins at 12:30 tomorrow afternoon.

The Washington Capitals were on ice Friday morning for practice as they prepare to meet the Montreal Canadiens in the Bell Centre Saturday afternoon.  Some updates from Kettler Capitals Iceplex:

Mike Green once again skated with his teammates during practice, the fourth consecutive day he has worked out on ice.

With recent call-up Keith Aucoin in the fold and Cody Eakin out of it, the lines looked a little bit different: Ovechkin-Johansson-Semin, Hendricks-Laich-Brouwer, Chimera-Perreault-Knuble, and Aucoin-Halpern-Ward.  Joel Rechlicz and Jay Beagle were in powder blue jerseys, which usually signifies healthy scratches, or the "fifth line."  However, after practice, Dale Hunter announced that Rechlicz is on waivers, on his way down to Hershey of the AHL.  Where he belongs.  Glad that experiment is over.

Nicklas Backstrom did not skate again today and has to be at least several weeks away from returning to active duty.  Man, is this getting bad.

That's all for now.

Information from Sky Kerstein was used in this post.

The Washington Capitals were on ice Thursday at 12 noon for an optional skate following their 4-2 loss to the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night.  Some updates from Kettler:

Mike Green skated today, as he had done on both Wednesday and Tuesday, according to a Capitals spokesman.  Green said after the skate that he feels good, and is already noticing the positive effects from his surgery.  The defenseman mentioned that he feels he is on track to return within his original projected timeframe, which means he could see game action in 2-4 weeks.  This is certainly great news.

Only eight other Caps skated: Ovechkin, Schultz, Erskine, Beagle, Eakin, Vokoun, Rechlicz, and Ward.  Dale Hunter also indicated after the skate that Nicklas Backstrom is progressing and that he "feels better" but that you cannot rush concussions.  Which we know already.

That's all for now.

Information from Sky Kerstein was used in this post.

The Washington Capitals fell flat again on Wednesday night, failing to capitalize on a big opportunity to beat a team behind them in the playoff standings, falling to the Florida Panthers 4-2 inside BankAtlantic Center.  The Capitals were sunk by two Mikael Samuelsson goals, both soft.  Michal Neuvirth was below average for the Caps, but Brooks Laich scored and John Carlson scored his first goal since December 7th in another demoralizing loss.  If the playoffs started today, the Capitals...would not be in them.  Let that roll around in your head for a second.

The game got off to a painfully slow start, with little offensive flow or action in the opening seven minutes, as one team had played the night before and the other had not played in over a week.  Finally, with a little over five minutes left in the first period, there was some action, though it wasn't good for Washington, as they were sent to the penalty kill.  Though the Caps were able to kill off the minor, the Panthers certainly began to buzz the net more, forcing Michal Neuvirth into making some very nice saves to keep the game scoreless.  Jeff Halpern hit the post off a rush with less than a minute remaining, but ultimately the period closed tied at zero.

The Panthers broke the ice first in the second period, as Mikael Samuelsson beat Neuvirth with a shot from the red line; a terrible goal for the Czech to give up in such a huge game.  It got even worse a quick period of time later, as Dennis Wideman was boxed for delay of game.  DC was able to kill off the minor, but the Panthers kept up their offensive pressure until the Caps got their first power play with 10:42 left in the middle frame.

But ten seconds after the power play started, it was over as Sean Bergenheim broke loose with a 1-on-1 with John Carlson, which the defenseman countered with a stick in the face.  He was called for high-sticking to negate the man advantage.  Somehow, though, the Caps managed to equalize the game with a great goal from Brooks Laich, who beat two defenders down low and then sniped top corner on Clemmensen.  Florida soon began to outwork the Caps again down low, controlling the pace of play.  Thanfully, though, the period ended still tied at ones.

The third period started off slowly again, with neither team generating a ton of offensive momentum at the start, but that changed when the Capitals were called for goaltender interference with 16 minutes left in the frame.  Predictably, the Panthers scored immediately, with Mikael Samuelsson putting one through Neuvirth's legs, another weak goal, to put the Caps in a huge hole.  Soon after, they were awarded a power play of their own, but could not convert on it, keeping the deficit one.

With ten minutes left in the period, the Panthers scored again, as Stephen Weiss barreled through Neuvirth in a goal that was originally waved off but reversed following a video review.  Now desperate, the Caps made a push late in the game to make it a better looking score, and got one past Clemmensen when John Carlson blasted one under the crossbar.  Nevertheless, the Panthers iced it into an empty net soon after, and the Caps ended up in ninth.  My word.

Observations:

Same old same old from your Washington Capitals.  They had a chance, a great chance, to put some distance between themselves and the Panthers for first place in the Division, and guess what?  They...didn't.  They were lazy, they were slow, and they didn't shoot the puck when they needed to.  It's depressing.  The Capitals are spinning their wheels, and there is no immediate reason to think they will stop any time soon.  If you think otherwise, you're crazy.  Sorry.

John Carlson is in some kind of funk.  He's been making terrible decisions almost nightly and has been on the ice for more than 60% of the goals allowed during Dale Hunters tenure.  I really hope this is just a sophomore slump; it's getting really hard to watch from such a talented player who was so great earlier in the year.  Yeah, he scored.  I still don't care.  He needs to break out.

Michal Neuvirth is not doing himself any favors.  He was exceptionally terrible on the first two goals; you cannot let in softies like that in a game of this magnitude and expect to win.  Or play, for that matter. Expect Neuvirth to get his butt stapled to the bench for the foreseeable future after this one.  I hope that people can handle this.

The Capitals will practice at Kettler tomorrow before a weekend doubleheader against the Canadiens and Bruins.  Washington has to win both of those games.  Will they win either one?  Um...

Harry Hawkings is a college student who covers the Caps for RtR.  Follow him on Twitter here.

The Washington Capitals were on ice Monday afternoon at 2 PM as they returned from the All-Star break with a practice in preparation for Tuesday's matchup with the Lightning.  Some updates from Arlington:

Dennis Wideman was the only healthy Capital who took the day off, getting some time to rest following his participation in All-Star weekend.

The lines were as follows: (Ovechkin) Johansson-Perreault-Semin, Hendricks-Laich-Brouwer, Chimera-Halpern-Knuble, and Beagle-Eakin-Rechlicz-Ward.  Related: if the recall of Joel Rechlicz leads to Joel Ward being healthy scratched, I give up.

Nicklas Backstrom again did not skate with his teammates, and did not work out on ice at all during the All-Star break.  The clock is ticking on George McPhee making a move for a center, and the wait is becoming excruciating.  Time to make the move now.

That's all for now.

Per a team release, the Washington Capitals have signed forward Joel Rechlicz to an NHL entry-level contract and recalled him to Washington from the Hershey Bears.  Rechlicz leads the AHL in PIMs this year with 184 and has two points, a goal and an assist.  Color me puzzled - it seems like a waste of salary cap space for a player who has averaged 4:18 of ice time per game in his career in the NHL.  It screams Dale Hunter, and that's not necessarily a good thing.

The Capitals have also recalled Cody Eakin from the Bears.  Eakin has played most of the last three months in Washington, but spent the All-Star break in Hershey getting consistent playing time.  This move makes sense, obviously.

Washington practices at 2 PM on Monday; both players will partake in the skate.

Now, I don't know how the legality of this works, if it's the players union who should pursue action, Alexander Ovechkin or the Washington Capitals, but looking at the CBA Brendan Shanahan's ruling definitely violated the CBA. Ironically, it's the video he released that's the evidence of this violation.

Of course, I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not talking about whether he should or shouldn't have been suspended, but rather, that Shanahan and the NHL actually violated the CBA. So for that purpose I ask that you try to put aside your predispositions for a moment and try not to focus on whether he should, or shouldn't have been suspended. This is more about the rights of the players and the adherence to the CBA.

Some exciting news just arrived from our friends at Defending the Blue Line.  As if rolling out a spiffy new and improved website earlier this week wasn’t big enough news (Click here to check it out!), they’re also in the running for a pretty big award.  The White House (yeah, that one) has named DTBL one of 20 finalists in a competition to recognize a non-profit organization that supports military families.   As we’ve mentioned a time or two before, Defending the Blue Line’s misson is to ensure that children of military members are afforded every opportunity to participate in the game of hockey.  The Washington Capital’s Matt Hendricks is a big supporter of DTBL, and he’s hoping the DC faithful will rally behind him for this cause.

The competition is being decided by public vote, so head on over HERE , register (really, it only takes a minute) and vote for DTBL.  You can vote once a day, so come back as often as you can and keep the votes rolling in.  Hendy’s Heroes needs you (and you wouldn’t want to let Mr. Hendricks down, would you?)!

I mean seriously. Look at the guy.

Well, that was unexpected.

The Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins entered Tuesday night’s game at Verizon Center on polar opposites of the momentum spectrum.

The Bruins, the defending Stanley Cup Champions who have rolled all season and have a ridiculous plus-71 goal differential, were coming off a 6-5 win over the Flyers on Sunday.  The Capitals, owners of a minus-three goal differential, had lost three of four, struggling to find consistency all season.  They were missing a full third of their payroll and their three biggest stars.

The script was set perfectly for a Boston Massacre, as it were.

So, naturally, the Capitals were 5-3 winners in what was a huge victory heading into the All-Star break.

No, the Capitals did not execute an excellent game plan; they did not beat down the most physical team in the NHL with aggressive forechecking.  They were out-muscled along the boards often, made silly passes, and were dominated for stretches by a clearly superior hockey team.

Instead, they rode a hat trick from tiny Mathieu Perreault, who was playing on the top line for the second game in a row to help compensate for the loss of Ovechkin, to their biggest win of the season.

“This is the best feeling ever,” said a red-eyed Perreault in the locker room afterwards.  “Getting three goals and we win the game, this is awesome.  This is what you dream of.  You dream to play in the NHL, but when you score three goals, it’s even better.”

Washington got lucky on several of their goals, including Cody Eakin’s and Perreault’s first.  They got very lucky with several Bruins chances in their own end and, as per usual over the last month, needed a great performance from Tomas Vokoun to stay on top and win the game.

Read on.