Weekly Snapshot, Feb. 8

Record/Standings Position: 41-12-6 (88 points), 1st Southeast Division/1st Eastern Conference/1st NHL

Last Week's Games:
* Won, 4-1, at Boston
* Won, 6-5, at N.Y. Rangers
* Won, 5-2, vs. Atlanta
* Won, 5-4 (OT), vs. Pittsburgh

This Week's Games:
* Wednesday at Montreal (7:30 p.m., CSN)
* Thursday at Ottawa (7 p.m., CSN)
* Saturday at St. Louis (8 p.m., CSN-HD)

Injuries: None. Total Man-Games Lost: 164.

Recent Transactions: Recalled Michal Neuvirth from Hershey and assigned Braden Holtby to the Bears (Feb. 5); recalled Karl Alzner from Hershey (Feb. 1).

Top Storylines:
* The Caps have won 14 straight, three fewer than the Pens' NHL record.
* The Caps' dominance has stretched to a 14-point lead in the Eastern Conference on top of the ridiculous 27-point lead in the Southeast Division.
* Alex Ovechkin (first star) and Nicklas Backstrom (third star) were both honored today by the NHL for their play last week.

Top Line (Who's Hot?): Ovechkin (tops in the NHL in points by eight and goals by three -- in six or so fewer games); Backstrom (48 assists just 10 off NHL lead); Jeff Schultz (plus-37 and counting -- maybe the Caps' unsung hero of the year).

Scratches (Who's Not?): It's getting harder to pick, but... John Erskine (might the team's No. 5 blueliner right now); Shaone Morrisonn (amazing he hasn't been a healthy scratch more frequently); Karl Alzner (only because he hasn't been up with the big club as much as anticipated).