Weekly Snapshot, Oct. 31

A weekly peek at the state of the Washington Capitals.

Record/Standings Position: 7-4-0 (14 points), 2nd Southeast Division/4th Eastern Conference/6th NHL

Last Week's Games:
* Won, 3-0, at Carolina Hurricanes
* Lost, 2-1, at Minnesota Wild
* Won, 7-2, at Calgary Flames

This Week's Games:
* Wednesday vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (7:00 p.m., CSN-HD)
* Friday vs. Boston Bruins (7 p.m., CSN-HD)
* Sunday vs. Philadelphia Flyers (5 p.m., CSN-HD)

Injuries: Boyd Gordon (day-to-day), Marcus Johansson (day-to-day), Tom Poti (day-to-day), Tyler Sloan (day-to-day), and Semyon Varlamov (day-to-day).

Recent Transactions: Sent Jay Beagle and Mathieu Perreault to Hershey Bears (Oct. 31), recalled Brian Fahey from Hershey (Oct. 26), assigned Jay Beagle to Hershey (Oct. 25), recalled Braden Holtby from Hershey (Oct. 25), assigned Dany Sabourin to Hershey (Oct. 25).

Top Storylines:
* The Caps played two of their best games last week, and seem to be realizing that playing a 60-minute game is the only way to go.
* Despite not scoring much in October, Alex Ovechkin is still eighth in the league with 13 points.
* Michal Neuvirth is far and away the best goalie on the Caps -- and that doesn't seem like it'll change even when Varlamov gets healthy.

Top Line (Who's Hot?): Neuvirth (2.15 GAA, .926 save percentage, tied for a league-high seven wins); Ovechkin (seven goals, six assists); Nicklas Backstrom (six points in his last three games).

Scratches (Who's Not?): Karl Alzner (still no points), Tom Poti (injuries have limited him to just four games), Tyler Sloan and John Erskine (combined two points and cause for countless headaches).