Weekly Snapshot, Nov. 21

A weekly peek at the state of the Washington Capitals.

Record/Standings Position: 14-5-2 (30 points), 1st Southeast Division/1st Eastern Conference/1st NHL

Last Week's Games:
* Won, 4-2, vs. Buffalo Sabres
* Lost, 5-0, at Atlanta Thrashers
* Lost, 5-4 (OT), vs. Philadelphia Flyers

This Week's Games:
* Monday at New Jersey Devils (7 p.m., CSN-HD)
* Wednesday at Carolina Hurricanes (7 p.m., CSN-HD)
* Friday vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (5 p.m., CSN-HD)

Injuries: Tom Poti (day-to-day) and Mike Knuble (TBD). Total Man Games Lost: 46.

Recent Transactions: None.

Top Storylines:
* The Caps have points in 10 of their last 11 games.
* After looking pretty good against Buffalo on Wednesday night, the Caps didn't play very well in their other two games this week. They need to continue to strive for a complete effort every night.
* The Caps' 14-5-1 record through 20 games was the second-best start in franchise history (15-5-0 in 1991-92) and a point ahead of last season's pace (12-4-4).

Top Line (Who's Hot?): Alex Semin (14 goals, 12 assists); Alex Ovechkin (10 goals, 16 assists); Nick Backstrom (seven goals, 15 assists).

Scratches (Who's Not?): Varlamov (will be stuck in Hershey for a while); Tyler Sloan (still making us wonder why he's signed for next season too); DJ King (seems to be a waste of a trade).