Implications of Today's Trade

Now that Scott Hannan is officially a member of the Washington Capitals, and his praises have been lauded, it's time to get down to the nitty-gritty: who is Hannan going to play with, what does it mean for the roster overall, and are there other moves coming?

The newest Cap, who is going to be wearing No. 23, should be paired with Mike Green. It's a formula that has worked well under Bruce Boudreau: an offensive-minded defensemen playing with a rearguard who tends to be a bit more conservative. Karl Alzner and John Carlson are the epitome of this combo and, although Carlson is better defensively than Green, it provides a good basis from which to start. Another possible partner is Tom Poti, but there would be too much speed lost there and that's not ideal.

The Hannan acquisition makes Tyler Sloan even less useful even though he's signed for another season beyond this one. So far, he's played in 17 games -- mostly due to the injuries that have befallen the Caps -- and continues to be the epitome of a depth player. The other person this impacts is John Erksine, who hasn't missed a game yet and is arguably enjoying one of his better seasons as a Cap.

Hannan's durability was stressed today in comments by GM George McPhee as was his shot-blocking ability. These are qualities that aren't present on the roster, which is why today's acquisition was so key. It also makes sure that depth defensemen such as Erksine and Sloan do not have to be depended on as regulars.

It's still possible -- if not likely -- that McPhee will pull the trigger again before the Feb. 28 trade deadline. Those moves may not occur until much closer to that date, but with eight pending unrestricted free agents still on the roster, and approximately $2.4 million in space under the salary cap, something else could be down the road.

The Caps' biggest need is a center, although Marcus Johansson is still getting a shot at that gig. Here's betting that at least one forward is added to the roster and, with the recent trends, the player probably has some grit mixed in with speed and skill.

Hannan Traded to Caps

Reports indicate that Colorado Avalanche defenseman Scott Hannan has been traded to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Tomas Fleischmann. Hannan is a 31-year-old shutdown defender who will greatly help the Caps as they prepare for what they hope will be a long playoff run.

Both players will be unrestricted free agents in July. This is the second straight year GM George McPhee has made a trade at this point during the season. (Jason Chimera was traded to the Caps on Dec. 28, 2009.)

More coverage coming later.

Weekly Snapshot, Nov. 28

A weekly peek at the state of the Washington Capitals.

Record/Standings Position: 17-6-2 (36 points), 1st Southeast Division/1st Eastern Conference/1st NHL

Last Week's Games:
* Lost, 5-0, at New Jersey Devils
* Won, 3-2, at Carolina Hurricanes
* Won, 6-0, vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
* Won, 3-2, vs. Hurricanes

This Week's Games:
* Wednesday at St. Louis Blues (8 p.m., CSN Plus-HD)
* Thursday at Dallas Stars (8:30 p.m., CSN-HD)
* Saturday vs. Atlanta Thrashers (7 p.m., CSN-HD)

Injuries: Tyler Sloan (day-to-day). Total Man Games Lost: 53.

Recent Transactions: Assigned Brian Fahey to Hershey (Nov. 27); recalled Fahey from Hershey (Nov. 26); assigned Fahey and Braden Holtby to Hershey (Nov. 25).

Top Storylines:
* The Caps have outscored their opponents, 12-4, over the last three games after allowing five goals in three straight games.
* Alex Semin has three hat tricks in 35 days, the fastest three hat tricks for a Caps player and the fastest in the NHL since Marian Gaborik had three in 34 days in 2002.
* Alex Ovechkin's last eight points have all been assists.

Top Line (Who's Hot?): Semin (18 goals, tied for second in the league); Ovechkin (22 assists, tied for second in the league); Semyon Varlamov (1.88 goals against average in limited action this season).

Scratches (Who's Not?): Michal Neuvirth (after losing some of his magic touch, he's battled injuries and Varlamov); DJ King (proving to be a waste of space); Jeff Schultz (hasn't quite regained his form, especially in the plus/minus category, from last season).

Varlamov's Valiant Victory

Semyon Varlamov returned from injury for the Washington Capitals and made his presence felt right away, turning away 30 shots in a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes tonight at RBC Center. The Caps snapped their three-game losing streak in the process. Nicklas Backstrom scored twice for the Caps (his eighth and ninth goals of the season) as the visitors responded after a hard practice yesterday.

The Canes' two goals were the result of lots of hard work around the net as they took control for much of the final stanza. Yet, the Caps' Brooks Laich scored on a power play and notched the game-winning goal (in a funny moment where Craig Loughlin claimed the game was "lights out" with more than seven minutes remaining and the Caps clinging to a one-goal margin).

But Varly and the boys were able to fend off the home team and capture a much-needed two points. The Caps are in an interesting spot these days: they've got the best record in the league (tussling with the Philadelphia Flyers in that department) and yet have been fending off criticism as if they've been far less successful.

The irony is that, on some nights, it seems they're not giving it their all and there's plenty to nitpick. But, tonight, it appeared that the Caps gave at least 40 minutes worth of hard work and earned a victory over a team they'll face again Sunday at Verizon Center. In the meantime, the Caps can enjoy Thanksgiving knowing that, although there's a long road ahead, there's a lot they can relish in late November.

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).

Neuvirth, Grinders Lead Caps to 4-2 Win

It is pretty rare that Matt Bradley and Jason Chimera combine for four points, while Alex Ovechkin is shut out. But that is exactly what happened tonight in the Washington Capitals' 4-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.

The Caps started the scoring when Alex Semin found a cutting Nick Backstrom on the power play at 12:31. It was really the only time during nearly two minutes of five-on-three that the home team had a great shot. And then the grinders took over.

Chimera battled his way behind the net and passed the puck between his legs to Bradley, who partially whiffed on it but got enough of the puck to poke it past Ryan Miller at 17:04.

Early in the second, Bradley raced down to negate icing and found Chimera behind the net. The winger made a beautiful feed for David Steckel, who scored his third of the season at 2:45 to give the Caps a 3-0 lead.

"Chimmer got in there and made some great plays and Brads and I just kind of mucked it up and we were in the right spots," Steckel said. "If you do the right stuff and you are working hard, it's easy to play together."

But then things got dangerous on the Buffalo power play. The Sabres' visceral Tomas Vanek drew most of the Caps towards him, and found a wide open Derek Roy, who broke through Michal Neuvirth for the visitors' first goal.

Not 48 seconds later, Jordan Leopold got lost amidst traffic in front and beat Neuvy after another defensive breakdown.

From there, though, Neuvirth and the grinders took over befor Semin scored an empty netter with 3.2 seconds remaining.

"During the second intermission, Bruce [Boudreau] talked about it," Bradley said. "This is playoff-style hockey, when you are up a goal or down a goal going into the third. I thought we locked it down pretty good in the third."

The Caps may be loaded with stars, but it's become obvious that their blue-collar workers and goaltenders will be the key whether they're truly ready when the postseason arrives.

The All-Star Voting Experiment

Unlike Major League Baseball, the NHL knows that the all-star game is an exhibition and a chance for all parties involved to have fun. So, as you've no doubt heard by now, the 2011 edition (Jan. 30 in Raleigh, N.C.) will have a whole new format: The 42 all-stars will be selected by the fans (three forwards, two defensemen and one goalie) and NHL Hockey Operations (the other 36 players) -- but the two captains (chosen by the players) will divvy up the squads.

Goodbye East vs. West. Hello Sidney Crosby's Crybabys vs. Alex Ovechkin's Gr8s. (Or something like that.)

Ovechkin, Nick Backstrom and Mike Green are the only Caps on the ballot. There's room to write in players, so one could add Alex Semin, John Carlson and Michal Neuvirth for an all-Washington ballot.

The hardest part of this process (for the non-homers) is that it's less than a quarter of the way into the NHL season and it's quite difficult to pick who truly is an all-star. But, since the game is just for fun, who cares?

Ovechkin is a virtual lock and Mr. Cleo is pretty sure there will be others joining him. But it should be noted that Ovie was the lone Caps' rep at the 2009, 2008, and 2007 games and the Caps haven't had two all-stars since the 2003 game.

For now, you can start dreaming of different combinations and thinking about possible match-ups (Semin vs. Ovechkin, for example). And remember that, in the end, the game doesn't matter.

Weekly Snapshot, Nov. 14

A weekly peek at the state of the Washington Capitals.

Record/Standings Position: 13-4-1 (27 points), 1st Southeast Division/1st Eastern Conference/1st NHL

Last Week's Games:
* Won, 5-3, at New York Rangers
* Won, 6-3, vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
* Lost, 3-2 (OT), at Buffalo Sabres
* Won, 6-4, vs. Atlanta Thrashers

This Week's Games:
* Wednesday vs. Sabres (7 p.m., CSN Plus-HD)
* Friday at Thrashers (7:30 p.m., CSN-HD)
* Saturday vs. Philadelphia Flyers (7 p.m., CSN-HD)

Injuries: Tom Poti (day-to-day) and Boyd Gordon (day-to-day). Total Man Games Lost: 42.

Recent Transactions: Recalled Marcus Johansson from Hershey Bears (Nov. 10) and assigned Semyon Varlamov to Hershey (Nov. 10).

Top Storylines:
* The Caps have points in eight straight games.
* After Friday's meeting with Atlanta, the Caps and Thrashers will have played four of their six games for the entire season series (the other two are Dec. 4 at Verizon Center and Jan. 26 at Atlanta). So far, the Caps are 2-1 against the Thrash.
* The Caps reached 10 wins in 14 games, three games faster than last year's Presidents' Troply winners.

Top Line (Who's Hot?): Alex Semin (13 goals, 10 assists, fourth in the league with 23 points); Alex Ovechkin (third in the league with 25 points); Mike Knuble (four points in last five games; four points the entire season before that).

Scratches (Who's Not?): Varlamov (still waiting to get his shot to be the franchise's top goalie); DJ King (proving to be more one-dimensional than advertised); Johansson (still adjusting to the NHL).

Caps-Thrashers Live

Welcome to Verizon Center for tonight's Southeast Division match-up between the Washington Capitals and Atlanta Thrashers.

First Period
Just 90 seconds into the game, the Caps struck first as a result of an Alex Ovechkin wrister that Thrashers goalie Chris Mason couldn't handle and found its way into the back of the net. The play was set up by Nicklas Backstrom, who got his 15th assist on the play.

The Caps continued to take it to Atlanta, and drew the game's first power play as a result. Although the extra-man advantage was a bit discombobulated, Mike Green's wrister found its way past Mason (with some help of some Thrashers' deflections) to give the Caps a two-goal lead. Eric Fehr had some nice stick work to get the puck back to Green after Mason made some nice saves earlier.

Knuble was whistled for holding at 11:19, giving Atlanta its first power play. Atlanta didn't mount a ton of pressure, but the Caps got themselves in trouble when Alex Semin was called for hooking with 48 seconds left on the PP. The Caps' resurgent penalty kill almost did the job, but Tobias Enstrom's Rich Peverly's shot took a funny bounce off the top of the net to give Atlanta their first tally of the night -- with more than a minute of power play time left. The PK kept the score at bay from there, though.

And then the Alexes struck with 1:03 left. Tyler Sloan gave the puck to Ovechkin, who took the puck up the left side and passed it cross-ice to Semin, who darted through the Atlanta zone and deked Mason out of his jock to restore the Caps' two-goal margin.

After one: Caps 3, Thrashers 1.

Second Period
The action started quickly. First, Atlanta scored when Andrew Ladd shot the puck towards the net and it hit a few Caps before finding its way into the back of the net.

Then, the Caps scored at 2:23 when Matt Hendricks deftly put back Green's shot to restore the two-goal margin. Although he hasn't scored a lot this season, Hendricks is the kind of play the Caps have been sorely missing in previous seasons. Ondrej Pavelec entered the game for Mason after Hendrick's goal.

But the lead didn't last long. Brian Little somehow got the puck past Michal Neuvirth, after Neuvy saved a Anthony Stewart shot. That's three goals in the first 3:07 of the middle frame. And it's also the result of two tired teams who aren't playing much defense right now.

John Erskine, sporting the fu-man-chu 'stache, for Movember, got into a long, drawn-out, physical fight with Eric Boulton at the side of the net as Neuvirth was handling the puck. It was hard to tell why it started, but Boulton got called for roughing onto of the coincidental fighting majors at 8:19.

On the ensuing power play, Ovechkin badly fumbled the puck at the point and gave the Thrashers a golden opportunity. Brian Little ran some interference and Ladd streaked down with nobody in sight and shot it on Neuvy, who saved the initial shot but the puck bounced all over the place and eventually up over Neuvy's head, bounced on his helmet and fell into the net. That's at least the second goal like that tonight on the Caps' netminder, who clearly does not have his best stuff tonight -- or even close to it.

The Caps had 1:19 left on their power play when Ladd Little scored, but they couldn't threaten after that. In fact, the Thrashers had more shots on the rest of the extra-man advantage than the Caps, including another breakaway. But Neuvirth kept the scored tied.

The game settled down from there in front of Verizon Center's 70th consecutive sellout for Caps games. The crowd got some more rough stuff after the Thrashers' Brent Sopel was called for holding. Fehr put a headlock on Alexander Burmistrov after he shoved Green, giving the Caps a power play and a chance to take the lead back. Green also went to the box for slashing.

The Caps' power play looked out of synch and really didn't threaten Pavelec. That was the tone for the rest of a period, where most of the action happened in its first five minutes.

(The Thrashers, by the way, are second in the league in goals on the road, averaging 3.33 per game -- behind only Boston, who has topped four per contest thus far.)

After two: Caps 4, Thrashers 4.

Note: There were two scoring changes announced during the second intermission, which are reflected via the strikethrough above.

Third Period
After a crazy first 40 minutes, the game settled down into a more normal pace. Both teams had some good chances, but nothing overly exciting. As the period progressed, the Caps began to mount more pressure but couldn't score any more goals. From a game that saw nearly no defense, the final 30 or so minutes of the contest have been a pretty solid back-and-forth contest where two tired teams have managed to somewhat be respectable -- at least in a way that was unlike the earlier portion of the game.

And then the Caps changed everything with 6:49 left. Dave Steckel carried the puck into the zone and left it on a tee for Erskine (!!) who rifled a slap shot past Pavelec to give the Caps their first goal since 2:23 of the second period and show how quickly their can strike. It also displayed the team's depth, as any of the players involved on the play have never been accused of being offensive juggernauts. It was Earkine's second goal of the year, and the second and third assist for Steckel and Bradley, respectively.

From there, the Thrashers picked up the pressure and started to tilt the ice back in their favor. But this is the time of the game when Neuvirth tends to pick it up, and he showed yet again that he has the make-up to go far in the NHL. Yes, he let in some very soft goals, but as the game wore on, he got stronger and enabled the Caps to thrive.

The Thrashers pulled Pavelec with about 1:30 left in the game and then took a timeout with 54.6 seconds left after the Caps iced the puck trying for the empty net. The Thrashers mounted a shot, but the Caps corralled it and Steckel iced it with 36.3 seconds left to give the Caps their sixth win in seven tries.

Final: Caps 6, Thrashers 4.

Other Hockey Headlines

So much coverage around these parts focuses on the Washington Capitals, so it's easy to miss what's happening around the league. Some early storylines:

* The Pittsburgh Penguins (7-8-1, 15 points) miss Jordan Staal: The Caps' biggest rivals are built around their three centers (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Staal), and taking away part of the trio has hurt them on both ends of the ice. Crosby is up to his usual tricks, but Malkin has just 12 points in 15 games and is a horrid minus-five. Additionally, their goaltending is so bad that career backup Brent Johnson is 6-2 with a 2.11 goals against average, while Stanley Cup-winning Marc-Andre Fleury is 1-6 with a 3.55 GAA. Ouch.

* The New Jersey Devils (4-10-2, 10 points) are old and broke: Martin Brodeur has suffered from injuries and has a pedestrian .904 save percentage with a decent 2.70 GAA. Their top point-getters (Jason Arnott, Jamie Langenbrunner, Patrik Elias) have just nine points each and $100 million man Ilya Kovalchuk has just eight. Don't forget the team has a minus-24 goal differential. And, they can't do anything about it because they've got no room under the salary cap.

* The St. Louis Blues (9-2-2) and Los Angeles Kings (10-3) are for real. Yes, the Kings made the playoffs last year, but they didn't advance past the first round. The Blues, though, are riding Jaroslav Halak (1.79 GAA) -- who clearly hasn't lost his magic touch and has a great team around him. The Kings have their own netminding stud in Jonathan Quick (1.64 GAA). Both look like they might threaten for a top seed out West come March and April.

* The Caps are still really good. The red, white and blue is dissected and spit upon around these parts, but let's not forget that they've got (heading into tonight's games) the most points in the league, the most wins, the most goals per game, the ninth-fewest goals against per game, the 10th best power play and penalty kill, and the second-highest goal differential.

Perception vs. Reality

Some issues surrounding the Washington Capitals that need to be addressed.

Perception: Alex Semin is off to a strong start and has changed his playing style for the better.

Reality: We've seen this act before. Last season, for example, his 40 goals were scored in just 28 games -- and that doesn't even address his disappearance during the postseason. That includes just seven goals in November and December combined.

In 2008-09, his 34 goals were scored in -- you guessed it -- 28 games, including five goals in December and January. In 2007-08, his 26 goals were scored in 25 games, and he didn't score his 10th until mid-January. Needless to say, he's a streaky scorer and this pinnacle could become a nadir very quickly.

Perception: Alex Ovechkin is the best clutch goal-scorer in franchise history.

Reality: True, but by not as wide a margin as one would think. Ovechkin boasts the most career overtime goals (eight) of all Caps, but Mike Green has five, tied for second in Caps history with Peter Bondra and Kelly Miller.

Perception: John Carlson is a leading candidate for the Calder Memorial Trophy for rookie of the year.

Reality: Only six defensemen have captured the honor since the hardware was first doled out after the 1936-37 season. Those young chaps include Raymond Bourque, Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin, Gary Suter and last year's winner, Tyler Myers. It's not impossible, but history isn't on his side.

And for those that think that one of the Caps' young goalies might win it, only 14 netminders have been bestowed with the honor.

Perception: The Caps are allowing fewer goals overall and while shorthanded, but scoring fewer on the power play.

Reality: Compared to last year, this is absolutely true. The Caps' power play is converting at 20 percent, not too much below last year's record of 25.23 and 25.22 from the preceding year. The penalty kill is seventh in the league at 86.7 percent, while 2.43 goals allowed per game is eighth. (Last year, the Caps permitted 2.77 goals per game and were a horrid 78.8 percent on the PK.)

But open up the franchise record book, and there's still a long way to go. The fewest goals allowed was in 1994-95 (a shortened season), when the team let in just 120 in 48 games. (The team has allowed 34 goals in 14 games this time around.) Over the course of a full season, that record number swells to 194 (1999-2000) and 202 (1997-98).

The worst Caps' power plays in franchise history were in 1977-78 (12.2 percent), 1974-75 (12.9 percent), and 1976-77 (13.3 percent). The best penalty kills were in 1997-98 (89.2 percent), 86.7 (1983-84) and 86.23 (1999-2000).

The not-so-coincidental part of this is that the Caps made the Stanley Cup finals in 1997-98, when they didn't allow a lot of goals and had a great penalty kill. Case closed.

Weekly Snapshot, Nov. 7

A weekly peek at the state of the Washington Capitals.

Record/Standings Position: 10-4-0 (20 points), 1st Southeast Division/1st Eastern Conference/2nd NHL

Last Week's Games:
* Won, 4-3, vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
* Won, 5-3, vs. Boston Bruins
* Won, 3-2 (OT), vs. Philadelphia Flyers

This Week's Games:
* Tuesday at New York Rangers (7:30 p.m., Versus-HD)
* Thursday vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (7 p.m., CSN-HD)
* Saturday at Buffalo Sabres (7 p.m., CSN-HD)
* Sunday vs. Atlanta Thrashers (5 p.m., CSN-HD)

Injuries: Tom Poti (day-to-day) and Semyon Varlamov (day-to-day). Total Man Games Lost: 36.

Recent Transactions: Assigned Marcus Johansson to Hershey Bears (Nov. 6), assigned Brian Fahey to Hershey (Nov. 4), recalled Fahey from Hershey (Nov. 3).

Top Storylines:
* The Caps had a perfect week and have started to demonstrate the type of play that will be essential once the postseason arrives.
* Braden Holtby looked solid in his first NHL start today and had lots of help from a stingy defense.
* Alex Semin's play is much better lately, which probably is due to the fact that he's in a contract year.

Top Line (Who's Hot?): Semin (nine goals, six assists); Alex Ovechkin (third in the league with 18 points); Nicklas Backstrom (eight points in his last four games).

Scratches (Who's Not?): Tom Poti (injuries continue to cost him valuable time), Semyon Varlamov (injuries are taking away what could be his season to become the franchise's true No. 1 goalie); Johansson (demoted, but could turn out to be a blessing in disguise).

Caps-Maple Leafs Live

Welcome to Verizon Center, where the Washington Bullets/Wizards have been converted to red, white and blue and revamped as part of Ted Leonsis' other rebuilding project. Michal Neuvirth is in net for the Washington Capitals against the Toronto Maple Leafs, fresh off being named rookie of the month for October. Karl Alzner and John Carlson are back together and the newly created second line of Brooks Laich, Mike Knuble and Tomas Fleischmann are starting.

First Period
The Caps nearly struck in the first 30 seconds, but the net was dislodged before the puck crossed the net. Upon review, the call stands. Those same 30 seconds saw the "weagle" projected onto the ice from the pregame festivities.

The game got off to a slow start from there, with the teams trading decent chances but nothing spectacular. Alex Semin had the best chance with a nice slapper that was saved but Jonas "The Monster" Gustavsson.

But DJ King brought the crowd to their feet with (another) fight, this time squaring off against fellow goon Colton Orr. They tussled for about five minutes, and the STC judge called it a draw. King might set a record for fighting in every game in which he appears. That might be an exaggeration, but this is his fifth game and his second fight. (With no other appearances on the scoresheet.) You do the math.

From there, the Caps did a good job of controlling the shots-on-goal marker (up 6-2 at the second TV timeout). They got close to scoring when Nicklas Backstrom found Alex Ovechkin on a semi-breakaway but the Leafs got back and Gustavsson made a pretty easy save.

Nikolai Kulemin (on the Leafs' third shot) made about 17 dekes around most of the Caps and beat Neuvirth low and to the corner to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage. It looked like a comedy of errors meets Bad News Bears on the same play. Unfortunately, Neuvy has allowed one of those against the Ottawa Senators, but the Caps won that night in overtime.

Semin was called for slashing at 19:05, giving either team their first power play of the night. These are the kind of penalties that plague the enigmatic winger. The Caps PK did a good job to keep the Leafs at bay.

The first period continues to be the Caps' enemy. Yes, they've won seven games this season, but have been outscored 13-5 during the initial 20 minutes of the game. They've got to change that pronto.

After one: Maple Leafs 1, Caps 0.

Second Period
The Caps killed off the rest of the Leafs' extra-man advantage and were able to get a power play of their own not too much later. And they made it count. With about 30 seconds left in the advantage, Semin passed the puck down low to a cutting Mike Green, who deposited it past Gustavsson for his second goal of the season (and the Caps' third home power play goal). It was one of the rare back-door cuts that's worked this season. It also was a more energetic two minutes, showing the Caps are starting to play much better more consistently -- well, in the final 40 minutes of a game anyway.

The Caps got a Grinder Special at 10:35 when Matt Bradley carried the puck into the zone and passed it to the boards. Boyd Gordon picked it up and fired it to the net, where Jason Chimera poked it past Gustavsson to give the Caps a 2-1 lead.

And as the goal was being announced, the Caps struck again when John Carlson shot the puck towards the net and Fleischmann tipped it past Gustavsson. The play started when Laich dumped it in, chased it down and then got it back to Carlson. There were just 43 seconds between scores.

Taking away some momentum, Semin got called for hooking to put the Caps a man down. It's Semin's second penalty of the night on similar ticky-tack plays. The Caps PK did the job, though, maintaining their two-goal advantage.

The Caps are starting to take control and have the Leafs on their heals. But they need to keep up the pressure and try to put the game away sooner rather than later. But they got called for another penalty at 15:57 when Dave Steckel was sent to the box. The Caps' PK, which was fourth in the league coming into the game, continued to help the team and kept the margin at two. The red, white and blue have only allowed five power-play goals this season and, in fact, have scored one shorthanded this season.

Coming off the PK, they almost scored on a two-on-one with Ovechkin and Backstrom, but the puck went just wide. Meanwhile, Neuvirth has been solid (if not great) since giving up that quacky goal in the first period while the rest of the team was arriving late.

The Caps got a late (with just 8.1 seconds left) power play, when Luke Schenn made his second trip to the box of the night. The red, white and blue will get 1:52 at the start of the final frame to pad their lead.

After two: Caps 3, Maple Leafs 1.

Third Period
The Caps couldn't score on the power play and then watched their lead get cut in half. On a seemingly harmless cycling by the Leafs, Tomas Kaberle unleashed a wicker wrister top shelf past Neuvirth (with tons of traffic in front of the net) to make it 3-2. It was his first goal since March, but he's only played 18 games during that span. Let's hope the missed opportunity on the power play doesn't come back to bite the Caps.

And it didn't take long to get the verdict. Right after a face-off in the Caps' zone, Mike Komisarek threaded the puck between two Caps to Kris Versteeg, who broke in on Neuvrith and beat him between the legs. Ovechkin was about to get called for slashing on the play, but instead, the Leafs scored 48 seconds apart to wipe away all of the Caps' hard work in the middle frame.

It's another indication that the Caps lack a killer instinct against a lesser opponent. Instead of being up three goals (if they had scored on the power play), they're locked in a tie game with 13:51 left. The crowd may be unleashing the fury, but the Caps have yet to be able to do that as often as needed against teams that are not in their class.

And the train wreck continued as Eric Fehr was called for tripping at 6:28, giving the Leafs their fourth power play of the night. It didn't take long for the Leafs to take the lead. Kaberle fired the puck into a mountain of players in front of Neuvirth and Tyler Bozak poked it into the net to give the visitors their first lead since the first period. It's a complete letdown for the Caps, who haven't allowed four goals since Oct. 21, a nasty 4-1 loss at Boston.

Coming into the game, the Caps were 4-0 when leading after two periods and the Leafs were 0-5-1 when trailing after 40 minutes. Regardless of what happens tonight, there's no excuse for the Caps tonight. The Leafs played last night and are badly outworking the home team in the final 20 minutes. The red, white and blue was up 3-1 and should have put away Toronto. But instead, they let off the gas and let a tired team dominate them and score three times. This might be one of their lowest points of the young season, after a great second period.

The Caps are getting a chance at redemption, though, as Brett Lebda was sent to the box at 13:44. And they did it. Ovechkin wound up for a huge slapper, which was stopped by Gustavsson. But the goalie came out of the net and Laich was able to nudge it to Semin, who poked the puck into an open net and tie the game at 14:22. It's the Caps' second power-play marker of the game and their eighth of the season (but fifth in the last two games).

Despite some late pressure, the score stayed stagnant and the game is headed to an extra session.

After three: Caps 4, Leafs 4.

Overtime
Semin and Laich started off the extra session with Green and Jeff Schultz. It was not a pretty minute. But it got better from there. Ovechkin broke into the Leafs' zone and was a one-man rush and drew a penalty on Clarke MacArthur to give the Caps a power play 1:55 into OT.

The PP was a shooting gallery on Gustavsson, but the Caps couldn't beat the Monster. Most of the shots were from further away, and there really wasn't anybody in front of the net. That being said, there were some might good shots and the Caps had numerous chances to win. But instead they're going to their first shootout of the year hoping to avoid taking a overtime loss for the first time.

After OT: Caps 4, Leafs 4.

Shootout
The Caps will shoot first.

Backstrom: no goal.
Phil Kessel: no goal.
Ovechkin: goal (five-hole with a new move, it seems).
Kulemin: no goal.
Semin: goal on a slapper.

Final: Caps 5, Leafs 4.

Verizon Center Needs More Banners

Ted Leonsis has brought the ownership style he's employed during his tenure as Washington Capitals boss to the Washington Wizards. He's helped the team connect with history and improve the Verizon Center experience.

But there's one thing he hasn't done yet: retire the numbers of Peter Bondra and Olie Kolzig. The latter attended Caps Convention this past year, while the former is a mainstay on game nights. Both of their numbers (No. 12 and 37) are out of commission and won't ever be worn again.

Leonsis is on record as saying that Bondra's number will hang from the rafters one day. He also hinted around the time Mike Gartner's No. 11 was retired that we might have to wait a bit. Well, it's been two years and the time is now.

Over the last couple months, the Verizon Center banners have been rearranged and look far better than before Leonsis controlled the arena. They've got the red, white and blue of the Caps and the Wizards' lone NBA championship banner is now isolated at one end of the arena. The rest of the then-Bullets' banners have a nice spot along with Georgetown's various accolades. The Mystics' silly attendance banners have been removed.

Other than a Caps' Stanley Cup championship banner (which some say may come this spring), the only thing missing are banners for two of the best Caps ever. There's no time like the present to add Nos. 12 and 37 to the list of retired numbers.