164 goals and secondary scoring

The Caps have 164 goals this year. Of that total, Alex Ovechkin has 48 (29.3 percent). Pleasant as that is, there is a flip side...one not so pleasant.

After Ovechkin, the next leading Caps goal scorer is Mike Green -- a defenseman -- with 15. Alexander Semin is the next highest goal-scoring forward with 14. Having done this in only 39 games (a 29-goal pace for a full year), one might take comfort in the fact that at least Semin can provide some scoring balance.

But the Caps are still a team that lacks consistent supplemental scoring support. Given the constant that Ovechkin seems to be, when the Caps get that supplemental scoring lift, they are formidable. When they don't...well, you get last night.

This is a problem that could solve itself if Semin can maintain or improve upon his pace after such a sluggish start due to injury. And, getting Chris Clark back could provide a lift as well. Brooks Laich has had a career year in goal scoring (nine, and counting), but getting some more out of the lower half of the forward lines would really be helpful. The trio of Matt Pettinger, Boyd Gordon, and Clark, which one doofus thought could combine for 50 goals this year, has 12 among them.

Perversely, the Caps might be in the best position in the Southeast to get such a lift from in-house sources as we move to the last 24 games of the season, depending on what their intra-division rivals do.

Carolina already has moved their second leading goal scorer (Cory Stillman, with 21), although they still have Ray Whitney (21) providing some support. Atlanta might move Marian Hossa (his 25 goals is second on the Thrashers to Ilya Kovalchuk's 39) before the trading deadline. One wonders if Tampa Bay will move Vaclav Prospal and his 25 goals in response to some controversy over his commentary that might have been construed as opinion about his coach. Then there is the matter of whether Florida will or will not move Olli Jokinen, who actually leads his team in goal scoring.

At a time of year when GMs are evaluated by fans by the ferocity with which they consummate deals, the team that stands pat might win for the others losing.