Washington Capitals: A Look Back at a Silly Little Draft Post

We were rummaging through some odd posts we made on some other Web sites before we became respectable and established this site that is read by several each day.  One of them was our take on the 2006 draft, the one that netted the Caps Nicklas Backstrom in the first round.  We prognostified something, well...different.  Which is to say...ok, "stupid" in a number of cases...

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR! Yes, he’s back, he’s rested, he’s as incomprehensible as ever. And for your edification, enjoyment, and excitement, he brings you the only mock draft you’ll ever need. The Peerless prefaces all of this by remarking that he has seen exactly NONE of these players in person, but it’s not like he’s going to get fired for any especially boneheaded picks (but being Peerless, we don’t have to worry about that, do we?). So, here we go . . . as always, do not use these picks for any cash wagers, it just cuts into my take . . .

1. St. Louis . . . “With the first pick overall in the 2006 National Hockey League Amateur Entry Draft, the St. Louis Blues select . . . defenseman, Erik Johnson.” Well, that was a surprise, wasn’t it? He’s at the top of just about every meaningful prospect list. Who am I to argue?

Squirrelly (or just plain Silly) Trade Possibility . . . St. Louis trades the #1 pick to Philadelphia for the Flyers' first, Ben Eager, and Mike Richards. Philadelphia selects Erik Johnson. St. Louis selects Mark Mitera with the Flyers’ pick.

2. Pittsburgh . . . Phil Kessel, C. If the Penguins draft any more centers, they’ll start to look like the center-crazed Flyers. Kessel can be a wing, he can be a thigh and a breast, he can be fryer parts for all the Penguins care . . . they need a goal-scorer, and this guy also provides insurance against a Malkin no-show.

STP . . . Pittsburgh trades the #2 pick to Phoenix for the Coyotes' first and Enver Lisin. Pittsburgh selects Kyle Okposo, Phoenix selects Kessel.

3. Chicago . . . Jordan Staal, C. The Hawks would go for Kessel, if available, but The Peerless, if you’ve read this far, has Kessel gone by now. So, the Hawks go for a player with some degree of name recognition. They need it; folks are starting to wonder if the Hawks have moved.

STP . . . Chicago trades the #3 pick to Colorado for the Avalanche's first and second picks this year and a first next year. Colorado selects Staal, Chicago selects Artem Anisimov with the Avalanche pick.

4. Washington . . . Jonathan Toews, C. There is a temptation to select Niklas Backstrom with this pick, but the Caps used their top three picks last year -- Sasha Pokulok, Joe Finley, Andrew Thomas - on NCAA players. Maybe it’s a GPA thing.

STP . . . Washington trades the #4 pick to Nashville for Shea Weber and Pekka Rinne. Nashville selects Backstrom.

5. Boston . . . Niklas Backstrom, C. Boston needs forwards. Lucky for them, the best player left is a forward.

STP . . . Boston trades the #5 pick to Vancouver for Todd Bertuzzi, Vancouver’s 3rd rounder in this draft (82nd overall) and a second rounder in 2007. Why? Why not?

6. Columbus . . . Peter Mueller, C. This selection fulfills a childhood desire to dress up in a red, white and blue sweater with a bug on it.

STP . . . Columbus trades Jan Hrdina to Washington for Dainius Zubrus. The trade hockey fans across the continent have been waiting for over the past five years is finally consummated.

7. NY Islanders . . . Derick Brassard, C. Mike Milbury is seen being physically restrained by Islanders staff in his efforts to get to the podium and announce the selection of Eeku Heikkinen (The Peerless’ choice for the best name in the draft). Fans can hear shrieks of ‘EEEEEEEEK-oo EEEEEEEEK-oo” from the wings.

STP . . . The Islanders trade Alexei Yashin to the California Golden Seals for a conditional draft pick. It is three days before the league realizes there is a problem here.

8. Phoenix . . . Jiri Tlusty, LW. As Gary Bettman experiences difficulty with the microphone, Wayne Gretzky offers assistance . . . “you have to take the microphone thusly.” This is recorded as the Coyotes’ selection, and thusly, Tlusty is selected.

STP . . . Phoenix trades Paul Mara to Washington for the Capitals’ two second round picks in this draft (34th and 35th overall picks), just so Mara can hear Alex Ovechkin describe over and over how he scored that goal after Mara was draped all over him last January.

9. Minnesota . . . Kyle Okposo, RW. Seems a pretty good fit for Jacques Lemaire’s club. And, he hails from St. Paul. They can keep an eye on him while he’s at U-Minn.

STP . . . The Wild trade Marian Gaborik to Atlanta for Andy Sutton and Jim Slater, which will allow journalists to use the line all year, “goal scored by Marian (Gaborik) from Marian (Hossa).

10. Florida . . . Bryan Little, C. It would figure that Florida has four forwards (Roberts, Nieuwendyk, Gelinas, Stumpel) with an average age of 37. The team meal is the early bird at Stuckey’s.

STP . . . Florida trades Roberto Luongo to Detroit for the rights to the last production Hummer H1.

11. Los Angeles . . . Michael Frolik, RW. The sports headlines write themselves in Tinsel Town . . . “Frolik Frolics with Terrific Tally in Final Frame.”

STP . . . Los Angeles trades this pick and an opportunity to be adopted by Angelina Jolie to St. Louis for the #1 overall pick.

12. Atlanta . . . James Sheppard, LW. What with Peter Bondra a sure bet to return to DC (...two, three, four), the Thrashers need to be thinking about the future.

STP . . . Atlanta trades this pick to Carolina for Cory Stillman in the hopes that the Cup will follow him around the Southeast Division.

13. Toronto . . . Bob Sanguinetti, D. With Carlo Colaiacovo, these two constitute the most inches of jersey name plate for defensemen in the National Hockey League. If you can’t have a cup in 40 years, you can have something.

STP . . . The Leafs don’t make any trades, secure in the thought that they have all the ingredients they need to assume their rightful place as Stanley Cup champions. Leafs’ personnel are led out of GM Place in straight-jackets.

14. Vancouver . . . Chris Stewart, RW. Bye Todd.

STP . . . Vancouver trades Todd Bertuzzi to Colorado for “future considerations.” Hilarity ensues.

15. Tampa Bay . . . Jonathan Bernier, G. When the coach kneecaps one goalie with his comments and doesn’t particularly want to play the other one, you’ve got a “situation.” Tampa will be sniffing for a goalie in trade or an FA, but they need a longer term solution, too.

STP . . . Tampa trades this pick to Dallas for the Stars first in this draft (27th) and Vojtek Polak. Tampa selects Riku Helenius, Dallas picks Cory Emmerton.

16. Montreal . . . Nigel Williams, D. Montreal has a lot of young guys, but seems to lack a guy to compliment Mike Komisarek as a physical presence, and Williams seems to have more offensive upside.

STP . . . Montreal offers this pick, their first rounders for the next three years, Chris Higgins, Alexander Perezhogin, and a brick from the old Forum to Pittsburgh for Sidney Crosby. The Pens say, “no thanks,” but do offer Shane Endicott for that package.

17. Minnesota . . . Riku Helenius, G. To get in line behind Josh Harding.

STP . . . The Wild trade their butt-fugly jerseys for burlap wheat sacks with arm holes cut out. It starts a trend.

18. Colorado . . . Cory Emmerton, C. I saw a picture of this kid and wondered if his voice has changed yet.

STP . . . Colorado trades Steve Konowalchuk to Washington for Jonas Johansson and a second round pick in 2007. Konowalchuk retires to collect hub caps in Telluride.

19. Anaheim . . . Ty Vishart, D. Well-regarded prospect pool, but another defenseman can’t hurt.

STP . . . The Ducks trade the term “mighty” for another adjective . . . “dead,” “lame,” and “Peking” are rejected.

20. San Jose . . . Patrik Berglund, C. Insurance against losing a top center down the road to free agency.

STP . . . No thanks, we’re fine.

21. NY Rangers . . . Chris Summers, D. Larry Brooks would rather the Rangers just buy a forward as a long term strategy (he pretty much makes this point in his blurb in The Hockey News). Hey, here’s an idea . . . draft somebody.

STP . . . What?! Whaddya mean the Blue Jackets won’t take Colton Orr for Rick Nash?!?!

22. Philadelphia . . . Mark Mitera, D. At least he won’t be a free-standing sculpture suitable for display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

STP . . . Philadelphia trades this pick to Houston for Yao Ming.

23. Washington . . . Artem Anisimov, C. OK, it’s a stretch, but his name is an anagram for “A Vomit Seminar.” Here’s hoping that’s his effect on opponents with sick skills and not fans.

STP . . . The Caps trade the 34th and 35th picks in this draft to Vancouver for the 14th overall pick. Washington picks Nigel Williams, Vancouver picks Michael Grabner and Mike Forney.

24. Buffalo . . . Dennis Persson, D. Not a deep team at this position, now or down the road. Unless you’re thinking “Norris” and “Nathan Paetsch” should occupy the same sentence, in which case . . . seek help.

STP . . . A three way deal . . . Buffalo sends a 2-CD set of highlights of their second round playoff series to Ottawa for an autographed picture of John Muckler. Buffalo sends the picture to the Islanders for a puck signed by Ted Nolan.

25. New Jersey . . . Ryan White, C. One of the class of player referred to as “two way forward.” Calgary probably would have taken this guy with the next pick . . . nyah, nyah.

STP . . . OK, so let’s go with that. New Jersey and Calgary trade places for the cost of the Flames’ second rounder (59th overall). Calgary takes White, Jersey takes Michael Grabner with the 26th pick.

26. Calgary . . . Michael Grabner, RW. Fast and a scorer. Calgary was 28th in goals scored this year. They could use some help there, even if this guy won’t contribute for a few years yet.

STP . . . I’ll go with that New Jersey one.

27. Dallas . . . Ondrej Fiala, C. I hope you’ll pardon me for a moment. I sprained my face trying to pronounce his name.

STP . . . No, the Stars are not taking Terrell Owens off your hands, Tuna.

28. Ottawa . . . Yuri Alexandrov, D. Hey, does it matter? Really? They have the most talent in the league and go toes up every spring.

STP . . . trade some speed for heart.

29. Detroit . . . David Fischer, D. At least they won’t need to sew a new name plate on the jersey when Jiri has to leave the game much too soon.

STP . . . Kirk Maltby for a case of glucosamine to keep Chelios upright this year.

30. St. Louis . . . Nick Foligno, LW. Pretty good blood lines; his father was a gritty sort. With as much skill as the Blues need, they’ll need this, too.

STP . . . Trade this pick and the #1 overall this year, plus Timofei Shishkanov (who The Peerless picked solely on the basis of liking to say, “Timofei Shishkanov”) and a 2007 second round pick to Pittsburgh for Evgeni Malkin. Pittsburgh selects Erik Johnson and Eric Gryba.

And, the most intriguing player perhaps in this draft is a 6’2”, 180 pound center out of Russia described by Central Scouting as having “excellent vision ... soft hands - a very good passer and playmaker … very good puck control … has a good selection of shots. very good over-all skill level …Physical, tall and hard working forward.” He is the 30th ranked European skater at Central Scouting, perhaps a middle-round pick.

Viktor Tikhonov, the grandson of the Soviet coaching legend.

Happy Draft Day, Caps fans!!!

Yes...Happy Draft Day, Caps fans.  We'll be posting something about this year's draft soon.

Washington Capitals: The 2013-2014 Season -- Ten Games that Mattered: Milestones, Part II

In looking at ten games that mattered to the Washington Capitals in the 2013-2014 season, we covered those ten that mattered in the team’s fortunes, and we covered those first five in the 2013 portion of the season that mattered in terms of individual milestones.  Now, we close out the “Games That Mattered” series with games from the 2014 portion of the season in which individual milestones were reached.

February 8, 2014: Washington 3 – New Jersey 0

When the Capitals hosted the New Jersey Devils on February 8^th, it would be their last game before the break for the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.  The Caps were struggling heading into the break, stuck in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division and 13^th place in the Eastern Conference, but just three points out of seventh place.  Every point mattered.  They mattered to the Devils, too, who were tied with the Caps in standings points.  It meant that this game played like a playoff game, or perhaps just a boring game.  The teams were scoreless through two periods, Braden Holtby stopping all 19 shots he faced, and Cory Schneider turning aside all 16 shots coming his way.

Ten minutes of the third period elapsed without either team lighting the lamp.  Then, the Caps had a faceoff in the Devils’ end to the left of Schneider.  Nicklas Backstrom won the draw from Adam Henrique back to Patrick Wey at the right point.  Wey sent the puck D-to-D to Julien Brouillette at the left point.  Brouillette walked the puck down the left wing boards a couple of steps, then wristed the puck at the New Jersey net.  Martin Erat waved at the puck looking for a deflection but had the effect of distracting Schneider just enough to allow the puck to sail by his blocker and in for Brouillette’s first NHL goal.

That would be all that Holtby would need, but there were still a couple of milestones to record.  Martin Erat got his first goal of the season (only his second with the Caps) into an empty net with 1:47 left.  It was enough time for the Devils to pull their goalie again and for the Caps to make them pay again.  It started with the Devils’ Marek Zidlicky trying to backhand the puck up ice from just outside his own blue line to teammate Jon Merrill at the red line. Merrill and the Caps’ Troy Brouwer jostled for the puck, Brouwer prying it out from Merrill’s skates along the wall near the players’ bench and flipping it into the air toward the Devils’ net.  Zidlicky tried to knock it out of mid-air, but swung and missed, the puck settling into the back of the net for Brouwer’s 100^th NHL goal in the 3-0 Caps win.

Photo: Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images

March 1, 2014: Washington 4 – Boston 2

The Caps embarked on what would be a grueling March schedule by visiting the Boston Bruins, carrying a three-game winning streak to Beantown.  Things do not come easy for visitors to Boston, but the Caps did have their highly-ranked power play in their corner.  It cashed in late in the first period.  If you ordered it in a bar, you would have asked for “the usual.”  In this case it was Nicklas Backstrom off the right wing wall to John Carlson at the top of the offensive zone to Alex Ovechkin in the left wing circle for a one-timer that beat goalie Tuukka Rask to the short side.  It was Ovechkin’s 799^th career point.

He got number 800 early in the second period on another power play.  It was “the usual” with a twist.  It started when goalie Braden Holtby skated into the corner to his right to play the puck up the wall to Joel Ward.  After skating the puck down the right wing to the Boston blue line, Ward sent the puck to Marcus Johansson in the middle.  Johansson took a step in, then backhanded a pass to Ovechkin at the top of the left wing circle for a one-timer that knuckled over Rask’s left shoulder to give the Caps a 2-0 lead.

Then it was time for someone else to reach a milestone.  Mid-way through the second period the Bruins won a center ice faceoff.  The puck came back to Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk, who tried to slide it off to his partner, Matt Bartkowski.  However, Joel Ward stepped between them and stole the puck, breaking in on Rask.  As Ward skated in Rask overcommitted to his left, leaving it only for Ward to pull the puck to his backhand and slide it past Rask’s extended right pad to make it 3-0.  It was Ward’s 18^th goal of the season, setting a new career high.  It would be the game-winning tally in the Caps’ 4-2 win over the Bruins.

Photo: Alex Trautwig/Getty Images

March 5, 2014: Philadelphia 6 – Washington 4

The Caps win over Boston on March 1^st tied their longest winning streak of the season – four games.  It did not get to five.  The Philadelphia Flyers put an end to the fun with a 5-4- overtime win on March 2^nd in which the Caps blew a 4-2 lead in the third period.  The Caps had a chance to get even in the back half of the home-and-home in Philadelphia on March 5^th.

It did not go well, especially at first.  The Flyers jumped out to a 4-0 lead before the game was 32 minutes old, chasing starting goaltender Braden Holtby. Then the Caps mounted a charge.  Barely two minutes after the Flyers’ fourth goal the Caps scored on a power play.  It was an innocent enough looking play, starting when Jason Chimera took the puck off the left wing wall and passed it out to Alex Ovechkin at the left wing point.  Ovechkin passed across to Mike Green at the opposite point where Green faded back and wristed a shot at the Flyers’ net.  Goalie Steve Mason seemed to have the shot lined up, but defenseman Andy McDonald might have gotten his hand on the puck as it was sailing by, deflecting it just enough to elude Mason and get the Caps on the board.  For Chimera it was his 300^th point in the NHL. The odd part of the moment was that the goal was originally credited to Joel Ward, thus taking Chimera off the scoring line (Green and Ovechkin with the original assists).

After Alex Ovechkin got the Caps within two 6:35 into the third period, the Caps struck again just 2:50 later.  Late in a 4-on-4 situation, Troy Brouwer got things going when, from his own blue line, he sent the puck up to Jack Hillen just as he was being spilled to the ice when his skate and that of Claude Giroux got tangled up.  Hillen chased down the puck along the back wall and nudged it along to Nicklas Backstrom.  Coming out from behind the Flyers net Backstrom returned the puck to Hillen at the right wing wall along the goal line extended. 

As this was going on the Flyers lost track of Brouwer, last seen tumbling to the ice at his own blue line.  He got up and made his way back on the weak side of the play.  It was there that Hillen found him with a pass that Brouwer one-timed past Mason to get the Caps within a goal at 4-3.  For Brouwer it was his 200^th NHL point.  It would be as close as the Caps would get, though.  After the Flyers and Caps exchanged goals mid-way through the period the Flyers cashed in on an empty net goal with 52 seconds left for the 6-4 win.

Photo: Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images

March 14, 2014: Washington 4 – Vancouver 3

The Caps needed a win…badly.  Losers of five of their previous six games (1-4-1), including both ends of a home-and-home to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Caps took the ice against the Vancouver Canucks.  The Canucks were made to order for the struggling Caps.  They had a 2-4-1 record in tier previous seven games, their wins coming against hapless Calgary and Winnipeg. 

It was the Caps getting the early lead on a goal by Joel Ward.  It was matched, however, by a Vancouver goal by Jordan Schroeder barely three minutes later.  That was how the teams went to the first intermission, an interlude that would be followed by “The Evgeny Kuznetsov Show.”  Seven minutes into the second period Vancouver’s Tom Sestito made the mistake of hooking Tom Wilson, not for how Wilson might respond (he didn’t), but for what followed with Sestito in the penalty box.  A minute into the ensuing power play Joel Ward won a faceoff in the Canucks’ end back to John Carlson at the right point.  Carlson fed the puck to Alex Ovechkin for a one-timer that sailed high and wide past goalie Eddie Lack.  The puck skittered along the glass, dropping at the feet of Kuznetsov along the right wing boards.  He fed Carlson, and Carlson gave Ovechkin another chance.  He did not miss, one-timing the puck past Lack to give the Caps the lead and Kuznetsov his first NHL point.

Then fans got a glimpse of Kuznetsov’s vision and skill.  It started in the Caps’ end when Mike Green sent the puck across to Jack Hillen.  From there Hillen sent the puck ahead to Jay Beagle heading out of the defensive zone.   At the red line Beagle fed Kuznetsov at the Canucks’ blue line in front of the players’ bench.  After taking a couple of steps down the left wing Kuznetsov would up for a slap shot.  However, with Beagle charging for the net a passing lane opened up, and Kuznetsov took advantage of it, hitting Tom Wilson in stride with a pass.  Wilson snapped the puck over Lack’s glove and in to give the Caps a 3-1 lead 12:35 into the second period.

The two-goal lead did not hold up, though.  Vancouver scored a pair of goals 3:06 apart early in the third period to tie the game.  The tie would not last another three minutes.  Kuznetsov did the heavy lifting, working the puck around the back of the Vancouver net with Canuck defenseman Alexander Edler hanging on.  He put on the brakes in the left wing corner, spun the other way and hit Nicklas Backstrom at the near post.  Backstrom circled back around the Vancouver net and found Mike Green at the top of the right wing circle.  Green slid to his left, then wristed the puck through a clot of bodies past Lack to give the Caps their last lead of the night, Kuznetsov getting his third point of the contest.  When it was over, Kuznetsov had his first NHL point and first multi-point game in the Caps’ 4-3 win.

Photo: Rob Carr/Getty Images

March 30, 2014: Nashville 4 – Washington 3 (OT/SO)

April 13, 2014: Tampa Bay 1 - Washington 0 (OT/SO)

The last “game” that mattered individually among the Capitals in their 2013-2014 season is a two-fer, a reminder of the passage of time.  On March 30^th Mike Green appeared in his 500^th NHL game.  It was a long night for the nine-year veteran.  He led all players for both teams with 34:08 of ice time, the most ice time he logged all season by more than three minutes and a career high in the regular season.  He also had an assist on the evening, but the Caps dropped a 4-3 trick shot competition to the Nashville Predators.

When Nicklas Backstrom took the ice on April 13^th against Tampa Bay, it was his 82^nd game of the season.  In doing so he became the third player in franchise history to appear in 82 games four times in his career, tying Dale Hunter and Brook Laich for the all-time franchise lead.  It was the first time he played in all 82 games of a season since the 2009-2010 campaign.  For Backstrom it was as frustrating a night as it was for everyone else, given that no goals were scored by either team in the hockey portion of the evening.  He did tie for the team lead in shots, though, and won 12 of 20 faceoffs in addition to tying for the team lead in blocked shots (three).

Photo: John Russell/NHLI via Getty Images

And with that the 2013-2014 season is over so far as our look back is concerned.  It was a disappointing season, but one that had its moments, too.  Let’s hope there are more good ones than bad ahead as we look forward to the 2014-2015 season.

Washington Capitals: The 2013-2014 Season -- Ten Games that Mattered: Milestones, Part I

Last Friday we wrapped up our look at ten games that mattered in the 2013-2014 season for the Washington Capitals.  Seven wins, three losses on the road to what would be a disappointing season.  Those were games that mattered in the schedule.  But there were ten other games that mattered from an individual standpoint, milestone achievements in the careers of several Capitals that deserve a measure of recognition.  In Part I we look at the milestones achieved in the 2013 portion of the season.

October 14, 2013:  Washington 4 – Edmonton 2

It was one of those plays on which a player knows his place.  The Caps had just taken a 2-1 lead over the Oilers ten minutes into the second period when they worked the puck in the Oiler zone three minutes later.  Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin combined to work the puck off the wall in the left wing corner, nudging it out to the top of the left wing circle.  Marcus Johansson cocked his stick as if to attempt a one-timer, but yielded to Ovechkin coming off the wall. 

Ovechkin curled around Johansson and fired a shot that went wide.  Johansson, who filled in on the weak side as Ovechkin circled to the middle for his shot, continued around the net to put himself in position to collect the errant shot.  Johansson followed along the wall until he had a passing lane to Ovechkin.  His pass was one-timed past goalie Jason LaBarbera to give the Caps a 3-1 lead.  It was the game-winning goal and Johansson’s 100^th NHL point.

November 2, 2013: Washington 3 – Florida 2 (OT/SO)

The Panthers had just tied their contest with the Caps at a goal apiece eight minutes into the second period.  But just 36 seconds later the Capitals got the lead back.  It started when the Caps pressured Scott Gomez into giving up the puck in the offensive end.  Michael Latta scooped it up and turned up ice.  Latta carried it all the way into the Florida end where, from the left wing, he spotted John Carlson cruising down the middle.  Latta slid the puck across, and Carlson wristed it over goalie Scott Clemmensen’s blocker to restore the Caps’ lead, record his first goal of the season, and mark the ledger with his 100^th NHL point.

It was a lead the Caps could not hold. Tomas Fleischmann scored on a power play with less than three minutes left in regulation time to tie the game.  The Caps, however, made good on all three attempts in the freestyle portion of the contest, and they had the second of what would be a four-game winning streak to open November.

November 5, 2013: Washington 6 – New York Islanders 2

The Caps and Islanders spent the first 25 minutes going back and forth.  The Isles opened the scoring in the first period, then the Caps hit for a pair 75 seconds apart early in the second period.  The Islanders tied the game just 17 seconds after the Caps’ second goal, and it looked as if this would be a high scoring game.  It would be, but not for both teams.  Marcus Johansson gave the Caps the lead 6:50 into the second period, setting up the critical moment. 

Tom Wilson started it by skating the puck out of his own end up the left wing.  At his own blue line he backhanded a cross-ice pass to Steve Oleksy, who carried it down the right side.  When Oleksy gained the offensive zone he passed the puck back to Wilson heading for the net.  Wilson received the puck but was hooked off his skates by a diving John Tavares just as Wilson was going to shoot.  The puck followed the sliding Wilson, enabling him to fling the puck out from the seat of his pants through the legs of the Isles Josh Bailey and out to Alexander Urbom.  From the top of the left wing circle Urbom let fly with a slap shot that beat goalie Evgeni Nabokov for Urbom’s first goal with the Caps and Wilson’s first NHL point.  

The game turned into a laugher from there, the Caps carrying a 5-2 lead into the third period.  With the clock ticking down to four minutes left the Caps had one more score left in them.  With Thomas Hickey in the box on a holding penalty, the Caps had a faceoff to Nabokov’s right.  Mikhail Grabovski would take the draw, Alex Ovechkin was at the top of the circle, and Tom Wilson was on the left wing hash marks.  Grabovski fought Casey Cizikas to a draw on the faceoff, allowing Ovechkin to step up and gather the puck.  Wilson circled out and around the faceoff circle and filled in the slot.  As Ovechkin inched down the wall he spied a lane to Wilson and used it.  Wilson redirected Ovechkin’s pass past Nabokov for his first NHL goal.  Wilson would complete the “Tom Wilson Hat Trick” with a ten-minute misconduct penalty with seven seconds left.  What a night… first point, first goal, first misconduct penalty.

November 12, 2013: Washington 4 – Columbus 3 (OT)

If you are going to score a milestone goal, make it count.  That was the case when the Caps hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets in November.  The Jackets appeared to be in position to steal a game from the Caps, scoring two goals less than three minutes apart mid-way through the third period to take a 3-2 lead.  But the visitors didn’t have quite so firm a grip on that lead. 

With less than two minutes left the Caps were pressuring the Columbus net.  Nate Schmidt fired a shot from the left wing circle that was deflected, but not past goalie Sergey Bobrovsky.  Joel Ward jumped on the loose puck and sent it back out to Schmidt.  From there it was out to Mike Green at the top of the zone, then over to Jason Chimera who fired.  His shot was stopped by the skate of defenseman James Wisniewski, but Wisniewski could not find the puck.  Mikhail Grabovski did.  He jumped in and roofed a shot over Bobrovsky’s left shoulder to tie the game with just 1:45 left.  It was Grabovski’s 100^th NHL goal, and it sent the game to overtime where Alex Ovechkin would win it 94 seconds into the extra frame.

December 20, 2013: Washington 4 – Carolina 2

Mention the number “400” in Carolina, and chances are that thoughts turn to an upcoming NASCAR race.  In December, though, the number “400” had a hockey theme, and it would be shared by two Capitals.  For Mikhail Grabovski it was his 400^th NHL game.  It would not be an especially memorable one in terms of his numbers (no points in 14 minutes), but for a teammate it would be a more memorable night on the ice, if in a bit of an odd way.

The Caps took a 3-2 lead against the Hurricanes into the third period.  Neither the Caps nor the Hurricanes could add to their totals in the first 19 minutes of the period, though.  Caps goalie Philipp Grubauer turned aside all 13 Carolina shots he saw over those 19 minutes, while Carolina netminder Cam Ward was a perfect 9-for-9 on Capitals’ shots.  In the 20^th minute the Hurricanes pulled Ward for an extra attacker.  They managed to apply pressure in the Caps’ end with Eric Staal working the puck around the wall and out to Justin Faulk at the left point.  Faulk wristed a shot at the Washington net, but it was blocked in front by Martin Erat.  From the low slot in front of Grubauer, Erat flipped the puck out to Nicklas Backstrom at the blue line.  From there Backstrom threw the puck out into space in the neutral zone where Alex Ovechkin chased it down.  Shrugging off a diving attempt by Staal to interrupt his progress, Ovechkin skated in and scored the empty net insurance goal, his 400^th NHL goal scored in the building in which he was drafted by the Capitals in 2004.  He became the sixth-fastest player in NHL history to score 400 goals, doing it in 634 games.  Only Wayne Gretzky (436), Mike Bossy (506), Mario Lemieux (508), Brett Hull (520) and Jari Kurri (608) were faster to 400.  It was the 22^nd empty net goal of his career but the only one Ovechkin would have in the 2013-2014 season.

Washington Capitals: The 2013-2014 Season -- Ten Games that Mattered: Capitals at Blues, April 8th

The last of the ten games that mattered to the Washington Capitals in the 2013-2014 was quite literally the last game that mattered.  A playoff spot was still possible, and there was still a player on the brink of a momentous achievement.

April 8, 2014: Washington (35-30-13) at St. Louis (52-19-7)

Result: Capitals 4 – Blues 1

The Background:  With just four games left in the 2013-2014 season the Capitals’ post season hopes were hanging by a thread.   On the day the Caps would face the Blues, Washington was four points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the last playoff spot.  It was likely that the Caps would have to win out to have even the slightest chance at overtaking Columbus.  They were on shaky ground in terms of any likelihood of sweeping their last four games.  The Blues were waking up with the best record in the Western Conference, even after losing consecutive games to Colorado and Chicago.  The Caps came into this game on a win over the New York Islanders, but that went to the Gimmick and broke what had been a five-game losing streak for the Caps (0-3-2).

Why It Mattered:  Scottrade Center was not a good place for the Capitals to spend a hockey game.  In their previous ten trips to St. Louis, Washington had a 1-8-1 record.  On the other hand, the Blues had 28 wins at home going into this game, tied for second most home wins in the league.  The Caps played the Blues even for much of the first period, though.  Through the first 16 minutes the Blues held a 7-5 lead in shots, but the game was scoreless.  Then, with 3:37 left in the opening frame Derek Roy was sent to the penalty box for hooking Alex Ovechkin, unleashing the Caps’ lethal power play… you would think.

In the first 90 seconds of the Caps’ man advantage the Blues recorded the only two shots on goal, although one was officially recorded as being from 163 feet.  In the 91^st second, things changed on an odd play that ended in familiar fashion.  It started when Jason Chimera left the puck for Evgeny Kuznetsov along the right wing wall  Kuznetsov, occupying the spot Nicklas Backstrom would usually man, scanned the ice and tried to hit Joel Ward in the middle of the Caps’ 1-3-1. The pass was slightly off the mark, and Ward had no play but to try to stop the puck with his skate.  What he ended up doing was kicking it back to John Carlson at the top of the offensive zone.  Carlson laid the puck out for Alex Ovechkin at the left wing faceoff circle, and Ovechkin one-timed the puck past goalie Ryan Miller, off the far post and in to give the Caps a 1-0 lead that they took to the first intermission.  It was Ovechkin’s 50th goal of the season.

The Blues tied it early in the second period when Maxim Lapierre put back a rebound of a Steve Ott shot past goalie Braden Holtby at the 2:39 mark after the Caps failed several times to clear the puck out of their own end.  That might have swung the momentum to the home team, but neither team could light the lamp over the next six minutes.  It would be the Caps breaking the tie in the ninth minute of the period.  With the teams playing 4-on-4 the play started with Mikhail Grabovski and Eric Fehr heading up ice on a 2-on-2 rush.  Grabovski curled in front of Fehr and wristed a shot at Miller, but he fanned on the attempt.  He recovered the puck in stride and turned around the left wing faceoff circle, then stepped up to the faceoff dot where he fired a slap shot at Miller.  The shot beat Miller cleanly past his blocker.

The Caps added to their lead late in the second period when Nicklas Backstrom made the pipe his friend as Ovechkin did in the first period.  Backstrom worked a give-and-go with Ovechkin, starting the sequence when he passed the puck to Ovechkin on the right wing at the red line.  Ovechkin skated the puck down the wall into the Blues’ zone and waited until the defense backed off.  Backstrom eased off the throttle a bit to give Ovechkin a passing lane, and Ovechkin found him, Backstrom one-timing a snap shot off the post past Miller and in, making it 3-1.

The Caps ended any thought of a Blues comeback in the first minute of the third period.  With Jaden Schwartz in the penalty box for the Blues, Backstrom converted on the power play when he took a cross-ice feed from Ovechkin, took a step inside to change his shooting angle, then wristed the puck past Miller for game’s last tally just 16 seconds into the period.  The Blues outshot the Caps, 9-1, over the rest of the period, but Holtby turned all of them aside, the Caps skating off with a 4-1 win.

The Takeaway:  The win kept the Caps in the playoff hunt, if only briefly.  The Blue Jackets won their game against the Phoenix Coyotes on the same night, then beat the Dallas Stars on the following night to clinch the last playoff spot and eliminate the Capitals.  It meant that the Caps would be shut out of the post-season for the first time since 2007.

There was the matter of Ovechkin’s 50^th goal, though.  It was the fifth time in nine seasons he hit that mark.  Since he came into the league in 2005-2006 he had more 5-goal seasons any other player in the league, more than twice as many as Dany Heatley, Ilya Kovalchuk, or Steven Stamkos (two apiece).

For Holtby it was a fine performance in an unexpected start, given to him when his partner in the pipes, Jaroslav Halak might or might not have begged off facing his former team.  

In the end…

After this, the Caps had only to play out the string.  It was not a long string, just three games.  To their credit, the Caps went 2-0-1 in those games, the extra time loss coming in a double shutout in the season’ finale against Tampa Bay that the Caps lost, 1-0, in the Gimmick.  On this night, though, the Caps would show, if just for one more time, what was possible when the big guns – Ovechkin (1-2-3) and Backstrom (2-0-2) – were producing, and the team was getting solid goaltending (28 saves on 29 shots for Holtby).  In that sense the game mattered out of a sense of hope that the Caps could piece together more results like this in 2014-2015.

Photo: Mark Buckner/NHLI via Getty Images

Washington Capitals: The 2013-2014 Season -- Ten Games that Mattered: Bruins at Capitals, March 29th

The ninth of our ten games that mattered to the Washington Capitals in the 2013-2014 season was the end of a brutal stretch of the schedule in which the Caps would play 11 of 13 games against teams that would qualify for the 2014 playoffs.  With the Capitals among four teams tied with 80 points occupying the 7th through 10th places in the conference, it was time to treat these games like playoff games.  Who better to do it against than a team steamrolling its way into the playoffs?  

March 29, 2014: Boston (50-17-6) at Washington (34-27-12)

Result: Bruins 4 – Capitals 2

The Background:  When the sun came up on March 29^th the Capitals were in eighth place in the Eastern Conference holding the last ticket to the Stanley Cup playoffs.  Holding on to that reservation on this day would be a formidable task.  For the third time in four weeks the Caps faced off against the Boston Bruins.  This would be the rubber match of that series, the Caps winning on March 1^st and the Bruins winning on March 6^th.  Washington came into this game having played in three consecutive Gimmicks, two losses to the Los Angeles Kings wrapped around a win in San Jose against the Sharks.  Boston was coming off their 50^th win of the season, a 3-0 shutout of the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks.  Since the Bruins lost to the Caps on March 1^st they were 13-0-1 heading into this contest.

Why It Mattered: One might have thought that the Caps caught a break when Boston head coach Claude Julien called on backup goaltender Chad Johnson to face the Caps.  Trouble was, Johnson had not lost a game in regulation in more than three months dating back to a 4-3 loss against the Ottawa Senators on December 28^th when he allowed the winning goal in relief of starter Tuukka Rask.  Since then he was 10-0-1, 1.82, .934, with two shutouts in 13 appearances.

At the other end, Braden Holtby went into this game with a career record against the Bruins of 4-1-0, 2.13, .940.  This had the potential to be a goaltenders’ game.  It started that way, too.  Neither team found the back of the net in the first period, Johnson turning aside nine Washington shots, while Holtby stopped 15 Bruins’ shots.

Holtby cracked first, though, 2:48 into the second period.  The Bruins caught the Caps being out of position at the end of a Washington power play.  A slashing penalty to Carl Soderberg had just expired when David Krejci chopped the puck out of the Boston zone to center ice.  Karl Alzner could not settled the puck at the players’ bench, and the puck bounced onto the stick of Soderberg.  When Alzner’s partner John Carlson slid over to cover, Soderberg fed Jarome Iginla ceuising down the middle.  With Alzner and Carlson trapped on the same side of the ice, Iginla had a break.  Tom Wilson could not close the distance in time on the back check, and Iginla snapped the puck low over Holtby’s right pad to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.

Soderberg got one of his own just under five minutes later on a power play when he redirected a Patrice Bergeron shot through Holtby’s pads.  Less than a minute after that it was Iginla once more.  It was Johnny Boychuk sending the puck up ice this time, trying to find Krejci in front of the Boston bench.  Krejci, who was tied up with John Erskine, managed to get a stick on the puck giving Iginla a chance to move it along.  Iginla fired a shot from the right wing faceoff dot that Holtby stopped, but Iginla followed up his own shot.  With Milan Lucic’ presence at the top of the crease preventing Holtby from diving on the loose puck in front of him, Iginla retrieved it and slipped it through Holtby’s pads to make it 3-0.  It was his 30^th goal of the season making it 12 seasons he reached that mark and only the 12^th player in the last 30 years to hit 30 goals having reached 36 year of age or older.

The Caps were not entirely out of it, though.  Late in the period Washington was cruising through the neutral zone in numbers.  Mike Green was skating on his off wing when he crossed the Boston blue line.  Boston looked to have the play covered, though.  Brad Marchand cut off Green’s angle down the wall, and Jason Chimera, who was filling in the middle, looked to be covered by Johnny Boychuk.  Green sent a pass to Chimera nonetheless, but it was Boychuk’s stick that redirected the puck into Johnson’s pads.  The goalie could not secure the puck, though, and it was loose just long enough for Chimera to nudge it the last few feet to make it 3-1 with ten seconds left in the period.

The Caps could get no closer in the third period.  Patrice Bergeron restored the Bruins’ three-goal lead 13 minutes into the period when he cleaned up an unsuccessful Carl Soderberg attempt off a rebound from a shot by Dougie Hamilton.  That pretty much ended the competitive portion of the game.  Evgeny Kuznetsov scored on a severely angled shot with 55 seconds left, but it was not enough as the Bruins skated off with a 4-2 win.

The Takeaway:  The Caps started the day in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, holding one of the eight post-season slots available.  At the end of the day the Caps were in 10^th place and would not find themselves in the top eight again for the rest of the season.  For one Capital it might have been especially frustrating.  Alex Ovechkin went his 14^th straight game without an even strength goal, a streak that would eventually reach 16 games.  And, in none of those 16 games was Ovechkin on the plus side of the ledger (minus-19 overall).

It was Ovechkin who captured this game and perhaps the season in the post-game...

"It seems like we [were] afraid to do something out there, afraid to create the play and we give them easy chances.  It's details. We knew they [are a] physical team but we have to take a hit and make a play. You can see we [were] not [a] desperate team in the first two periods. We can't play like that."

Too often this season, it seemed, the Caps played like that.

In the end… 

This would be the last game that Washington played against an Eastern Conference playoff team while the Caps were still in the race for a spot.  In those 28 games the Caps compiled a record of 13-13-2.  Four of the wins came via the Gimmick, as did one of the extra time losses.  The Caps found especially difficult sledding late.  In the 2014 portion of the season they went just 4-9-2 against those eight teams, and with the loss to Boston lost their last six contests against those playoff teams (0-5-1).

This game put a period on an uncomfortable truth about this team this season.  It was not luck, it was not injury, it was not sunspots that kept the Caps out of the playoffs.  They just were not good enough.  And that’s why this game mattered.

Photo: Rob Carr/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: The 2013-2014 Season -- Ten Games that Mattered: Capitals at Sharks, March 22nd

Game eight on our journey through the games that mattered in the Washington Capitals’ 2013-2014 season takes us to the other side of the continent, to a place where momentum went to die – often – if you were a Washington Capital.

March 22, 2014: Washington (33-27-11) at San Jose (46-18-7)

Result: Capitals 3 – Sharks 2 (OT/SO)

The Background: If the Greek mythology figure Sisyphus had been a hockey fan, he would recognize the relationship between the Capitals and San Jose, California. Just like poor Sisyphus rolling that boulder up the hill, only to watch it roll back down every time, the Capitals flew to San Jose 12 times since winning there in October 1993, and 12 times they returned to D.C. without a win (0-11-1). All in all, it was 7,447 days that the Caps went without a win in San Jose. Getting one on the 7,448th day was not looking too promising, what with the Sharks having gone 12-3-1 since February 1st heading into their match with the Caps.

Why It Mattered: The teams spent the first three minutes feeling each other out, the Capitals recording the only shot on goal. The pace quickened shortly thereafter, though, with rapid bursts – four shots by the Caps in a 56 second span, three by San Jose in a 38 second span. And that was before the game was nine minutes old.

Both goalies held firm, but it would be Holtby’s sturdiness that was rewarded at the other end of the rink in the 12th minute of the period, thanks to some hard work and a nod from the hockey gods. Logan Couture tried to skate the puck out of harm’s way in the Sharks’ end but had the puck poked off his stick by Eric Fehr. Jason Chimera beat Couture to the loose puck and skated it below the San Jose goal line to the left of goalie Antti Niemi. Chimera fed the puck back out to the right wing circle for Fehr, and that’s when the hilarity started (well, it was funny to Caps fans).

Fehr leaned into a shot from the right wing faceoff dot that Niemi blocked with his right pad. However, the rebound was left in the low slot. Sharks defenseman Justin Braun got to the puck and tried to shoot it out of danger toward the left point and off the wall. What he did not count on was teammate Matt Nieto skating into the path Braun chose. Braun’s clearing attempt hit Nieto in the right leg and caromed toward the open net. If that wasn’t enough, it appeared that Braun nudged it further on its way as it was sailing through the air, essentially backhanding the puck into his own net. The gift was hardly compensation for all the grief the Caps took in this arena over the years, but it was accepted nonetheless.

This being a Caps game in San Jose, though, things could not go right forever. With just 15 seconds left in the period. Nieto and the Caps’ Jack Hillen were dueling over a puck bouncing toward the Caps’ blue line. Nieto spiked it into the corner to Holtby’s right where Mike Green recovered it. Green tried to spin and backhand the puck along the back wall to Hillen, but Nieto intercepted the weak pass. After circling from around the cage from Holtby’s left, Nieto took two whacks at the puck. Neither got past Holtby, but Holtby could not cover either attempt. The puck squirted out to Holtby’s right where Patrick Marleau banged it home with just 5.6 seconds left in the period.

After a scoreless middle frame it was San Jose’s turn to score first in a period. It started when Jason Chimera tried a shot from the right point. His attempt hit the shin pads of James Sheppard and rebounded out into the neutral zone. Sheppard jumped on the loose puck in the neutral zone and was off on a breakaway. Sheppard drew Holtby out to cover what looked to be a backhand attempt, but it was a fake. Sheppard slid the puck between Holtby’s pads along the ice, and the Sharks had a 2-1 lead five minutes into the period.

Any other time, that would have been it for the Caps in this building. But the Caps got a life from a most unexpected source. Tom Wilson started the play skating down the right wing and into the San Jose zone. Scott Hannan stood Wilson up just inside the blue line, but not before Wilson sent the puck in deep along the wall. Both men went for the puck behind the Sharks’ net, and Wilson annoyed Hannan enough for him to lose control of the puck to Dustin Penner. From behind the net to Niemi’s right, Penner sent the puck out to Chris Brown at the inside edge of the left wing circle. Brown’s shot pinballed off both Nieto and Dan Boyle before settling behind Niemi for the goal to tie the game 12:30 into the third period.

That would be all the scoring in the hockey portion of the game. After Logan Couture was denied in the first round of the Gimmick, Evgeny Kunzetsov got the Caps off to a good start in their half of the round with a laser of a snap shot over Niemi’s right pad. Holtby made that goal stand up with a save on Joe Pavelski in round two, but he was beaten by Marleau in the top of the third round. That left it up to Nicklas Backstrom in the bottom of round three. After an achingly slow walk up to the Sharks’ net, Backstrom deked Niemi to the ice and flicked a backhand past the goalie’s outstretched glove and the Caps had something they had not experienced in more than 20 years.

A win in San Jose.

The Takeaway: The win in San Jose was thrilling enough, but it capped what was the most successful California trip in team history. With a win over Anaheim and a trick shot loss to the Los Angeles Kings, the Caps went 2-0-1 on this trip. Never had the Caps won as many as five of six possible standings points on a three-game trip to California. It was an especially noteworthy achievement coming near the end of a brutal March schedule that had the Caps playing 11 games against what would be playoff teams out of 14 contests over a span of 28 days. Further, the Caps were doing it with defense and goaltending. On the three game California trip the Caps allowed only five goals, part of a stretch in which they allowed only 17 goals in eight games.

In the end…

The “Death March” of a schedule in March saw the Caps finish 6-5-4.  It was not a bad record given the quality of competition the team faced.  The California trip, which loomed so large and inspired much trepidation in Capitals Nation, turned out to be the highlight of the month.  But even with that there was a catch.  The San Jose win was followed by five straight losses (0-3-2) that effectively put an end to the Capitals’ playoff hopes.  But in this moment, slaying the monster that was a 20-year losing streak, beating the San Jose Sharks mattered.

Photo: Don Smith/NHLI via Getty Images

Washington Capitals: The 2013-2014 Season -- Ten Games that Mattered: Capitals at Penguins, March 11th

As long as Alex Ovechkin skates for the Washington Capitals and Sidney Crosby skates for the Pittsburgh Penguins, games between these teams will matter. However, one game in the 2013-2014 series meant more than the others. It is to that game we turn in the seventh game that mattered this season.

March 11, 2014: Washington (30-26-10) at Pittsburgh (43-17-4)

Result: Penguins 2 – Capitals 0

The Background: When the Capitals beat the Phoenix Coyotes on March 8th in what was goaltender Jaroslav Halak’s debut with the club, the Caps found themselves within one point of Detroit for eighth place in the Eastern Conference and two behind the New York Rangers for seventh place. If they could complete a successful back-to-back home-and-home set with the Pittsburgh Penguins, it would mean a three-game winning streak that might give the club momentum for a late season push to the playoffs. When the Caps lost at home in the first half of the set, it set up an important rematch in Pittsburgh the following night, not only for the Caps to keep contact with the teams in front of them in the standings, but to get a win against an arch rival they had yet to defeat in three tries this season.

Why It Mattered: In the first 16 minutes and change of the game there were more hits recorded (18) than shots on goal (11). Worse for the Caps, the Pens had nine of those shots on goal. Then, instead of merely being dominated, the Caps went all stupid. It started at the 16:26 mark when Dmitry Orlov collected a loose puck in the corner to goalie Jaroslav Halak’s left and threw it up ice to no one in particular. Evgeni Malkin stopped it with his skate, circled around Orlov, and made a beeline for the cage. But for a quick thinking Nicklas Backstrom, who hustled back on defense, Malkin would have had an easy set up to Taylor Pyatt all alone in the slot. Backstrom got his stick on the pass, though, and the puck skidded off to the left wing wall.

The Caps could not get the puck out of their end though, Pyatt beating Backstrom to the loose puck along the wall and nudging it back to the point where Rob Scuderi kept it in. Scuderi tried to bang the puck back down the wall, but it was deflected to the middle and onto Orlov’s stick once more. Orlov tried to move the puck up to Marcus Johansson, but there was Malkin and his skate again to stop the puck before it reached its intended target. Malkin skated down the right wing wall, turned and fed the puck back to Matt Niskanen at the right point. Niskanen sent a shot to the net that was dulled just enough by the stick of Jussi Jokinen to upset Halak’s timing on his save attempt. The puck slid through Halak’s pads and in, giving the Pens a 1-0 lead on their tenth shot of the period.

That is the way it remained for the next 37 minutes. Then, with the clock ticking under six minutes to play, Orlov was victimized one more time. This time he gloved a puck down at the left point in the Penguins’ end, but could not collect it and send it back down the wall before Lee Stempniak stepped up on him. They collided, and as they were getting untangled from each other, Sidney Crosby jumped on the loose puck and took off on a 2-on-1 break with Chris Kunitz, only Connor Carrick back on defense for the Caps. Crosby held the puck as he skated down the right side, then called his own number an instant before Carrick could poke the puck off his stick, sending a wrist shot under Halak’s right arm and into the far side of the net for a 2-0 Pittsburgh lead.

The Caps would muster some pressure in the next 5:48, putting seven of their 20 shots of the period on goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. None of them found the back of the net, though, and the Caps skated off with their second loss in two nights to the Penguins.

The Takeaway: It was the fourth loss in four games to the Penguins in the 2013-2014 season and the Caps eighth straight loss to Pittsburgh overall. For Adam Oates it would be the last game he coached against the Penguins for the Capitals, contributing a record of 0-7-0 to that eight-game losing streak. He became the first coach to complete his tenure without having beaten Pittsburgh since Roger Crozier failed to do it. We should mention that Crozier coached the Caps for only one game, a 3-1 loss to the New York Rangers on November 7, 1981.

For the Caps it was their fifth loss in six games (1-4-1) and the second time they were shut out in a span of four games. Only four teams – Nashville, New Jersey, Edmonton, and Buffalo – would be shut out more often than the Caps, who were blanked eight times in 2013-2014. In this one the big guns were all but silent. Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and Mike Green combined for three of the Caps’ 32 shots on goal. Meanwhile, Jason Chimera (6) and Jack Hillen (5) accounted for more than a third of the total shots. On the other hand, the Penguins got shots from the players from whom they wanted them. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, and Matt Niskanen (assuming a bigger power play role in the absence of Kris Letang, who was recuperating from a stroke) combined for 15 of the Penguins’ 34 shots on goal. It spoke to a fine effort by the Caps’ new goalie, Jaroslav Halak.

In the end…

The Capitals-Penguins regular season rivalry has always been punctuated by streakiness. The Caps owned the series in the 1980’s. The Penguins dominated in the 1990s and early 2000’s. The Caps had a run in the Bruce Boudreau era. Now, the Penguins are on top. But really, no wins in eight tries, just one standings point earned in an overtime loss, and getting outscored by 30-14 in the process? The current streak ties the series’ longest winless streak for the Caps dating back from November 28, 1992 through November 26, 1993 (0-6-2). The Caps still own the longest winning streak in the series with Pittsburgh, nine games from December 2, 1984 through November 20, 1985, but to give you an idea of how long ago that is, the end of the streak came in Adam Oates’ rookie season as a player in the NHL.

It was the end of a gruesome 24 hours for the Caps against arguably their most hated rival. All games against the Pittsburgh Penguins matter in Capitals Nation, but the manner in which this one slammed home the point that one team was superior, and it was not the Caps, made this one matter a little bit more.

Photo: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: The 2013-2014 Season -- Ten Games that Mattered: Capitals at Canadiens, January 25th

The sixth game that mattered in the Washington Capitals’ 2013-2014 season pitted two slumping teams against one another.  So who would be the game’s pivotal player?  One in a slump, of course.

January 25, 2014: Washington (22-21-8) at Montreal (27-19-5)

Result: Capitals 5 – Canadiens 0

The Background:  When the Capitals visited Montreal on January 25^th, they were taking on a team spinning its wheels in the mud.  Montreal was 4-6-2 in their previous dozen games and in the midst of a three-game losing streak.  That looked like a hot streak compared to the Caps, though.  Washington went into their contest with the Canadiens on a seven-game losing streak (0-5-2), their longest of the season to date and the longest since losing eight in a row in December 2010.  The resistible force was meeting the moveable force.  The question was, which team was which?

Why It Mattered:  As befits two slumping teams, the first period passed without a red light having been lit.  Not that it passed without excitement.  Montreal outshot the Caps by a 12-3 margin and out-Fenwicked the Caps by a 17-4 margin.  That’s called weathering the storm if you look at it from the Capitals’ perspective.

From the Canadiens’ perspective it was an opportunity squandered, and they paid a price for that in the second period.  The Canadiens put a down payment on that price late in the first period when Lars Eller was docked four minutes for a high-sticking double minor.  The Caps’ Nicklas Backstrom has a coincidental single minor for high sticking that knocked two minutes off the power play, but the Caps still had those two minutes to work with. 

As that man advantage was expiring early in the second period, the Caps worked the puck around the perimeter from Martin Erat on the right wing wall (in Backstrom’s place) to John Carlson at the top of the offensive zone.  Carlson snapped a long shot toward the Montreal net that was deadened by Jason Chimera at the top of the crease.  Chimera got two whacks at the puck, but goalie Carey Price turned both away.  On the second save the puck popped out to Price’s right where Alex Ovechkin was camped.  Ovechkin juggled the puck on his stick at the goal line then swatted it out of mid-air, off Price, and in to give the Caps a 1-0 lead just as the power play expired.

That goal unleashed the deluge and from the least likely of sources.  Just 79 seconds after the Ovechkin goal Washington would score again.  It started when Carlson wired a pass from the defensive zone in the direction of Troy Brouwer on the far side of the red line.  Brouwer was backing up and almost had the puck slide by, but he managed to get his stick on it where Erat picked it up with speed heading into the Montreal end.  Erat stopped at the right wing boards and let the noise clear out, then found John Erskine coming late.  Erskine shoveled an innocent looking attempt at the net that slid slowly along the ice.  Price was apparently anticipating a redirect attempt from Brooks Laich in the low slot, but Laich did not get his stick on the puck.  It slid though Price’s pads for what was a spectacularly ugly goal and a 2-0 lead for the Caps.

Barely three minutes later it was time for the fourth line to shine.  It started with Montreal’s P.K. Subban moving the puck up the wall to Brendan Gallagher, who lost the puck to Tom Wilson at the blue line.  Wilson threw the puck deep where Brooks Laich collected it.  Laich circled out and fanned on a shot attempt but regained control of the puck.  He left it for Mike Green, who sent a pass to Wilson in the left wing circle.  By this time the Canadiens were hopelessly running around in their own end and managed to lose Jay Beagle on the right side.  Wilson found him.  Beagle took the pass, stepped out, and backhanded the puck into an open net to put the Caps up 3-0.

If that wasn’t weird enough, things took a turn for the bizarre mid-way through the period.  At the Capitals’ end of the ice John Carlson circled out from behind the net with the puck.  Montreal’s Brandon Prust tried to cut Carlson off, but he was upended, it appeared, by a hook from Joel Ward.  The referee did not see it that way.  His arm went up, but to signal a delayed penalty coming to Prust for embellishment.  Play continued.  The Caps hustled the puck up ice into the zone where it ended up on Carlson’s stick.  As on the Caps’ first goal, Carlson threw the puck at the net from the top of the Montreal zone.  This time, though, it made it all the way through, sailing over Price’s glove to give the Caps a 4-0 lead and end Price’s night.  Oh, Prust’s night was over, too.  He received unsportsmanlike conduct, misconduct, and game misconduct penalties for his effort at performance art.  Add that to his five-minute major for dropping the gloves with Tom Wilson not two minutes into the game, and it was a full night for Mr. Prust.

Casey Wellman put the cherry on top of the sundae when he converted a pass from Ovechkin on a 2-on-1 break mid-way through the third period for his first goal as a Capital.  At the other end, Braden Holtby was putting the finishing touches on a 21-save shutout, his first shutout since blanking the Flyers in Philadelphia, 7-0, back on November 1^st.

The Takeaway:  What the Caps got in this game was something missing too often – a 20-man effort.  The five goals were scored by five different players.  Thirteen different Caps registered points.  Fifteen Caps finished on the plus side of the plus/minus ledger (parenthetically, Alex Ovechkin had his best plus/minus of the year, plus-3).  It was the first time the Caps recorded five even strength goals in a game since the 7-0 win over Philadelphia in November (they would do it three times in 2013-2014, the last time at Carolina on April 10^th, all three times on the road).

Most important from a larger perspective might have been the performance of Braden Holtby.  It was his first win in goal in seven weeks.  In seven appearances since beating Nashville on December 7^th, Holtby was 0-3-1, 4.20, .854.  Starting with this win Holtby would finish the season 10-3-2, 2.70, .920, with three shutouts in 17 appearances.

In the end…

The Caps stopped the bleeding of their seven-game losing streak and including this win would finish the season with a 16-9-6 record over the remaining schedule (a 101-point pace).  The damage to the season had been done, though.  The Caps would need a sustained winning streak over their last 30 games but would not get it.  Four straight would be the best that they could manage, twice.  What they provided, however, was a glimpse at what was possible with this group of players against a very good team, if struggling at the time.  And, they might have rediscovered the goaltender they thought they had when the season started, even if – given the trade for Jaroslav Halak six weeks later – they did not know it at the time.  That is why this game mattered.

Photo: Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images

Washington Capitals: The 2013-2014 Season -- Ten Games that Mattered: Sabres at Capitals, January 12th

The fifth game in our look back at games that mattered in the Washington Capitals’ 2013-2014 season provides an illustration of one reason the Capitals struggled so much to build momentum over the course of the season, an inability to win low scoring games.

January 12, 2014: Buffalo (12-26-5) at Washington (22-16-6)

Result: Sabres 2 – Capitals 1 (OT/SO)

Background:  When the Buffalo Sabres came to town on January 12^th, they were a team made to order for the Capitals.  The Capitals were in the midst of gaining momentum after enduring a four game losing streak that spilled over from the end of 2013 into the start of the new calendar year, winning consecutive games over the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Toronto Maple Leafs before the Sabres came to town. 

On the other hand, the Sabres came to Verizon Center not having won a road game in more than two months.  Since earning a 5-4 Gimmick win in San Jose on November 5^th the Sabres were 0-9-2 away from First Niagara Center as they descended on D.C.

What could go wrong?

Why It Mattered:  The last time these clubs met, in the penultimate game of the 2013 portion of the season, the Capitals had a devil of a time trying to solve Sabres' goaltender Ryan Miller.  They did not do so until the third period when a Troy Brouwer goal tied the game.  It would be the only puck the Caps put behind Miller all night, including six rounds of a shootout in a 2-1 Buffalo win.

The Caps found home ice more to their liking in their rematch against Miller, at least early. Mid-way through the first period Washington scored on a bit of a fluke play.  It started when Joel Ward laid off the puck to Jason Chimera at the Buffalo blue line.  Chimera skated the puck down the wall to the far edge of the left wing circle and wristed a pass toward Marcus Johansson heading to the far post.  The puck never got to Johansson, though.  Brian Flynn was backchecking on the play for the Sabres and had inside position on Johansson.  He tried to interrupt the pass by extending his stick into the path of the puck, but the result was to redirect the biscuit over Miller’s right pad and in, giving the Caps a 1-0 lead.

Once more, however, it would be the only puck the Caps would be able to put behind Miller.  That meant that for the Caps to win, they would have to find a way to keep the Sabres off the scoreboard unless they wanted to put their faith in trick shots again.

They did not. 

In their December 29^th meeting, Buffalo scored their lone goal with less than two minutes remaining in the second period.  On this night they would score their lone goal with less than two minutes remaining in the first period.  With the Sabres on a power play they gained the offensive zone with speed as the clock ticked under two minutes to play in the opening frame.  Cody Hodgson backed off the Capital defense and slid the puck to Matt Moulson on the left wing at the Capitals’ blue line.  Moulson sent the puck across to Christian Ehrhoff who, from along the right wing wall, fired the puck to the Washington net.  The shot was hung up in the skates of Hodgson, who charged the net.  The puck squirted out to the low slot where Tyler Ennis was all alone to put the puck past goalie Philipp Grubauer.

The irony of the sequence was that when it started in the Capitals zone with Hodgson carrying the puck out, Ennis and Joel Ward got tangled up with both tumbling to the ice behind the play.  Ennis popped up and beat Ward down the ice to put himself in a position to pounce on the loose puck.  The Caps just did not have enough men to cover as much space as there was for Ennis to find an opening.

That would be all the Sabres could manage against Grubauer, who held the Sabres to a single goal in the hockey portion of the December 29^th contest as well.  So, in a replay of that December 29^th game, the teams went to the freestyle competition.  Miller turned an attempt by Eric Fehr aside.  Grubauer blockered away a Matt Moulson attempt.  Alex Ovechkin deked Miller to the ice but could not lift the puck over Miller’s left pad.  Linus Omark tried to distract Grubauer with a kick step as he approached, but Grubauer smothered his shot.  When Nicklas Backstrom failed at the top of the third round, it was up to Cody Hodgson for Buffalo.  When Hodgson snapped the puck over Grubauer’s glove and in, the Sabres had their second straight 2-1 trick shot win over the Caps in two weeks.

The Takeaway:  With this loss the Caps had a record of 3-13-4 in games in which they scored two or fewer goals in the hockey portion of games.  All of their wins were officially recorded as 3-2 wins earned in the Gimmick.  They would finish the season 4-25-7 in 36 games in which they scored two or fewer goals in regulation or overtime, all four wins coming in the après-party phase of those contests.

The more immediate problem was that this loss was the first in what would be a seven-game losing streak (0-5-2), the Caps’ longest since the eight-game winless skid chronicled by HBO in the run-up to the 2011 Winter Classic.  Buffalo had a strange effect on the Caps in this season.  There was the streak following this loss, and the Gimmick loss to the Sabres on December 29^th was the first in what would be a four-game winless streak (0-2-2).  Not even beating the Sabres seemed to work; the Caps beat them, 5-4 in overtime, on January 28^th then lost their next two games.  If the Caps never had to play the Sabres, they might have avoided 13 losses (0-8-5 in games following those played against the Sabres).

All joking aside, the Caps’ inability to win low scoring games reflected the lack of having goalies steal games when scoring was at a premium.  Grubauer could hardly be faulted for this loss or the one on December 29^th.  He stopped 46 of 48 shots in those two games, a .958 save percentage, and only allowed the two game-deciding trick shot tallies.  However, it remained that Capitals goalies were just not quite good enough to ever find themselves on the good side of those low-scoring affairs. 

In the end…

If it was these sorts of games that George McPhee had in mind when he claimed in early February that better goaltending would have meant ten more standings points, it would be a high bar for goalies anywhere to clear.  Still, going winless in 36 such low scoring games, save for the Bettman Miracle, played at least a part in the Caps’ failure to reach the post-season for a seventh consecutive year.

There is another issue here.  The Caps were 1-0-2 against the Sabres in 2013-2014.  Overall they were 19-10-8 against teams not qualifying for the playoffs.  While that might look, at first glance, like a good record (it is a 102-point pace over 82 games), it is hardly dominating over the also-rans of the league.  It is in no small part a reason why the Caps were also-rans themselves. 

There was, however, one far more important more reason why this game mattered.  It was an opportunity to grant a wish over a weekend to a tough guy in the best sense of the term… 

 Grubauer Photo: Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images