Alex Ovechkin had the best game of his season Thursday in a Caps win. (WFP)

The Washington Capitals got back in the win column on Thursday night, taking the first half of a back-to-back in Winnipeg by a final score of 4-0 at the MTS Centre.  Washington got off to a great start, totally dominating the opening 20 minutes of play and getting goals from Troy Brouwer and Marcus Johansson to take a 2-0 lead in to the first intermission.  The Caps would grind the rest of the game out, playing stout defense until the final six minutes of the game in which they scored twice to double their advantage and silence the usually rowdy MTS Centre crowd.

Alex Ovechkin paced the way with a goal and two assists while Nicklas Backstrom also collected a multiple-point night with a goal and an apple.  Braden Holtby made 19 saves for his fourth shutout of the season for DC, who raised their record to 13-16-1.  According to SportsClubStats, the Capitals, who are now seven back of first place in the Division and five back of the final playoff spot in the Conference, have a 15.7% chance to make the playoffs and a 6% chance to win the Southeast.  That’s a jump of almost 10% and 4%, respectively, than the beginning of the day.

Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, many media members and fans celebrated the healthy return of defenseman Dmitry Orlov to the Capitals lineup.  Orlov, who had posted 19 points in 60 NHL games last season, had started the season in the AHL due to the lockout but had not suited up for the Caps this season.  Two concussions suffered in Hershey kept him out of the lineup for 3 months and he only returned to game action a couple weeks ago.  While Orlov's return was welcome, the statistic that he represented was not.  The Capitals are just 29 games into the NHL season and Orlov is the 12th defenseman they have used because of injuries and poor performance.  The Capitals have not had good chances of making the playoffs when they use more than 10 defenders and when their top 4 can't stay healthy.  The Capitals had better hope Mike Green comes back healthy tonight, because when the team's top defenders can't stay healthy and get into a rhythm, all parts of the team suffer.

While wingers, checking centers, and even goalies can often come and go through a season without having much of an effect on a team's systems play, teams suffer the most when defensemen rotate through the lineup.  Defense in hockey is much like the offensive line in football.  Unit cohesion is especially important because defenseman protect the most important player.  The defense corps doesn't get a lot of attention unless they screw up, and the offense doesn't work right without them.  Nothing is more important for a defenseman in the NHL than positioning, as there is almost no time to make up for mistakes against the biggest and fastest hockey players in the world.  A new defenseman learning his place in a system is just, he also needs to know where his partner is going to be for a pass and where the forwards are going to be on the breakout.  Even the veteran defensemen have trouble because they no longer can rely on whatever chemistry they had with their injured partner.  Another thing about defensemen who substitute in for injured defensemen: they usually weren't on the opening night roster for a reason, and this gets magnified when they substitute in for a top-4 defenseman.  People can say injuries are no excuse for losing, but major pro teams sure lose a lot of games when they put minor league defenders in the lineup.

Read on.

Another battle between the two rivals resulted in a great game, but a bad DC result. (PPG)

The Washington Capitals fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night in the Steel City, falling by a score of 2-1 at the CONSOL Energy Center.  Despite taking the lead on an Alex Ovechkin goal for the second consecutive game, the Penguins would score two unanswered goals in response, both of the sticks of defensemen, to wrap up their first season sweep of the Capitals in more than half a decade.  Braden Holtby made 34 saves in his second consecutive start, and couldn’t be faulted for either goal against.  With the loss, their fifth in seven games, Washington falls to 12-16-1, which is fourth in the Southeast, 14^th in the Eastern Conference, and 28^th in the NHL.  According to SportsClubStats, their chance to make the playoffs is now 6.7%.

Midway through the third period with the game tied, Matt Cooke took a double minor for boarding and unsportsmanlike conduct after a hard hit in the corner in his defensive zone.  Washington, granted an amazing opportunity to take the lead with their now-vaunted power play.  Instead, they failed to even get set up or generate sustained pressure on Marc-Andre Fleury’s net, only getting two shots off.  The Penguins killed off the penalty magnificently, getting their home crowd back into the game and changing the momentum to their favor.  Nine seconds later, Matt Niskanen scored the game-winning goal on a rush up ice that was started on an exchange between Sidney Crosby and Cooke.  It really was a five-minute sequence that was a microcosm of the Capitals’ season, and it was hella unfortunate.

The Washington Capitals have recalled defenseman Dmitry Orlov from the Hershey Bears of the AHL.  He will be available to play in tomorrow's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Tom Poti suffered an apparent back injury after Sabres forward Steve Ott cross-checked him in the lower back.  With status of Mike Green, John Erskine, and Tomas Kundratek still unclear, Orlov is likely to play his first game of the season tomorrow. 

Orlov, 21, has spent the entire season with the Bears after appearing in 60 NHL games with the Capitals last season.  Orlov only returned to action two weekends ago after suffering a concussion in December.  For the season , Orlov has 1 goal and 12 points in 22 games with Hershey, with 3 assists in 4 games since his return. 

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Nicklas Backstrom works along the half-wall en route to a power play goal. (Yahoo!)

The Washington Capitals rebounded from a disappointing game Saturday to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 5-3 inside Verizon Center on Sunday evening.  Getting a goal from Alex Ovechkin 19 seconds in to the game, the Caps also got goals from Troy Brouwer, Jason Chimera, and Marcus Johansson to make it 4-1 in the middle of the second period.  Buffalo would score two to make it 4-3 by the middle of the third period, but Mathieu Perreault sealed the result with five minutes to go in the game to back Braden Holtby’s 27 saves.  With the win, Washington moves to 12-15-1, good for fourth in the Southeast Division and 13^th in the Eastern Conference.  According to SportsClubStats, their odds of making the playoffs are currently 9.2%.

One thing that has been excellent under Adam Oates consistently despite the Caps’ up and down 2013 season has been the power play, clicking along at a rate near 25% for the majority of the year.  Fortified by power play wizard Mike Ribeiro, the Washington man advantage unit has, for the most part, been regular in its strength off attack (though it, like all power plays, has gone through some dry spells).  This is especially remarkable with the absence of Mike Green recently, who is the Caps’ best offensive defenseman and helps run the power play from the point.  Granted, this power play excellence has come with a sharp decrease in penalty kill percentage – but fans should be happy with how well the man advantage unit is playing this year.  A good power play is very fun to watch.

Extracurriculars in Boston? No way... (NESN)

The Washington Capitals were defeated for the fourth time in five games on Saturday afternoon in Boston, falling to the Bruins by a final score of 4-1.  Just as they did in Raleigh on Thursday night, Washington fell into a 2-0 hole in the first period, but were unable to climb out of the hole again.  Washington actually didn’t even score a goal off of their own sticks, as the one goal they did get, credited to Marcus Johansson, was an own goal that took a bad bounce off a defender and into the back of Anton Khudobin’s net.  With the loss, the Caps fall to 11-15-1, near the bottom of the NHL standings.

The Bruins came out hard and fast and never really looked back, a defining trait for this team over the last three seasons that has helped define them as a constant contender.  The big, physical Bruins established their forecheck early and their forwards wore down the Caps’ injured, overworked, and partly AHL defensive corps.  It’s not all injuries, because the Bruins wear down almost everyone they play; that’s why they are near the top of the NHL standings.  But the Caps’ injuries and just general ineffectiveness in their own defensive zone made things worse, much worse.  Until the Caps can get fully healthy in back and can avoid playing guys who are regularly healthy scratches, we are going to see teams have their way on the forecheck more often than not.  That forecheck often leads to goals against and losses.

Michal Neuvirth will be valuable to this organization, but in what capacity? (Clydeorama)

At the beginning of the 2010-11 season, Michal Neuvirth entered Washington Capitals training camp as the de facto backup to Semyon Varlamov, who had established himself as a supremely talented youngster over the previous two seasons.  With the Caps’ former “starter,” Jose Theodore, now departed for Minnesota, Varlamov was set to carry the Capitals during the 2010-11 season in net, making good on the tremendous potential he had showcased over the previous 18 months.  At least, that was the plan.

But as has been the case with almost everything involving the Washington Capitals over the last four years, things did not go according to plan.  Varlamov was frequently hurt, forcing Neuvirth in to the de facto starter’s role in his first full NHL season.  He responded brilliantly, and appeared to be the Caps’ long-term solution in goal.  But last season, a myriad of circumstances – Tomas Vokoun’s presence, his own injury and illness, and bad play – once again forced Neuvirth to the backup’s role.  This season has been no different for the Caps’ young Czech netminder: he has started one game in the last five weeks as Braden Holtby (deservedly, I must add) carries the mail in Washington’s goal.

What could the Caps do with Neuvy? Read on.

Washington Capitals General Manager George McPhee made a couple of minor league transactions yesterday.  First, he acquired defenseman Chay Genoway from the Minnesota Wild for a 7th round draft pick. Genoway is a left-handed offensive defenseman who has posted 4 goals and 19 points in 53 games for the AHL Houston Aeros this season. Genoway, 27, appeared in 1 NHL game last season with the Minnesota Wild, but he spent most of his first professional season with the Aeros, posting 7 goals and 36 points in 72 games.

Chay Genoway

The Morden, Manitoba, native will ply his trade with the Hershey Bears for the rest of the season, but has a cap-friendly 2-way NHL contract that runs through the end of next season should the Caps need to call him up. Genoway is McPhee-sized at 5’9, 177, and McPhee brained, as he was WCHA student-athlete of the year and 1st team all-star as a senior at North Dakota in 2010-11. He also follows in the footsteps on Alexander Semin: he doesn’t fight often, but when he does, he fights a Staal brother.

McPhee then wheeled and dealt defenseman Kevin Marshall to the Toronto Maple Leafs for left winger Nicolas Deschamps. Deschamps was a second round pick of the Anaheim Ducks in 2008 after being the QMJHL Offensive Rookie of the Year. He has 16 points in 50 games this season and 100 points in 203 AHL games in his career. The 23-year old Quebec native has never appeared in an NHL game.

A tough, physical defenseman, Marshall is probably best known for his cameo on HBO’s “24/7: Road to the Winter Classic” as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers, just days before his trade to the Capitals. He was not known to get along with the Hershey Bears coaching staff and is obviously immediately replaced in the lineup by Genoway and the newly healthy Dmitry Orlov.

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The Caps got the first signature game from Ovi in a while Thursday. (CanesCountry)

The Washington Capitals pulled a big win out in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thursday night, defeating the Southeast Division rival Carolina Hurricanes by a final score of 3-2.  After falling behind in the opening frame 2-0 in a period that was utterly dominated by Carolina, the Caps came clawing back with a goal from Aaron Volpatti in the second period and then Alex Ovechkin and Mike Ribeiro in the final frame to draw two huge points on the road.  With the win, the Caps are now eight points out of the Southeast Division lead, at 11-14-1, and are now at a 9.6% chance to make the playoffs (according to SportsClubStats).

How about Michal Neuvirth tonight?  The Caps’ backup goalie, starting his first game in over a month, was absolute dynamite this evening and helped the Caps win with 36 saves.  After allowing two goals in the first period, neither of which were his fault, he settled down brilliantly and delivered a big game for his team when they needed it most.  That must feel great for someone who has once again bee stapled to the bench in recent weeks due to no fault of his own, and may now get a chance against the big, bad Bruins in Boston on Saturday afternoon.

When Joe Corvo scores, you're going to have a bad time. (Yahoo!)

The Washington Capitals lost their third consecutive game on Tuesday night, being shut out on their home ice by the Southeast Division rival Carolina Hurricanes by a final score of 4-0.  After Marcus Johansson missed a tap-in early in the game, it all went downhill for Washington from there, who were unable to score on home ice and shut out by third-string Hurricanes goalie Justin Peters (who has been remarkably good against Washington in his career, to his credit).  With the loss, Washington moves to 10-14-1 and are now back in 14^th place in the NHL and 29^th in the NHL.

This was a gut-punch of a loss.  The Capitals came into this evening’s game with a chance to make up ground against a Division rival and put themselves back into the playoff hunt with a win.  Instead, they were outshot heftily on their own ice and, down 3-0 in the third period, did not muster a shot on goal until just over seven minutes were left in regulation time.  They needed a big performance from everyone on the roster and didn’t get it, and now face an even bigger uphill climb to make the dance.  It’s tough to win with an AHL blue line like the Capitals have now, and the injuries to key players on the back end hurt even more when you are going up against a good offensive team like Carolina.  Decision time is getting closer.