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.

Alexander Semin returns once more, still one of the Canes' best players. (Clydeorama)

The Washington Capitals will close out their brief two-game homestand on Tuesday night with a critical game against the Southeast Division rival Carolina Hurricanes at Verizon Center.  The Caps, having lost two games over the weekend, are 10-13-1 this season for 21 standings points; they are therefore third in the Southeast Division and 12^th in the Eastern Conference.  Carolina, who smoked the Devils in their last game on Saturday, are 14-9-1 for 29 standings points, which puts them on top of the Southeast Division and therefore third in the Conference.  This is the second time the two clubs have met this season; the Caps shut out Carolina in their only previous meeting, 3-0.

With workhorse starter Cam Ward out of commission because of an MCL sprain, coach Kirk Muller will be forced to turn to backup Dan Ellis in the goal this evening.  Ellis made 31 saves in that 6-3 win over Jersey over the weekend but has posted a 2.60 and .921 save percentage in his limited work this year.  Outside the crease, Muller’s men will be without two of their regular top-six wingers, as Chad LaRose (concussion) and Tuomo Ruutu (hip) are both not expected to play.  Defenseman Joni Pitkanen is day-to-day with a lower body injury but also is not likely to suit up.

Following his solid performance in relief on Sunday, perhaps Michal Neuvirth will get the call in goal from Adam Oates for his first start in more than a month.  Neuvirth, who has once again taken a back seat to Braden Holtby, has a 2.98 GAA and .890 save percentage on the season and has seen limited action over the last six weeks, barely seeing any ice and being sick twice.  On the injury front, center Brooks Laich (groin), defenseman Jack Hillen (shoulder) and defenseman Mike Green (groin) are all out and will not play.  Defenseman John Erskine is questionable with an upper-body ailment suffered Saturday against the Islanders.  After a loss in which the Caps looked starved for offense, I would doubt that Mathieu Perreault and Wojtek Wolski will be scratched again, but they may.  If they are not, I’d look for Joey Crabb and one other player, perhaps even Jason Chimera, to be sent to the press box.

Puck drops 7:08-ish.  Check back later.

Harry Hawkings is a college student credentialed to cover the Capitals for RtR.  Follow him on Twitter here for all your news needs this season.

The Isles have always played the Caps close. (Clydeorama)

The Washington Capitals are in Uniondale, New York, this afternoon to take on the Islanders as they play the first of two back-to-back games on the weekend.  New York, who lost their last game against the Rangers on Thursday, are 10-11-3 and 4-4-2 over their last ten.  Their record gives them 23 standings points and places them fourth in the Atlantic Division and 10^th in the Eastern Conference, three points out of a playoff spot.  The Caps, who have won three in a row and eight of 11, are 10-11-1 for 21 standings points, which places them third in the Southeast Division and 12^th in the Conference.

Evgeni Nabokov is likely to start for the Isles this evening after making 35 saves on 37 shots during that losing effort against the Rangers earlier this week.  Nabokov has posted a 2.92 GAA, .904 save percentage, and one shutout in his 20 starts.  Outside the crease, the Isles will be only missing one player – defenseman Matt Carkner, who has lower body ailment.  One of Jack Capuano’s assistants, however – Brent Thompson - has been suspended for abusing an official and will not be on the bench.

Adam Oates has kept his starting goaltender for this one a secret, and will perhaps look to give Phillipp Grubauer his first NHL start in order to give Braden Holtby a breather.  Grubauer was great in his NHL debut, making a ton of saves against the Flyers in relief during the last game the Caps lost, but there’s no hotter goalie in the NHL right now than Holtby.  On the injury front, goalie Michal Neuvirth is still sick and isn’t even on the trip, while forward Brooks Laich and defenseman Jack Hillen are still out.  Center Marcus Johansson, absent for a month with a concussion, is on the trip and may play; it would be interesting to see who he would replace.  Otherwise, the lineup will probably stay the same after such a dominant performance on Thursday night.

Puck drops early; a 1:09 start is in order.  Check back later.

Harry Hawkings is a college student credentialed to cover the Capitals for RtR.  Follow him on Twitter here for all your news needs this season.

Score is best!!)))aha. (My San Antonio)

The Washington Capitals utterly humiliated the Florida Panthers on Thursday night, dominating them by a 7-1 to win their third consecutive game.  Getting goals from seven different players: John Erskine, Wojtek Wolski, Alex Ovechkin, Eric Fehr, Mathieu Perreault, John Carlson, and Mike Ribeiro, as well as 29 saves from Braden Holtby, the Caps continued to roll and kept their recent hot streak alive.  Washington is now 10-11-1 on the season.

Well, this was nice.  Facing an already brutal Florida team missing about half their lineup and essentially playing with half AHL players, the Caps pumped four past the Panthers in the first period, including two on their first two shots, and never looked back.  This reminded be of 2010, where the Caps scored with reckless abandon, especially against the Panthers as they feasted on inferior opposition almost every night.  It was great to watch, even if it was against a brutal team.

At noon today, Roman Hamrlik was claimed on waivers by the New York Rangers.  Hamrlik will look to play right away after the Rangers lost slawart defenseman Marc Staal to injury.  Staal took a puck to the eye last night and will likely be out for a while. 

Hamrlik was not used much this season, playing in just four games with the Caps, posting an assist and a -1 rating.  The 38-year old defenseman was signed to a 2-year, $7 million dollar deal in the summer of 2011 and managed to fall out of favor with several Capitals head coaches over that short period of time.  The #1 overall draft pick in 1992, Hamrlik is the active leader in games played in the NHL with 1,383.  He is also the all-time leader in games played by Czech-born players. 

The highlight of Hamrlik's time with the Capitals was likely his goal in game 7 of the second round against the very same Rangers who just claimed him. 

Bon voyage, Hammer.

Follow Andy Green on Twitter.

Eric Fehr celebrates his dandy of a game-winner. (Rob Carr)

The Washington Capitals pulled out their best win of the 2013 season on Tuesday night, completing a rousing comeback and defeating the Boston Bruins 4-3 in overtime at Verizon Center.  Trailing 3-0 after one period and looking down and out at the hands of a much better Boston team, the Caps dug in their heels and scored three goals in the final two frames before getting a highlight reel goal from Eric Fehr to close it down and send the locals home happy.  Fehr added two assists while Nicklas Backstrom added three apples and Braden Holtby made 30 saves in the Washington net.

A great comeback for this team tonight.  Down 3-0 after the first period and looking down and out once again, they found a way to fight back, establish their system, get some puck possession and grind down a big, physical Bruins team that is much better than them.  To finish off an elite squad in overtime the way they did is incredibly impressive, and is a big step in the right direction for a team near the bottom of the standings.  Unfortunately for their playoff chances, they got no help from the teams on top of them.  But it’s still a nice win.

The Washington Capitals have made several moves in preparation for tonight's game against the Boston Bruins, and some changes to the lineup might be in order tonight.

-The Washington Capitals have signed D Steve Oleksy (not Olesky) of the AHL Hershey Bears to a 3-year deal worth $1.6 million and recalled him to Washington.  According to Adam Oates, the right-handed defenseman, who leads the Bears in fights and penalty minutes, is definitely not going to fight tonight in his NHL debut against the Big Bad Bruins Oates says "he helps us with the balance" on defense. He will skate on the third pairing with Tom Poti, meaning left-handed Jeff Schultz, he of just one NHL fight, will be sitting out. 

-Goalie Braden Holtby refuses to name the dirty players on the Bruins, instead calls the entire team dirty.  He will be in net tonight behind defenseman Steve Oleksy, who he says will keep those cheap-shotting Bruins honest. 

-In other news, the Bruins insist they are over last year's playoff series loss, the one where they were the defending Stanley Cup Champions with home ice advantage and lost in overtime in game 7 of the first round.  They're definitely over it. 

-Troy Brouwer was sent home from the morning skate with an illness.  Brouwer is a tough, physical player who wasn't afraid to mix it up with the Bruins in last year's playoffs, so the chances missing a big game like this are practically nil unless he's in the hospital.  If for some reason Brouwer can't go, it's possible Wojtek Wolski will get back into the lineup. Wolski, a former 20-goal scorer, hasn't scored in a while and his confidence has looked shot at times this season. It's also possible Caps General Manager George McPhee will call up another Hershey Bear with a lot of penalty minutes (who also definitely won't fight) to leapfrog Wolski before the game, too, as long as he's a right-handed shot. 

-Aaron Volpatti, who fought in his first game in a Capitals sweater on Saturday, is definitely playing tonight.

-The Capitals waived defenseman Roman Hamrlik today. The 38-year old defenseman had only played in 4 games this season while making $3.5 million, about as much as defensemen like Dan Girardi, Rob Scuderi, and Niklas Hjalmarsson, you know, defensemen who play.

-Capitals Defenseman Mike Green was placed on injured reserve with that lingering groin injury and will be eligible to be activated on March 7.  Smart money has him returning closer to April 7.  Meanwhile, Brooks Laich, Jack Hillen, Marcus Johansson, and Dmity Orlov are still not playing. 

-On an historical note, the last time the Capitals and Bruins faced off for the first regular season game after a playoff series was November 21, 1998, and the Capitals had just beaten the Bruins in 6 games, winning the final game in overtime in Boston, and Adam Oates had set up the winning tally.  That November 1998 game featured 12 players getting ejected after all 12 players on the ice got into fights and a total of 270 penalty minutes. 

Follow Andy Green on Twitter.

Late in last Wednesday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Mathieu Perreault had his head down as he tried to weave through several Flyers in the neutral zone at Wells Fargo Center.  Flyer's forward Harry Zolnierczyk lined up Perreault for a big open-ice hit hit and laid him out, which many would see as an old school hockey play and served Perreault right for having his head down.  Problem #1: Zolnierczyk led with his knee and put his knee on Perreault's thigh. Problem #2: there were 30 seconds left in a game the Flyers were leading 4-1. The referee made the right call by giving Zolnierczyk a 5 minute major for kneeing and a game misconduct, ejecting a reckless player in the final minute of a game that was lost long ago by the visitors.  The hit on Perreault, and the short powerplay that resulted from it, had no bearing on the outcome of that game. 

After the game, when most coaches take the chance to defend their players, Adam Oates said of the Zolnierczyk hit, “I don’t think it was dirty at all. I think it’s a product of our whole game, quite honestly.  Thirty seconds left, the game is over and Matty thought he could stick-handle through the team. It’s not what we do — all of us tonight, you know, guys are sitting there waiting for you, and you get hit.” 

While Oates had a point that Perreault was being careless, he made the mistake of saying this to the media instead of to Perreault in private.  The fact remained that Zolnierczyk had Perreault lined up for a hit well in advance, Perreault swerved to avoid it, and Zolnierczyk did not adjust to hit Perreault's chest, instead lifting his right skate from the ice and letting his right knee hit Perreault's leg as the primary point of contact.  It was a hit dirty enough the referee deemed it worthy of a major penalty and ejection.  After the game, Zolnierczyk said "I thought I had him lined up," despite not adjusting after Perreault's swerve. 

The National Hockey League, enabled by Oates's blessing, made the decision to rescind the ejection from Zolnierczyk's record, meaning he had a clean slate in the eyes of the league.  This gave a player known for his dirty play a free pass to be that careless or reckless again, and he did exactly that in his next game.  In the first period of Zolnierczyk's next game against the Ottawa Senators, Zolnierczyk left his skates for a hit to the head of defenseman Mike Lundin on a carbon-copy play, knocking him out of the game with a concussion and earning a 4-game suspension and a loss of almost $13,000. 

Read on.

Photo: Michael Perez, AP

At a crossroads, George McPhee must do what is best for this franchise, even at his own potential peril. (Clydeorama)

2013 has been a season unlike any in recent memory for the Washington Capitals.  For the first time in nearly a decade, the team has gotten off to a poor start with little hope for the future.  This isn’t like 2007, where despite their significant early struggles, there was a core of dynamic young players that had the potential to carry the franchise to unprecedented heights.

With that potential realized now, at least in the regular season, that core’s prime has largely passed the Capitals by.  Mike Green, who has been solid when healthy, is still a shadow of his former self and is once again hurt.  Alexander Semin is gone.  Alex Ovechkin, whether you think it his fault or not, is grossly overpaid despite his occasional moments of true brilliance and is under fire.  Nicklas Backstrom is the only one even close to what he was between 2008-2010, and even that might be a stretch.

The result of that aging core along with a poorer than usual supporting cast this season has been, to put it mildly, disastrous for a team and an owner who expected to be competitive for at least a decade as of 2010.  The Capitals are 8-11-1 so far on this shortened campaign, which is good enough for 4^th in the Southeast Division, 14^th in the Eastern Conference, and 28^th overall in the NHL.  In short, they are bad, and despite their recent hot-ish swing that has seen them win six of their last ten games, have shown little to prove to me, and others, that they are good enough to win the Stanley Cup this year.  That’s because they’re not good enough to win the Stanley Cup this year.

The summer for the Washington Capitals seemed filled with uncertainty.  The Caps had just finished a disappointing regular season that saw them struggle for long stretches because of  their inability to score, even though their hot-shot winger still finished in the top 10 in goals.  This meant they had to chase down a playoff spot until the final day of the regular season, a contrast to previous years when it had been a certainty well in advance.  The team's struggles cost their coach his job, a coach who had made the playoffs every season since coming in as a mid-season replacement a few years before.  A new coach was hired over the summer, someone the general manager was familiar with, someone who was cerebral and would install a new two-way system, but who had never won a Stanley Cup.  To that end, Tim Hunter was brought on as an assistant to lend the experience of having won a Stanley Cup to the coaching staff. 

The team's #1 center for the past several seasons who had shown so much chemistry with the All-Star scoring winger was coming off a disappointing season marred by injuries.  That scoring winger, a player who led the league in goals just a few seasons before, saw his per-game goal average drop by about 0.2 goals per game from his league-leading season while trying different linemates.  His good friend and, some said, more talented fellow scoring winger had left the team recently, though his enigmatic nature and declining production left many to wonder if the team wasn't better off without him, even as he posted good scoring totals with his new team.  Fortunately, things were looking up, as the team was bringing in a new center with a history of production. 

At first glance, this center wasn't much to look at.  Small and slight in nature, he wasn't the most gifted of skaters, either.  A career 14% shooter, he didn't shoot enough and never seemed to get much beyond 20 goals in a season and one third of his production came from the powerplay.  But he could pass with the best of them.  Over the past 8 seasons, he was in the first breath of playmaking centers in the NHL.  With a cloudy contract situation, this new Capital center was certainly going to be due a hefty raise and was no safe bet to stick around.  Already a few years into his 30s, he had been acquired for a young center many Capitals pundits were predicting to be a big scorer in years to come if given a real chance at ice time and a scoring line role.  Early in the new season, that young center was right at the top of his new team's scoring picture, too.