WASHINGTON – Dmitry Orlov scored his first career NHL goal, the eventual game-winner, and Tomas Vokoun made 43 saves Sunday to lead the Washington Capitals to a critical 2-1 win inside Verizon Center.  The Capitals got their other goal from Alexander Semin, who broke a four game goal drought.  With their win, their seventh in a row on home ice, the Capitals are now in first place in the Southeast Division for the first time since early November.

The game got off to a rather slow start, with neither team getting much pressure or zone time until four minutes in, in which a long cycle from the Caps resulted in a few chances, but only one shot on goal.  Carolina was soon granted a power play, but great all-around penalty kill work by several players kept the score at zeroes.

As the period continued, however, the Hurricanes began to dominate play, forcing Tomas Vokoun into several saves and forcing the Caps into some bad decisions in their own zone.  The visiting team’s pressure continued throughout the end of the frame, which could not end soon enough for the Caps.  Fortunately, however, it did end with the game still scoreless.

The Capitals started the second period with much better pace, and appeared to have taken a 1-0 lead after three minutes when Brooks Laich drove hard to the net and buried one past Cam Ward.  After a video review, however, the goal was waved off because of incidental contact, even though incidental contact is not

After more Washington pressure, they were awarded a power play with 13 minutes left, but could not make anything of it and then put Carolina on the power play when Mike Knuble was sent off for slashing.

Read on.

Though the Washington Capitals have won games more often than they have lost them recently, especially on home ice, the victories have not come without nerves.  In four of the Capitals' last five games, they have scored the first goal, an act that often breeds success for Washington.

Three of those four games, the Capitals have won, which, obviously, is the desired result.  What has not been desired, however, is the fashion in which they have won those games; Washington has established a lead before waiting back and playing defense instead of attacking with the same vigor than they do at the start.

Predictably, this has allowed other teams to gain momentum and generate a large number of scoring chances.  During Friday night's win against Tampa Bay, this recent trend came to a head, as after falling behind 3-0 in the game's opening 25 minutes, took advantage of the Capitals' passive play to score three of the next four goals, including two in the final three and a half minutes, and almost steal a win.

"We miss how many goals in the last five minutes?," asked Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher following that game.  "You outshoot your opponent 32-20 in their barn?  Can't do much more than that."

For a team that has sky-high expectations, both within the organization and in the fan base, that is not the desired way to win hockey games.  In the short-term, the two points is what matters, but allowing teams to fight back into the game is a disturbing trend that the Capitals themselves are eager to buck, because Stanley Cup playoff games are not won like the Caps have won their last two contests.

"When we have the lead there, we sit back a little bit," said Matt Hendricks after the Tampa game.  "We shouldn't."  Dale Hunter ageed, saying: "You always like to close them out, be sound defensively.  When they score late, nobody's going to be happy.  It's a win, but everybody wants to be sound."

That is, of course, the long term goal.  Because the Capitals are still working into their new defensive system under Hunter, it's been difficult for them to put together full, 60-minute games.  The Capitals want to just play sound defensive hockey and keep control of the game, instead of allowing the other team to attack them while attempting to achieve that goal.

"You need to limit those chances," said Karl Alzner.  "But in doing that, you allow them to come at you a little bit.  It's hard to keep going with that aggressive style, because it can bite you in the end, you have to find a good mix.  We've done it in a couple games, but it's tough to do all the time."

Brooks Laich concurred.  "It's a very tough thing to do, in today's game, to hold leads," he said.  Even two and three goal leads, like we had last night (against Tampa).  There are a lot of factors that have to do with it, but we need to just keep getting the lead.  I think that's when we play our best."

With two home games coming up against teams below them in the standings before a tough road swing begins, the Capitals need to work out the kinks in their consistency and ability to keep the other team from dominating long stretches of play late.

Because although they may be getting wins out of teams like Tampa and a decimated Pittsburgh group, that won't fly when the Bruins come to town or the Capitals travel to Philadelphia later in the year.

They have the talent to do it.  The question is, when?

Harry Hawkings is a college student who covers the Caps for RtR.  Follow him here for all your game and practice update needs.

The Washington Capitals were on ice for a practice Saturday morning following their 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday night.  Some updates from Kettler Capitals Iceplex:

After a game with new lines, Dale Hunter returned to his old units for this skate.  The lines were as follows: Ovechkin-Johansson-Semin, Knuble-Laich-Brouwer, Ward-Halpern-Chimera, and Eakin-Hendricks-Beagle-Perreault.

Mike Green and Nicklas Backstrom were nowhere to be seen, again, as they continue to recover from groin and head injuries, respectively.  Dale Hunter would not provide an update on either player following practice, and neither has skated in over a week.

Check back later.

WASHINGTON – It was a crazy night inside Verizon Center.

Troy Brouwer netted his first career hat trick, Karl Alzner took part in his first career fight, and Tomas Vokoun made 28 saves to lead the Washington Capitals to a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning Friday.

“I’m pretty excited,” Brouwer said of his hat trick.  “I was close once before.  It’s a special feat, but at the same time I’m excited about the win tonight.”

The win did not come without nerves, however, as after taking a 3-0 lead early in the second period, Washington allowed the Lightning to take control of the game, and barely made it out of the building with the two points following two goals against in the final 3:24 of regulation.  It got way too close, and everybody knows it.

“We played well enough to win tonight,” Tampa coach Guy Boucher said after the game.  “I’m sorry.”

Tampa Bay was assessed three penalties in the first five minutes of the game, and the Capitals took full advantage, scoring twice to take a commanding lead after 5:25.  Alex Ovechkin ripped one from the point after barely keeping the puck in the offensive zone, while Brouwer followed it up with his first less than two minutes later with a short-side strike through Roloson’s five-hole.

For the Caps, getting that early lead has been so imperative to their recent string of success on home ice, as Washington has now won six in a row at home, scoring first in each of those victories.  “(The power play goals) have definitely helped our team this season,” said Matt Hendricks.  “We get the first and we seem to get our confidence going.”

Read on.

With news that Dennis Wideman has made the 2012 NHL All-Star team, talk has already begun about which event(s) Wideman will participate in during the NHL All-Star Super Skills Competition. We at Rock the Red have a few suggestions.

FASTEST SKATER

You wouldn’t think of Dennis Wideman as a speedster, but there is always the ‘backwards skating’ part of the competition. Ok, fine… you aren’t thinking of Wideman for that either. Couldn’t he just race Tim Thomas or something?

HARDEST SHOT

Wideman has shown that he is capable of letting it fly from the point this season. However, we propose Dennis for a new twist on the Hardest Shot competition: Wideman stands ten feet from the puck as Chara, Weber, Byfuglien and the rest of the NHL’s cannonballers let it rip. Deepest contusion wins!

SKILLS CHALLENGE RELAY

Let’s see… One Timers, Puck Control, Stickhandling, Passing, Accuracy Shooting. Easy. Where’s ‘Holding the Puck In At the Blue Line’? That’s harder for Wideman than any of these skills.

ELIMINATION SHOOT OUT

Wideman could compete here just fine. Wait... that guy in Wideman's jersey looks an aweful lot like a certain Russian we know...

BREAKAWAY CHALLENGE

This is Wideman’s best bet to shine in the Super Skills Challenge... as a prop. Wideman will man the wheel of a Honda CR-Z as Ovi flips the puck over the roof, does a TJ Hooker Hood Slide and flips the just-landing puck in top shelf. GO WIDEMAN!

It's not often we here at Rock the Red get to toot our own horn about accomplishments, but there are a few topics we can't help but share. Sometimes it being featured on ESPN, other times it's writing about our blog winning awards. Our favorite, however, we couldn't achieve without the support of our readers. You see, we have a shirt shop that we started not long ago from which we donate all proceeds to Washington Capitals' charities. Whether it's Mike Green's So Kids Can or Jose Theodore's Saves for Kids, the whole "giving back" thing really gives us the warm-and-fuzzies. 

This time, we were able to donate $200.00 to Matt Hendricks' Hendy's Heroes, a faction of Defending the Blue Line which is a non profit organization created by soldiers. Through this donation, they will be able to keep the spirit of hockey alive for the children of our nations military heroes. That means that Rock the Red has been able to donate over $500 via the purchases made in our shop!!!

Again, a big thank you to all the readers (and bloggers) for all your support over the years. We have big things planned for this shop in 2012, so if you haven't checked it out recently please stop by and pick up a shirt (or three!)

The Washington Capitals were on ice for a practice Friday afternoon at HP Pavilion as they prepare to take on the Sharks Saturday tonight.  Some updates from San Jose:

Nicklas Backstrom missed the beginning of the skate while he was being evaluated, but joined his teammates after about 15 minutes, skating on a line with Marcus Johansson and Mike Knuble.  The other lines stayed the same from practice on Thursday: Ovechkin-Laich-Brouwer, Chimera-Halpern-Ward, and Perreault-Hendricks-Beagle-Semin.  It is worth noting that when Backstrom was not on the ice at the start of practice, Semin was with Johansson and Knuble on the second line.

After practice, Backstrom said that he felt good and hopes to be in the lineup against the Sharks, but that it's not his call.  Dale Hunter also indicated that Alexander Semin is ready, but it has not been decided if he will play against San Jose.  According to Capitals senior writer Mike Vogel, however, Semin will play.  Oh boy.

That's all for now.

The Washington Capitals were on ice Thursday as they prepare to take on the San Jose Sharks on Saturday inside HP Pavilion.  Some updates from Kettler Capitals Iceplex:

Nicklas Backstrom was on the ice for practice, and participated fully, taking contact from his teammates and taking part in power play drills.  He skated on a line with Marcus Johansson and Mike Knuble, and after practice said he felt good and that the plan is for him to accompany his teammates out west for games against the Sharks and Kings.  All signs are positive, though Hunter would not commit to him playing against San Jose.

The other lines were as follows: Ovechkin-Laich-Brouwer, Ward-Halpern-Chimera, and Hendricks-Perreault-Beagle-Semin.  While it is certainly a good sign that Semin is skating, the fact that he is on the fourth line means he probably won't play Saturday, even though he will go on the trip.

Also a funny note from this morning, Karl Alzner was forced to wear a Russia jersey as a result of a lost bet over the result of Tuesday's Canada-Russia game at the World Junior Championships.  Said Alzner, who won two Gold Medals at the WJCs with team Canada (more on that here), "it was the worst morning of my life."

That's all for now.

Thanks to Adam Vingan for some information in this post.

Capitals' Nation held its collective breath last night after watching Calgary Flames forward Rene Bourque deliver a flagrant elbow to the head of Capitals' #1 center Nicklas Backstrom.  In an environment where even the mention of the word concussion can keep a player out of a game, a blow to the head on a player with a history of migraines was enough to give us pause.  In that instant, the reality many in hockey circles have conveniently avoided became painfully clear:  Alexander Ovechkin may be the best athlete and goal scorer on the team, but Nicklas Backstrom is the one player the Capitals cannot afford to lose.  Losing him would change the landscape drastically and would end the team's chances of winning anything meaningful this season.  For a team that has been plagued by inconsistency this season and has undergone a complete systems overhaul since the coaching change last month, Backstrom has been the rock the team could depend on every night.  If Backstrom's wasn't under consideration for the Hart Memorial Trophy as the player most valuable to his team before this incident, he should be now. 

Backstrom is no longer just Alex Ovechkin's set-up man, he is the true centerpiece of the Washington Capitals.  The general trend that began a few years ago became readily apparent on November 1. That was the night Bruce Boudreau benched Ovechkin as the Capitals were trying to force overtime against the Anaheim Ducks.  Backstrom, on the ice in favor of the goalie, started the play as Ovechkin's set up-man was put on the ice to take the face-off, and when he buried a rebound past Jonas Hiller with 42 seconds left in the game, he emerged as Nicklas Backstrom the clutch goal-scorer.  As a follow-up, Backstrom came through in the clutch in overtime, too.  He led the rush up ice with Ovechkin, motioned for Ovie to cross behind for a drop pass, then Backstrom flattened Andrew Cogliano with a counter-hit.  Backstrom then banged home a centering pass from Jeff Schultz to put the game away, cementing his status as the team's true game-changer. 

Read on.

Photo by Mitchell Layton/NHLI via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals were on ice Wednesday for an optional skate as they prepare to travel West on Thursday and take on the Sharks Saturday.  Some updates from Kettler Capitals Iceplex:

The big story of the day was leading scorer Nicklas Backstrom, who suffered a head injury last night when he was elbowed the in the head by Rene Bourque.  Backstrom's brother, Kristoffer, tweeted early Wednesday that Nick was undergoing a concussion test; he then followed it up with another tweet saying that the test was inconclusive, and that he may have a small concussion or migraine.

Backstrom himself was not made available to the media.  His teammates, however, hope for the best.  Alex Ovechkin said that he didn't think Backstrom will miss any time, while Marcus Johansson said he wasn't doing "too bad." According to Dale Hunter, Backstrom also worked out off-ice on Wednesday and is, per Capitals tradition, "day-to-day."  "He seems fine," said the coach.

This goes without saying, but I'll go ahead and say it anyway: if Nicklas Backstrom is lost for any significant period of time, the Caps are toast.

That's all for now.

Thanks to Steve Whyno for some of the information in this post.