Your NHL “Three Stars” for the month of April have been announced! Washington Capitals right wing Alex Ovechkin, St. Louis Blues goaltender Brian Elliott, and New York Rangers center Derek Stepan have been given the title for the month.

The first star was awarded to Alex Ovechkin, who led the League with 14 goals and 22 points in 13 games throughout the month. Those 14 goals set an April record for scoring and also boosted Ovechkin’s goals to help him win the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for leading NHL scorer.

The second star was given to Brain Elliott, who posted an 11-2-0 record, 1.28 goals-against-average, .948 save percentage and three shutouts in 13 games in April.  Elliott’s stellar goaltending helped the Blues secure the fourth seed in the Western Conference

The third star of the month is Derek Stepan, who finished second among skaters with 19 points and recorded a +14 rating in 14 games. He registered points in 12 of his 14 games in April and tallied three game-winning goals.

Source: NHL – www.nhl.com

Follow Tara Colison on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/TaraC_RtR

Four players have already captured NHL trophies since the end of the season. The Washington Capitals very own captain, Alex Ovechkin, was one of those, claiming the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for being the League’s goal-scoring leader. This is Ovechkin’s third “Rocket” Trophy. Ovechkin scored 32 goals to lead the goal-scoring race.

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Martin St. Louis captured the Art Ross Trophy for being the NHL’s scoring champion with the most points in the League, the second of his career. Two goalies won the William M Jennings Trophy, Chicago Blackhawks goaltenders Corey Crawford and Ray Emery, for being the goaltenders of the club allowing the fewest goals during the regular season.

For now, the rest of the trophies to be handed out will have to wait until the NHL Awards – which of course comes after the best trophy of them all, the Stanley Cup.

Source: NHL, www.nhl.com

Follow Tara Colison on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/TaraC_RtR

It's playoff time!  Let's dive in to those predictions from Staff Writers Andy Green and Harry Hawkings:

Eastern Conference

Harry says: Pittsburgh over NY Islanders in 6

The Islanders are a great story and have earned their playoff spot with excellent play from John Tavares and the rest of their young roster.  They have a good goalie, too.  But their defense isn’t that great and the roster as a whole is relatively young.  On the other hand are the Penguins, who have struggled mightily in terms of puck possession without Sidney Crosby but are still one of the most talented teams in the NHL from top to bottom.  Their only weakness is goalie (yes, it’s a weakness), especially after Marc-Andre Fleury’s disastrous performance last spring.  Tomas Vokoun is a capable backup, though.  With Crosby likely to return at some point in the series, Pittsburgh seems like the easy choice here.  But the Isles will make it interesting.

Andy says: Pittsburgh wins over New York in 5
The New York Islanders have made their loyal fans very happy by returning to the playoffs in a season with no expectations.  They have ridden a speedy offense and strong netminding from Evgeni Nabokov to a matchup against the juggernaut Pittsburgh Penguins.  The Penguins lost the first game of the season series against the Isles in late January and haven't lost to them since. While the Islanders hold an advantage in goaltending and perhaps speed, the Penguins have tremendous depth at every position even without Sidney Crosby and should have little trouble dispatching the feisty Islanders.

Read on for predictions of the other series.

The Washington Capitals are set to face the New York Rangers in the playoffs for the third season in a row and the fourth time in five seasons, which is every playoff year since 2009 if you're a Ranger fan.  While the teams are quite familiar with each other from the last 3 seasons, only 3 of the 22 players from that 2009 Rangers playoff team are expected to face the Caps this year, and a fourth, Marc Staal, is injured and likely will not play.  By contrast, 8 of the Caps' 23 players who took the ice against the Rangers in 2009 are on the team, though it is uncertain whether Tom Poti, Jeff Schultz, or Brooks Laich will see game action. 

The Rangers still have Head Coach John Tortorella and former Capitals head coach Jim Schoenfeld on staff from 2009.  Who knows? Perhaps we could expect another Jelly Doughnut Incident or Water Bottle Incident this year.  Either way, we're pretty sure the Capitals head coach won't be talking smack about the fans at Madison Square Garden, like Bruce Boudreau did in 2011.

Read More!

Photo from DC Sports Bog

Puck possession is a huge factor in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The team that has the puck more often is more likely to score and is less likely to be scored upon. With that in mind, here is a breakdown of the top faceoff takers from New York Rangers and the Capitals and how they fared against each other in the regular season.

Read More

Backstrom faces off with Richards (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

Empire State of Mind. (NBCW)

With the regular season now closed, we know that the Washington Capitals will face the New York Rangers in the playoffs for the fourth time in the last five postseasons.  The Capitals took a crazy route to get here, getting off to a terrible start before closing out the year on an impressive hot streak to lock up the Southeast Division and the number three seed.  The Rangers, meanwhile, after a summer that saw them add star forward Rick Nash, struggled to put wins together on a regular basis for much of the year but were energized at the trade deadline by the departure of Marian Gaborik and the addition of Derick Brassard, Ryan Clowe, and other depth-level forwards.  And so they meet again, starting early this week at Verizon Center.  Let’s take a look at each aspect of each team, shall we?

FORWARDS: Both teams feature several name-brand stars at the top of their rosters among forwards.  The Capitals’ attack is spearheaded by 2013 Rocket Richard Trophy winner Alex Ovechkin, with Nicklas Backstrom,  Mike Ribeiro, Marcus Johansson, Troy Brouwer, and Martin Erat filling out the top six.  New York is led by Rick Nash, who scored 21 goals this season, with Brad Richards, Ryan Callahan, Carl Hagelin, Derek Stepan, and Mats Zuccarello rounding out the scoring forwards.  Below that, the Capitals have more depth with the way Eric Fehr, Mathieu Perreault, and Jason Chimera have been playing of late and are likely to be aided by the return of Joel Ward and perhaps later Brooks Laich.  The Rangers have Brassard below their top scorers, and he has played well since arriving, and also have a potential X-factor in last year’s playoff darling, Chris Kreider.  However, they also have several injuries with undefined return dates, like Derek Dorsett, Brian Boyle and Ryan Clowe, that really hurts their depth.  Overall, the Caps have the best goal scorer in the NHL as part of a unit that has played well despite missing two of their best forwards and, at least right now, have the better and hotter difference makers lower down in the lineup. EDGE: Capitals.

Read on about the series here.

As the Southeast Division Champion Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers are gearing up to face each other in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals this week, let's take a look back at the regular season series between the two teams. 

Washington Capitals Record vs. New York Rangers: 1-2

 vs.
#6                                  #3
26-18-4, 56 points          27-18-3, 57 points

See the head-to-head match-up!

(Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

Saturday morning, the Washington Capitals signed young goaltender Michal Neuvirth to a two-year contract extension through the end of the 2015-16 season.  Carrying a total value of $5 million, the deal will put the 25 year-old Czech’s annual cap hit at $2.5 million for the next two seasons.

At first glance, this deal seems a tad bit curious for a couple of reasons.  For one, Neuvirth is now making more than Braden Holtby for the next two seasons, which doesn’t seem right considering Holtby has grabbed the number one role on this team and run with it like he stole it.  He’s fully deserving of that role and barring a complete collapse, Holtby will be the man in the playoffs and probably the beginning of next season as well.  However, when you consider that this was Neuvirth’s third contract versus Holtby’s second, it makes more sense.  That’s how the NHL’s market works in terms of age and experience, and though it’s not exactly fair for Holtby, he really has only been in the NHL for a year.

Read on for more notes on the extension.

The Capitals are going to the playoffs. (Examiner)

The Washington Capitals pulled off the almost impossible on Tuesday night inside Verizon Center, defeating the Winnipeg Jets 5-3 to complete a miraculous turnaround and clinch the Southeast Division and a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  Getting goals from Matt Hendricks, Jason Chimera, Mathieu Perreault, Nicklas Backstrom, and then an empty-netter from Alex Ovechkin, the team fought off constant Jets advances and found a way to get the job done, just like they have for the last six weeks.  As mentioned, the win means that the Caps are locked in to the playoffs and the third seed in the Conference by virtue of winning their Division.  I repeat: the Capitals are going to the Stanley Cup Playoffs!

The Capitals sure made this one interesting.  After a dominant first period that saw them jump out to a two-goal lead, the Jets, desperate, clawed back to tie it and had the Capitals on their heels.  Two goals from Washington would restore their cushion, but another Winnipeg goal and then a late power play for the visiting side made things very nerve-racking as the clock wound down.  You don’t like to see this big of a game have the two big lapses that the Capitals had in this game, but in the end the win is all that matters.

Read on about the big win here.

Washington Capitals (24-18-2) at Montréal Canadiens (27-12-5)
Location:  The Bell Centre
Time: 7:00 PM
TV:  Local: Comcast SportsNet, National: NBC Sports Network, Canada: CBC & RDS
Radio: 1500AM & 820AM
Previous Games:
Jan 24, 2013 MTL@WSH, 1-4 L
Apr  9, 2013 WSH@MTL, 3-2 W
Familiar Faces of Former Capitals: C Jeff Halpern (507 GP, 1999-2006, 2011-12)
Former Canadien:  C Mike Ribeiro (276 GP, 1999-2006)

It'll be ok, Carey. Read on!