Washington Capitals Hockey

         Sunday, March 30, 2008          

With Win, Tables Are Set For a Southeast Showdown

Cristobal Huet and the Washington Capitals haven't gotten much help lately. But they haven't cared.

Seeing win after win on an astounding six game road trip do little to move them closer to a playoff berth has not dampened the spirit and drive of the Capitals in the least. Knowing full well that the Boston Bruins already earned two more points earlier in the day was little more than motivation for Washington, who closed out their six game road trip with win number five.

Huet was as solid as it gets in goal, stopping all 32 Florida shots en route to his second shutout in a Caps sweater. Just as impressive was Huet's handling of the puck. His pass first, leave the puck second mentality was on flawless display as he toyed with Panther forecheckers all evening long. 

While Huet avoided the long up-ice feeds we've seen from him for the most part, he made perfect decisions with the puck on dump-ins, and the Capitals ended up in control as a result. At one point while shorthanded, Huet cuffed down a shot and quickly dropped it for Jeff Schultz in the corner to make a clear. Does Olie make that play? Well, that's why Olie's not playing.

Viktor Kozlov got the Capitals on the board in the second period rewarding some excellent work down low from the temporary line he formed with Brooks Laich and Matt Cooke. The trio came together as a result of a failed power play attempt. With Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin resting on the bench, Kozlov was sent out with the two grinders. It was the best shift of the entire game from any Capitals' line, however it was also the only time we saw the three on ice together.

It didn't matter for Kozlov, who also assisted on Mike Green's 18th goal and Alex Ovechkin's 62nd. Ovechkin is now just one goal shy of breaking a 15 year old NHL record for most goals by a left wing in a season as he is set to match or eclipse Luc Robitaille's mark of 63. Ovie also added a beautiful assist on Green's score, bumping him up to 109 points -- six ahead of Evgeni Malkin in the race for the Ross.

Green, meanwhile, regained sole possession of the goal scoring lead among defensemen, registering his first score in 15 games. Incidentally, he was the last defenseman to score for Washington -- marking the end of a streak of 47 straight goals from forwards. Green now sits one ahead of Dion Phaneuf and two up on Zdeno Chara and Andrei Markov for the lead. On a related note, Dustin Byfuglien of Chicago also has 18 goals and is still listed as a defenseman though he has spent nearly two months on the wing. So that can't possibly count as a tie for the lead. Or can it?

The win is Washington's 8th in 9 games, placing them as the hottest team in the entire NHL. The fact that six of these games came away from home make the feat that much more impressive. Unfortunately for the Capitals, Boston has also hit stride with three straight wins and Philadelphia managed another late comeback to pick up two more points (after squeezing out one in New Jersey the evening before with help from an empty netter.)

However, and this is a BIG however, the Carolina Hurricanes lost to Tampa Bay. This loss sets up the biggest game for Washington since the 2003 Playoffs on Tuesday. The Capitals will host the Hurricanes in an effort to pull into a tie for first with Carolina if they win. There is one caveat, though.

Both teams would be tied with 90 points and both would have two games left. But Carolina would still hold an edge in wins, 42 to 41, for the first tiebreaker. And if they end up tied in points and wins, the 'Canes win the division because of a better head to head to record. 

But perhaps fate is on the Capitals side as they won their 40th game of the season: The last time the Caps won more than 40 was the last time they won the Southeast.