Game-By-Game Reasons To Watch: April

We previously gave you reasons to watch every Caps game in October, November, December, January, February and March. Here's why you should watch the games on the slate for April:

Apr. 1 vs. N.Y. Islanders: Sadly, Donald Brashear only got two minutes for this, thus keeping him from perhaps the fastest two-thirds of a Gordie Howe Hat Trick in NHL history:

Perhaps The Donald will take another shot at it tonight.

Apr. 3 vs. Buffalo: Alex Ovechkin and Danny Briere may have reinvigorated a bit of a rivalry between the Caps and Sabres, but this may have been the most entertaining moment in the teams' shared history:

Here's hoping Ovechkin can get Ryan Miller to throw his blocker at him.

Apr. 5 vs. Atlanta: A four-game homestand ends with a visit by the Thrashers in the regular season home finale. It's the first of two against Atlanta, and the last time the Caps and Thrashers played a home-and-home series (October 7 and 8, 2005), the Thrash won the two games (Ovechkin's second and third in the League) by a combined score of 15-4. Nearly four full seasons later, it will be interesting to see how the fortunes of these two teams have changed and how these two games pan out.

Apr. 7 @ Atlanta: The Caps begin their three-game, season-ending road trip through the dregs of the Southeast in Atlanta. Last season, the Caps hit these three teams on the same road trip twice, and had a 4-1-1 record in those games, losing to Atlanta (in a shootout) and Florida. They'll likely need success on this trip to bolster playoff positioning.

Apr. 9 @ Tampa Bay: For the third consecutive month, the Caps visit the two Florida teams for consecutive games. We noted how unkind that back-to-back has been since the lockout, so thanks to the schedule-makers for that. Perhaps more importantly, this would be a perfect game for the last one of Olie Kolzig's career, wouldn't it?

Apr. 11 @ Florida: The last game of the regular season against Florida... brings back nice memories, doesn't it?

Game of the Month: Game Four of the first round of the playoffs*.

* Subject to change