Our weekly look at individual Washington Capitals‘ ups and downs:
| Goalies | Trend | Notes |
| Michal Neuvirth |  |
Didn’t get much help Saturday night… and needed an awful lot the way he played. Now an ugly 0-2-0/4.56/.845 on the (NHL) season. |
| Jose Theodore | |
He’ll need to be better than 1-1-0/2.97/.872 in Varly’s absences, whenever they are. |
| Semyon Varlamov |  |
Followed up a 26-save shutout – his second whitewashing in four starts – with a trip to the IR. On the plus side, the Caps have the luxury of being extra cautious with him… for now. |
| Defensemen | ||
| John Erskine | |
The wear and tear is wearing and tearing Erskine down to the point where he seems nearly worn and torn out. |
| Mike Green | |
The return of “Game Over” Green Friday night couldn’t save a week full of turnovers and blown assignments… with Team Canada no doubt watching. |
| Milan Jurcina |  |
After a minus-eight stretch in his previous six games, an even week (with a scratch thrown in) may qualify as a “good week,” but the Caps need more out of Juice. |
| Shaone Morrisonn | |
Returned from injury with a zero-point, one shot on goal, minus-one week in which he averaged under 18 minutes of ice time. Sounds about right. |
| Brian Pothier | |
On injured reserve with a rib injury. It’s a shame, as he was coming off a three-goal, four-assist, plus-11 November. |
| Tom Poti | |
Minus-three for the week (and that includes a plus-one in Tampa), and on the ice for six of the 12 goals the team allowed for the week. |
| Jeff Schultz |  |
A plus-two week has him fourth in the League in plus/minus, and three four-block games speak further to the blueliner he’s becoming. |
| Swingman | ||
| Tyler Sloan | |
Scratched twice, Sloan’s NHL time is running out with Laing’s pending return and perhaps a recall of Karl Alzner for the blueline. |
| Forwards | ||
| Keith Aucoin | |
His most recent recall was short and relatively unproductive, which, fittingly, makes it the Keith Aucoin of recalls. |
| Nicklas Backstrom | |
Two goals, two assists, plus-four and an epic OT shift against Carolina, the “wow” moments are coming with greater frequency with each passing week. |
| Matt Bradley | |
A happy and healthy new baby gets an up arrow, especially when supplemented with a great interview. |
| Chris Clark | |
If the captain isn’t contributing on the scoreboard, he’s gotta be doing other things… like not letting his team put up three poor efforts in a row (including a pair against the League’s two worst teams). |
| Eric Fehr | |
A goal in Tampa followed by three point-less games, Fehr will look to go from scorching hot to cold to just plain consistent. |
| Tomas Fleischmann | |
Another Cap forward looking for consistency, Flash posted a goal and three helpers this week and now has seven points in his last six games (after picking up just one in his previous six). |
| Alexandre Giroux | |
If it wasn’t for Nylander’s departure, Giroux being returned to Chocolatetown would qualify as great news. As it is, it’s merely very good news. |
| Boyd Gordon | |
In the past two months, Gordo has played 5:55 of hockey. Sigh. |
| Mike Knuble | |
Off to a slow start since returning from the IR with a minus-three rating in two games. No doubt it takes some time to get back to game speed, but a finger injury shouldn’t inhibit one’s ability to crash the net. |
| Brooks Laich | |
Like his new-found mentor Knuble, Laich had no points and was minus-three for the week… but he played all four games. |
| Quintin Laing | |
Q’s getting closer to returning, but when he comes back, who sits? |
| Brendan Morrison | |
No points, three shots on goal and a celebration on a puck he shot wide… ouch. |
| Michael Nylander |  |
Hasta la vista, baby. |
| Alex Ovechkin | |
Returned from suspension with three multi-point games (seven points overall) and 23 shots on goal in four games. |
| Mathieu Perreault | |
Food poisoning sidelined him in Buffalo and one point in his last ten games might sideline him a little more frequently going forward. Update: Perreault has been returned to Hershey. |
| Alexander Semin | |
Two goals, three assists, plus-four and 20 shots on goal in three games, a “passenger” in the fourth. That’s our Sasha! |
| David Steckel | |
Followed up his first goal of the season with no points, a minus-two rating, two shots on goal and diminishing ice time (less than ten minutes per game for the week) in four games. The face offs are still there, though (67.4% for the week). |