Our weekly look at individual Washington Capitals‘ ups and downs:
| Goalies | Trend | Notes |
| Jose Theodore |  |
Bounced back from a second-consecutive bad outing on Monday to snag first star honors on Saturday. Throw out that first period against the Sens and JT60 had a 2.30 goals against average and .926 save percentage on the week (if only it were that easy, right?). |
| Semyon Varlamov |  |
Was as good as he needed to be in a 19-save, 2-1 victory over the Thrashers. Varly is now 1-1-1/1.73/.921 in his last three appearances. |
| Defensemen | ||
| John Carlson |  |
Skated just 11 shifts against Ottawa before leaving the game and missing the next two. Karmic payback for injuring Hockey Hero Brooks Laich? Regardless, the team needs Carlson back, ASAP (and might have him available sooner rather than later). |
| Joe Corvo |  |
Has gone six games without a point and went the first two games of the week without registering a shot on goal. I’m not sure where to set expectations for this guy, but I know they’re higher than what he’s shown lately. |
| John Erskine | |
Pretty solid game against Atlanta, despite a bad roughing penalty. |
| Mike Green | |
Two goals, an assist and ten shots on goal for the week are nice, but just as nice is the plus-two rating and only being on the ice for one goal against in 80:29 of ice time (including 4:05 of shorthanded time). Green is playing some of the best defense of his career right now, and at the right time. |
| Milan Jurcina | |
Juice is “expected to start skating with the team by the end of the first round,” at which point he should pretty quickly jump ahead of Erskine and Sloan into the seventh defenseman role. Or that sixth defenseman role. |
| Shaone Morrisonn | |
Minus-one on the week with two minor penalties, Mo was also on the ice for four of the eight goals the Caps surrendered, including three of the four at even strength. Just when you’d thought he’d turned the corner… |
| Tom Poti | |
His assist against Ottawa is his only helper in his past 16 games (and only point in his last 11), and he continues to make decisions with and without the puck that you don’t expect from a guy with his experience. And yet, he was plus-two on the week. |
| Jeff Schultz | |
Another solid-but-unspectacular week for Schultz, who skated 55:03 at even strength without being on the ice for a goal against. |
| Tyler Sloan | |
The good? An assist for the second time in the last three games he’s played. The bad? His play on Columbus’s second goal. Enjoy this week Tyler – you might not be seeing much ice time thereafter. |
| Forwards | ||
| Nicklas Backstrom | |
One goal, one assist, minus-one on the week and on the ice for three of the four even strength goals the Caps allowed. Just make sure that wake-up call is set for a week from now. |
| Eric Belanger | |
Has now gone five games without a point and has just one goal in his last 23 games, but he won 64% of his draws on the week, including two huge face-offs down two men in Columbus. For some reason, I have faith. |
| Matt Bradley | |
Tied his career bests in goals (9) and points (22) with his gorgeous game-winner against the Thrash, and also turned in some outstanding forechecking and defense. Hopefully he’s got another tally in his twig this week (“ten-goal scorer Matt Bradley” has a nice ring to it) and a few left for the playoffs. |
| Jason Chimera | |
Helpers against Ottawa and Atlanta were nice, but failing to fire a shot on goal for the week isn’t going to help break a goal-less drought that now stands at eight games. Then again, given how well he has played with Bradley and David Steckel, maybe his role on this team won’t need to involve much goal-scoring, but puck possession from a bottom line sure can be a huge plus. |
| Eric Fehr |  |
Two assists on the week, but just one shot on goal. Yes, his minutes were small (he skated just ten shifts and 9:18 of ice time against Atlanta), but F16 needs to get pucks to the net. |
| Tomas Fleischmann | |
Back at center for his first point in five games on Saturday, but expect to see him back on the wing and doing whatever it is that he does once Brendan Morrison is healthy. |
| Boyd Gordon | |
Could be back early this week to help a penalty kill that, in case you haven’t heard, isn’t very good. |
| Mike Knuble | |
Goal-less in five games, minus-two for the week and just three shots on goal in three games (beauty of an assist on the Fleischmann goal, though). Sounds like someone could use a couple of games off before the playoffs (though it looks like he won’t take/get them). |
| Brooks Laich | |
Returned from a broken face against Atlanta and immediately resumed giving everything on every shift. Laich now has ten points in his last eight games and has been held off the score sheet just once in that span. |
| Quintin Laing | |
Acceptable fourth-line fill-in, but the Caps are a better team when he’s not in the lineup. |
| Brendan Morrison | |
Likely available later in the week, which would be nice, considering that you’d like him to get a game or two before the playoffs. |
| Alex Ovechkin | |
Whatever. He’ll be ready. |
| Mathieu Perreault | |
Scored his second goal in as many games since being recalled against Ottawa, but was sent down after failing to light the lamp against the Thrashers. Slacker. |
| Alexander Semin | |
Tallied twice against the Sens and again in Columbus to set a single-season career best and now has six goals in his last seven games and is plus-five in that span. Hot Sasha is so much more enjoyable to watch than Cold Sasha. |
| David Steckel | |
Won 62.5% of his draws on the week, added an assist and some very solid defensive play in the Atlanta and Columbus games. Looks good to go. |
| Scott Walker | |
Looks ready to return tonight and get a couple of games in to shake off the rust. |