Capitals Power Ranking Roundup: Week 14

WASHINGTON - JANUARY 08: Head coach Bruce Boudreau of the Washington Capitals talks to his team during a timeout in the game against the Florida Panthers at the Verizon Center on January 8 2011 in Washington DC. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

Our weekly temperature-taking of the mainstream media's opinions on the Washington Capitals:

Outlet	This Week	Last Week	What They're Saying
	4	6	The big slump is history. They have been good their past 10 games and have been better defensively. Like we said, there was a silver lining to that slide. [ed. note: Hey, CBC, what's with the screaming eagle logo for the Caps ?]
	4	4	Alex Ovechkin is starting to find the range more often and Semyon Varlamov has been very good in goal.
	5	6	The arc of disaster-to-triumph that the Capitals undertook during the 24/7 series was something to behold, and now Washington is in a pretty good place.
	6	5	Here come the Caps. An eight-game point streak, with a Friday showdown looming against Vancouver.
	5	5	The Caps are still not hitting on all cylinders offensively -- um, has anyone seen Alexander Semin in the past month or so? -- but are playing terrific defense and have lost just once in regulation in their past 10 outings.
	5	6	Semyon Varlamov has been the main reason the Capitals have been on a roll in the New Year so far. The young netminder helped Washington collect five of a possible six points in their first three games in 2011 by only allowing four goals on 98 shots against.
	5	10	Semyon Varlamov giving Caps the goaltending they need
	4	6	Capitals are 6-0-2 since Dec. 12. And Alexander Ovechkin (15 goals) seems like he might be stirring out of his slump.
	6	6	Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said he picked Eric Fehr as his breakout player this year. When Leonsis reminded Fehr after his two-goal Winter Classic, Fehr remained modest. "I've got a lot of work to do," he told his boss.
	6	6	With one regulation loss in their last 10 starts the Caps are starting to kick it into gear even with Alex Ovechkin still in neutral.
	-	6	Pending
	4	7	Will huge Winter Classic victory spark second-half surge?