Our weekly look at individual Washington Capitals‘ ups and downs:
| Goalies | Trend | Notes |
| Jose Theodore | – | Gave up one he’d probably like to have back against the Isles and had some hard luck against C’bus, but stopped 41 of 43 (including a penalty shot) against Philly and was 1-0-2/3.63/.895 for the week. |
| Semyon Varlamov | – | Apparently told SovSport after the Atlanta win that the team concentrates more on the game when he’s in goal. Now if only he’d concentrate more on the game when he’s in goal… |
| Defensemen | ||
| John Erskine | – | Still not ready to play, but the Caps probably have used his skillset against Columbus. |
| Mike Green | – | Points in nine-straight, but an even-rating and very uneven play (albeit not at full health). |
| Milan Jurcina | ▲ | Dare I say… steady? Bonus points for coming right back after taking a nasty spill into the boards against Columbus. Slovakian Machine never breaks? |
| Shaone Morrisonn | – | Can a player fall down the depth chart while sticking on the top pairing? |
| Brian Pothier | ▼ | No production + bad penalty = down arrow |
| Tom Poti | ▼ | Prior to Friday night, Poti had a streak of a half-dozen “+1s” in a row, but he’s making bad decisions, failing to clear pucks and generating no offense. |
| Jeff Schultz | – | Offensive outburst apparently behind him, Sarge is back to doing his thing – playing very solid defense with the occasional goofy lookin’ gaffe. |
| Tyler Sloan | ▼ | Time to move him to the list of forwards? Or, better yet, Hershey? |
| Forwards | ||
| Keith Aucoin | – | Two points in four games, but hasn’t done enough to warrant consideration for a full-time NHL gig once the team gets healthy. |
| Nicklas Backstrom | ▲ | Seven points in four games while battling the flu. Faceoffs are still a concern. |
| Matt Bradley | – | Has had some good opportunities for that second fighting major of the season, but is doing other things, and doing them pretty well. |
| Chris Clark | ▼ | Whatever Clark’s on-ice role is on this team right now, he’s not doing it well. |
| Eric Fehr | ▼ | With nearly every game that passes, Fehr’s “make or break” season seems more and more broken. |
| Tomas Fleischmann | ▲ | Who are you and what have you done with the real Tomas Fleischmann? |
| Boyd Gordon | – | Still out, still missed. |
| Alexandre Giroux | ▼ | Back to Hershey, where he belongs. |
| Mike Knuble | – | Just three goals in 14 games (a 17-goal pace) and a few bad penalties along the way, but his effort is always there. |
| Brooks Laich | ▲ | Three helpers against Atlanta and a pair of goals against the Jackets. |
| Quintin Laing | ▲ | Comes back from H1N1 and scores a goal to add yet another chapter in the crazy story that is Laing’s hockey life. |
| Brendan Morrison | ▲ | Terrific effort every night. |
| Michael Nylander | ▲ | Five AHL games, five points. Now let’s get down to business… |
| Alex Ovechkin | ▲ | Caps Nation holds its collective breath. |
| Alexander Semin | ▼ | Do you really want to be wondering come playoff time if one of your alleged star players is going to show up? |
| David Steckel | – | Strong game against C’bus, but didn’t have much else going on this past week. |