Our weekly look at individual Washington Capitals‘ ups and downs:
| Goalies | Trend | Notes |
| Braden Holtby |  |
Played well enough to win Saturday night in Buffalo. Unfortunately, his teammates didn’t. |
| Michal Neuvirth |  |
If you’re looking for the silver lining to a week in which the Caps’ top netminder posted a 3.35 GAA and .896 save percentage, it’s that Neuvy’s third period GAA was 2.00 and his save percentage .938, helping him to a 3-0-0 record. |
| Semyon Varlamov |  |
Stopped 21 of 24 shots for a win in his (first?) rehab start in Hershey. The Caps will be tempted to recall him sooner rather than later – let’s see what they do. |
| Defensemen | ||
| Karl Alzner | |
Struggled a bit in the Big Apple to start the week (though he did find his way onto the scoresheet for the first time this season), but scored his first goal in |
| John Carlson | |
Only had one point on the week (an assist against the Bolts), but played more than 87 minutes overall and was only on the ice for two goals against… even if it feels like that Vanek goal should count double. |
| John Erskine |  |
Mr. Movember had two goals (including Sunday’s game-winner) and an assist, a plus-four rating and an early candidate for Fight of the Year this week. His two goals this week were as many as he scored in his previous 142 games, and his plus-four goal differential for the week was tops among the team’s blueliners. |
| Mike Green | |
A couple of points (and a fight of his own) in Manhattan and a two-point effort on Sunday sandwiched a couple of point-less games for Green. |
| Tom Poti | |
Returned to the lineup against Tampa, scored a pretty goal… then promptly missed the next two games with what one would assume to be a recurrence of that nagging lower-body injury. |
| Jeff Schultz | |
Schultz ended the week with an even rating but was on the ice for a team-worst six of the 13 goals the Caps allowed for the week (albeit three of those were power-play goals). |
| Tyler Sloan | |
With three assists in three games this week (he was scratched on Thursday), Sloan now has five points in his last five games and has gone nine games without a minus rating. You can’t ask for any more from this guy. |
| Forwards | ||
| Nicklas Backstrom | |
His four-assist game against Tampa highlighted a six-point week in which he had a plus-five rating, was only on the ice for two even-strength goals against, and won 61.4% of his 70 faceoffs (don’t look now, but he’s in the top-20 in that category). |
| Matt Bradley | |
Had the primary assist on the game-winner against the Rangers, won a fight against Tampa, and had a helper on the winner against the Thrash. |
| Jason Chimera | |
Two things not to love about Chimmer’s week (other than the one-point-in-four-games): the extra two minutes he got in Buffalo for complaining about a call and the one hit total with which he was credited over the last three games. |
| Eric Fehr | |
Sunday’s assist was his only point of the week, which is perhaps not wholly surprising, given the linemates with whom he’s been skating. |
| Tomas Fleischmann | |
Weeks in which Flash has as many double-minors as points are never going to be good, and this one was no exception. |
| Boyd Gordon | |
Supposedly out a week with his latest injury. Bet the over. |
| Matt Hendricks | |
Scored the game-winner at Madison Square Garden and lit the lamp again back home on Sunday (to go with a plus-three rating). |
| Marcus Johansson | |
I’d say that he’s still getting back up to speed after his injury, but that would imply that he was there before he got hurt. He wasn’t. But he will be. And if Sunday’s third period is any indication, it might be sooner rather than later. |
| D.J. King | |
Skated just five shifts for a total ice time of 3:56 against the Rangers, but managed to be on the ice for a goal against (and didn’t even fight Derek Boogaard, much to the chagrin of fight fans everywhere). |
| Mike Knuble | |
Goals in back-to-back games to start the week (and end his scoring slump) were certainly nice, but he needs to be playing with more skilled linemates if his offensive production at even strength is going to be anything significant. |
| Brooks Laich | |
Was outstanding against New York, but less noticeable the rest of the week. |
| Alex Ovechkin | |
With two goals and five assists on the week, AO keeps piling up the points. But with just four shots on goal over the last three games, you can tell that he’s not playing his best hockey. |
| Alexander Semin | |
Four goals, four assists and a plus-four rating in four games. All those fours are just his way of honoring John Erskine. |
| David Steckel | |
Scratched against the Rangers, Stecks responded by leading the team in hits in two of the next three games, registering his first two points of November on Sunday (to go with a plus-three rating), and, most impressively, won 71% of his 69 faceoffs for the week. |
