Our weekly look at individual Washington Capitals‘ ups and downs:
Goalies | Trend | Notes |
Jose Theodore | Finishes the regular season with a 2-0-0/1.98/.934 week. Bruce Boudreau may not have named his playoff starter yet, but he knows it’s JT60. | |
Semyon Varlamov | Beat Pittsburgh and played well in a shootout loss to Boston, ending the week 1-0-1/2.88/.910. Be ready, Varly – you’ll likely get your chance in the playoffs. | |
Defensemen | ||
John Carlson | Returned from injury to play two games and tally his fifth assist of the season. Looks as ready as one can be for what’s next. | |
Joe Corvo | Snapped an eight-game pointless streak with a helper against the Thrashers, but is goal-less in ten. On the plus side, he only killed 56 seconds of penalties for the week, so it looks as though he’s officially off that unit. | |
John Erskine | Blocked five shots against the Bruins on Monday, but skated only four shifts on Tuesday in Pittsburgh. Perhaps Karl Alzner should’ve gotten a sweater for that one after all. | |
Mike Green | Took a couple of games off but came back to contribute a pair of helpers and to add four to his plus-minus while skating his usual big minutes. Was not on the ice for a goal against at even strength or shorthanded all week. | |
Milan Jurcina | Skated this week, but there’s a world of difference between skating and “skating.” | |
Shaone Morrisonn | Mo’s tailspin continues, as he had a minus rating in three of four games (and was even in the other), adding no offense and being on the ice for five of the ten goals the Caps allowed on the week. | |
Tom Poti | Plus-three in three games on the week, but on the ice for four of the eight goals against in the other two and both power-play goals the Caps allowed. | |
Jeff Schultz | All hail Double Nickel, who finishes the season at an eye-popping plus-50 after being plus-11 in his last three games (and adding three helpers). Schultz skated 90:19 for the week (including 10:32 shorthanded) and was on the ice for one goal against, Dennis Wideman‘s even-strength tally with less than two seconds remaining in the first period on Monday. Bravo, Mr. Nasty. Bravo. | |
Tyler Sloan | Played in three games this week, but an injury kept him from playing a fourth. Though the injury is minor (and he’s apparently already recovered from it), his season could very well be over. | |
Forwards | ||
Nicklas Backstrom | Had his streak of three consecutive three-point games snapped on Sunday. Looks poised to take the playoffs by storm. | |
Jay Beagle | Called up for the Pens game and didn’t look out of place, especially in the face-off circle, where he went 7-for-10. | |
Eric Belanger | Ended the regular season with points in back-to-back games and solid penalty killing. | |
Matt Bradley | Hit double-digits in goals for the first time in his career and set a career-best in points as well with his game-winning tally in Pittsburgh. With the regular season he’s had (five game-winners), seems destined for some post-season heroism. | |
Jason Chimera | Scored against the Thrash to break a ten-game goal-less drought and was feisty as heck against the B’s on Sunday as he gets ready to bring a little sandpaper to the second season. | |
Eric Fehr | No points on the week and a minus-two in a 5-2 win earned him a Sunday scratch, but he’ll be back in the lineup for Game 1… right? | |
Tomas Fleischmann | Potted a goal against the Pens but won just nine of his 22 draws (40.1%). It’ll be interesting to see where he fits in come Thursday. | |
Boyd Gordon | Returned to the lineup Friday night, had a helper Sunday and won 75% of his faceoffs in two games. Gordo’s another guy who provides Bruce Boudreau with a nice problem to have. | |
Mike Knuble | Three games, three goals for the week. Can’t wait to see what he has in store for the playoffs. | |
Brooks Laich | Scored the game-winner in overtime on Monday night by going to the net and taking one in the man-area. Atta boy, Brooksie. | |
Quintin Laing | Had a helper in Pittsburgh, but it’s hard to see him dressed for many games going forward. | |
Brendan Morrison | Looked bad in his return to the lineup Friday night, but bounced back with a plus-two Sunday. | |
Alex Ovechkin | M-V-P! M-V-P! | |
Alexander Semin | On fire, with two goals (including his 40th of the season) and |
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David Steckel | Won just 46.7% of his draws on the week, was on the ice for both power-play goals against, and sat out Friday night’s game. Could he be nursing an injury? | |
Scott Walker | Returned to the lineup, but is probably headed back to the press box for the start of the playoffs. |