Our weekly temperature-taking of the mainstream media’s opinions on the Washington Capitals:
| Outlet | This Week | Last Week | What They’re Saying |
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4 | 6 |
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4 | 4 | Alex Ovechkin is starting to find the range more often and Semyon Varlamov has been very good in goal. |
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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. |
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6 | 5 | Here come the Caps. An eight-game point streak, with a Friday showdown looming against Vancouver. |
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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. |
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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. |
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5 | 10 | Semyon Varlamov giving Caps the goaltending they need |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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– | 6 | Pending |
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4 | 7 | Will huge Winter Classic victory spark second-half surge? |
Click on logos for links to full power rankings.
