Hannan Brings Size, Grit, Experience to Capitals

The Washington Capitals today traded forward Tomas Fleischmann to the Colorado Avalache for 31-year old defensive defenseman Scott Hannan, a man Alex Ovechkin once described as "the toughest defenseman to play against." 
Hannan, in his first words as a Capital, said he was "really excited, going to a team in first place with a great chance to make a run for the Stanley Cup."  Hannan waived a

Capitals Trade Fleischmann to Colorado for Defenseman Scott Hannan

Confirmed by team officials, the Washington Capitals have traded forward Tomas Fleischmann to the Colorado Avalanche for defenseman Scott Hannan.
Hannan is a 31-year old left-handed defenseman.  He is dependable, having skated in the most games of any defenseman in the league since the 2002-03 season.  He had appeared in 267 of 269 regular season games since singing with Colorado in 2007.
Hannan

GAME 25 RECAP: Caps Preserve Win Against Carolina in Shootout

The Captain with your game winner. (C.Nichols/Caps News Network)
THE RESULT:  For 59 minutes and 52 seconds, the Washington Capitals looked like they would eke out a hard-fought victory over their division opponent Carolina Hurricanes.  Then, potential disaster struck, as a combination of Caps weaknesses allowed a game-tying goal with just 2.2 seconds remaining on the clock, forcing overtime.

GAME 24 RECAP: Capitals Dominate Lightning In Every Fashion, Win 6-0

"I don't know if it was perfect, but it's as good as we've played all year." Coach Bruce Boudreau
THE RESULT:  The Washington Capitals played a full sixty-minute game against their closest competitor in the Southeast Division, shutting out the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-0, before another sellout at Verizon Center.
The win gives the Caps 34 points this season (16-6-2), and stretches the Capitals lead

GAME 21 RECAP: Caps Comeback Twice to Salvage Point

THE RESULT:  On Friday night, the Washington Capitals were beaten and embarrassed by a division opponent.  Saturday night, they rebounded against one of their biggest competitors for supremacy in the Eastern Conference, earning a point when it would have been easy enough to fold as they did the previous night.
Instead, they fought back from two third period defecits to the Philadelphia Flyers

CAPS GAME NIGHT, GAME 21: Battle for the Eastern Conference

Philadelphia Flyers (12-6-2-26, 1st ATL) v. Washington Capitals (14-5-1-29, 1st SE)7:00 pm, Verizon Center, Washington DC_______________________________________________________
The two top teams in the Eastern Conference battle this evening at the Verizon Center, as the Washington Capitals host their old Patrick Division rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Caps come off a rough road loss; they

GAME 20 RECAP: Momma Said There Would Be Days Like These

THE RESULT:  The Washington Capitals got down early behind a shaky rookie backup goalie and never recovered, cruising throughout the game and falling to the homestanding Atlanta Thrashers 5-0, before an annouced 11,115 at Phillips Arena.  There were perhaps half that in attendance.
It was the first time the Capitals (14-5-1) had been shut out since Dec. 9, 2009, to Ryan Miller and the Buffalo

CAPS GAME NIGHT, GAME 20: Caps Head South for Roadie in Hotlanta

Washington Capitals (14-4-1-29, 1st SE) v. Atlanta Thrashers (7-9-3-17, 4th SE)Phillips Arena, 7:30 pm, Atlanta, GA________________________________________________________
The Washington Capitals travel deep into Dixie to face the Atlanta Thrashers for their fourth meeting (out of six) already this season. 
Since falling to the Thrashers on Opening Night 4-2, the Caps have taken two straight,

GAME 19 RECAP: Caps Tighten D in Third, Hold Off Buffalo 4-2

"One game like that does not a season make." David Steckel, on the team's encouraging defensive effort in the third period.
THE RESULT: Playing what Matt Bradley called "playoff-style hockey" in the third period, the Washington Capitals held on to a precious one-goal lead and defeated the Buffalo Sabres 4-2, before an announced sellout crowd at Verizon Center.
All the tickets might have been sold

CAPS GAME NIGHT, GAME 19: Caps Look to Avenge Weekend Loss to Sabres

Buffalo Sabres (7-9-3-17, 4th NE) v. Washington Capitals (13-4-1-27, 1st SE)7:00 pm, Verizon Center, Washington DC__________________________________________________
The Washington Capitals, winners of eight of their last ten games, look to avenge one of those losses, a 3-2 OT loss to the Buffalo Sabres Saturday night in Buffalo.  The defeat snapped a season-high six-game win streak for the Caps.

Capitals Succeed Under Pressure of Lofty Expectations

The Washington Capitals' 6-4 win over the division rival Atlanta Thrashers Sunday, fueled by John Erskine's mustache, gave the Caps a nine-point lead in the division and three-point leads over Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference and Los Angeles for the President's Trophy.


Washington Capitals celebrate one of their 13 wins. (C.Nichols)
Washington owns a 13-4-1 record after 18 games.  No team

GAME 16 RECAP: Caps Win Sixth Straight; Semin Hat Trick

“It wasn’t anything special. I was just going out there and playing like I do every other game. [The] Most important thing is for the team to win and that’s what happened tonight.” -- Alexander Semin (translated by Dmitry Chesnokov)

THE RESULT:  The Washington Capitals extended win streak to six games in front of the 69th consecutive sellout crowd at Verizon Center on Thursday night with a 6-3

GAME 14 RECAP: Caps Win in OT and End Flyers Win Streak

“We wanted to score on the power play, more for me on the confidence of the power play and it won us the game so it worked out. I thought we were pretty patient and showed a lot of good restraint today. We didn’t retaliate and that was good.” -- Coach Bruce Boudreau

THE RESULT:  The Washington Capitals ended the Philadelphia Flyers sixth game winning streak in front of the 68th consecutive

CAPS GAME NIGHT, GAME 14: CAPS HOST FLYERS

Philadelphia Flyers (9-4-1-14, 1st AE) v.Washington Capitals (9-4-0-14, 1st SE)5:00 pm  Verizon Center, Washington DC_______________________________________________________________
The Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals are evenly matched on paper and add in the long-time rivarly, Sunday early evening should prove to be a great game in America's Hockey Capital.
After Saturday morning

Johansson Assigned to Hershey

From Caps Press Release:

The Washington Capitals have assigned center Marcus Johansson to the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL), vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today.

Johansson (YO-hahn-son), 20, has a goal in six games for the Capitals this season. He missed the last six games due to injury but took warm-ups with the team last night and has been

GAME 13 RECAP: Caps Win; Both Starting Goalies Benched; Holtby Debuts

“I feel great about the fact that we played tremendous the first two periods, so I am not going to try to spin any negatives on this. This is a great team and we shut them down with 11 or 12 shots in two periods.” -- Coach Bruce Boudreau

THE RESULT:  The Washington Capitals played their best second period of the season in front of the 67th consecutive sellout crowd at Verizon Center on Friday

GAME 12 RECAP: Caps Get Up, Caps Get Down, Caps Win in Shootout

RESULT:  Saturday night in Calgary, the Washington Capitals got a lead against a struggling, inferior team and buried them, on the road no less.  Wednesday night, in a 5-4 shootout win, it wasn't that simple.
The Caps (8-4-0-16, T-1 in SE) used a three goal blitz in the second period to seemingly take control over the Toronto Maple Leafs.  But instead of notching a fourth goal and taking the wind

CAPS GAME NIGHT, GAME 12: The Falling Leafs in DC

Toronto Maple Leafs (5-5-1-11, 3rd NE) v. Washington Capitals (7-4-0-14, 2nd SE)7:00 pm  Verizon Center, Washington DC___________________________________________________
The Toronto Maple Leafs, perhaps the second most storied franchise in all of hockey, got off to a tremedous start this season, winning their first four games.  But since that streak was broken in a 4-3 overtime loss to the New