GAME ONE RE-CAP: Capitals Revert to "Older Day" in Third, Fall 4-2 to Bolts

"I thought, this isn't the way we play. It was reverting back to an older day." -- Coach Bruce Boudreau, on his team's play in the third period.


The Washington Capitals excelled in the latter stages of the season and in the first round of the playoffs by playing a controlled system, playing within themselves and taking advantage of their speed and strength on offense.  For the first half of

Capitals Should Have Healthy Respect for Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning are a good hockey club. They have a deep and talented offense, are extremely efficient on the power play, have a veteran and tough defensive corps, employ one of the most obnoxious agitators in the game, and now have a savvy goaltender that just happens to own the Washington Capitals in his history.
Add in the fact the Lightning just bounced the Caps' arch-rivals from the

Second Round Projections

As they did for the first round, NBCWashington.com assembled some of the finest hockey minds in D.C. (and us) and asked them to make some projections about the Washington Capitals second round matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
As you'd expect, most predict the Caps will win the series, but there are certainly some interesting thoughts as to the keys to the series and matchups that bear

Schedule Set for Second Round

The Washington Capitals will face Southeast Division rival Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, starting Friday night at 7:00 pm from Verizon Center.  There is a noticeable quirk in the schedule: back-to-back games in Tampa next Tuesday and Wednesday, due to the University of South Florida graduation ceremonies to be held at the St. Pete Times Forum on Thursday.
Here's the

Neuvirth Confident Heading Into Second Round; Practice Updates

ROOKIE GOALIE PLAYED EVERY MINUTE IN FIRST ROUND
Plenty has been written -- at least in the D.C. market -- about Washington Capitals goalie Michal Neuvirth after his fairly spectacular performance in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals win over the New York Rangers.  But the young goaltender himself isn't paying attention to any of that right now. 
"It's pretty nice, you know, but I'm just

Growing One for the Cause

I've finally registered for Beard-a-thon, sponsored by the the Capitals and NHL.com.
You can find my profile here if you'd like to support the cause, the Fort Dupont Hockey Club.  Here's a description of the mission:  Washington Capitals Charities will be donating all proceeds from the 2011 Beard-A-Thon to Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena. Fort Dupont is the only public indoor ice arena located

GAME FIVE RE-CAP: Capitals Send Rangers Packing with 3-1 Win

“It was a great game by us. A great performance. We played a good 60 minutes. We didn’t allow them too many chances. Neuvy played great tonight. It was a great effort by everybody.” -- Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom.


Ovi celebrates the second goal of the game for the Caps. (C.Nichols/Caps News Network).

In the end, this was simply the culmination of a dominant team over a lesser opponent. 

Failures of Past Not Applicable to Team of Present

"I don't remember nothing." -- Alex Ovechkin's recollection of Game Five vs. Montreal in 2010.
There are plenty of stories being written today from all the different media outlets about the Washington Capitals playoff failures, especially when they've held a three games to one lead in their history, as they do currently over the New York Rangers.  I suppose, in its own way, this column is one of

GAME FOUR RE-CAP: Caps Comeback Ends with Double-Overtime Thriller

So, where shall we begin?
Ultimately, the only thing about this game that matters was the final score, with the Washington Capitals defeating the New York Rangers 4-3 more than halfway through the second overtime period to take a three games to one lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference Semi-final matchup.
But man, how they got there?  That will be the stuff of legends and lifetime

GAME FOUR PREVIEW: Knuble Out?

Tonight at 7:30 pm, Bruce Boudreau faces off against legions of New Yorkers defending their decrepit basketball arena.
Oh, I'm sorry.  There actually is a hockey game to be played.
The Washington Capitals lead the New York Rangers two games to one in their best-of-seven game series, but all anyone is talking about in the media -- both New York and D.C. -- is Boudreau's comments regarding fabled

Staal Hit on Green: Lobbying or Legitimate Gripe?

Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau went on record this morning after today's very optional practice at Kettler Capitals Iceplex that Marc Staal's hit on Mike Green -- just before Alex Ovechkin's goal late in the second period of Sunday's 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers -- was a dirty hit and targeted Green's head, only three games returned from a lengthy absence due to concussion symptoms

GAME THREE RE-CAP: Rangers Take Play to Caps in 3-2 Win

There were a lot of factors that contributed to the Washington Capitals losing to the New York Rangers, 3-2, on Sunday before a packed house at Madison Square Garden.
If you're into conspiracy theories, this one was a doozy.  The Capitals were whistled for eight infractions to the Rangers four, including a couple of "Where was the penalty there?" calls.  The game winning goal was scored while the

GAME TWO RE-CAP: Captials Dominate Blueshirts, Take 2-0 Series Lead

Caps celebrate Jason Arnott's power play goal. (C.Nichols/Caps News Network)

Forgive an old hand for feeling good about a win.
The Washington Capitals got goals from Jason Chimera and Jason Arnott, and Michal Neuvirth turned away all 22 New York Rangers shots en route to a 2-0 win in Game Two, propelling the Caps to a 2-0 First Round series lead.
The affair resumes Sunday at 3:00 pm at

"Old Caps" Trigger Game-Winning Goal

If you watch a lot of hockey, you already know that playoff hockey is different than regular season hockey. 
Perhaps more than any other sport, the game transitions from one of preservation and artistry into a sacrifice at all costs, knock-down, bare knuckles, shot-blocking, tight-checking affair that elevates players like Karl Alzner and Dan Girardi into superstars while open ice snipers like

GAME ONE RE-CAP: Overtime In Game One? Of Course

No one said this would be easy.
The Washington Capitals finished first in the Eastern Conference.  The New York Rangers barely qualified for the eighth seed. But as is common in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, you can throw the records out the door.
Most prognosticators, including national media, expect this first round series to be a tooth and nail affair, with the winner escaping by the narrowist of

"Redskins Mentality" to Covering the Capitals

Yesterday, Tony Kornheiser had Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau on his radio show from 10:15 am - 10:25 am, just before the coach took the ice for his team's 10:30 am practice at Kettler Capitals Iceplex for their last serious practice before Game One of their first round match against the New York Rangers. 
Mr. Tony talked to Boudreau about everything -- and anything -- but hockey.  And

Another Caps Playoff Roundtable

We'll have some personal comments Wednesday about the Capitals, the playoffs and the psyche of America's Hockey Capital.
But for now, Caps News Network was invited to participate in a playoff roundtable by NBCWashington.com with some of the brightest hockey minds D.C. has to offer. And some other guys too.
Seriously, we were honored to be asked to be part of the discussion, and there were some

Caps Rap 2 feat. Our Photography

Andrew Bowser, who produced the wildly popular "Caps Rap", is back with a follow-up, "Caps Rap 2", featuring the the photography of Caps News Network's Cheryl Nichols.
Here's the link to CSNWashington.com, where the video is posted.

Capitals-Rangers First Round Schedule Set

The NHL announced the schedule for the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs Sunday night.  As expected, the Washington Capitals will face the New York Rangers on Wednesday, Apr. 13 at 7:30 pm for Game One, to be broadcast on Versus.
The Caps and Rangers then play Game Two Friday, Apr. 15 at 7:30 pm, again on Versus.  Both Game One and Game Two will be in Washington at the Verizon Center.
The

GAME 82 RE-CAP: Caps Avoid Injury in 1-0 Loss to Florida; Face Rangers in First Round

The Washington Capitals and the Florida Panthers played a game last night in Sunrise, FL that did not matter.  Sure, it will go in the books as a 1-0 win for the home team, but the result was meaningless.
The Panthers, with the fewest points in the Eastern Conference, lost out on their chance at the second season weeks ago.  And the Caps had already sewn up the top spot for the second season in a

#GoalieWars

So over on Twitter today there's been raging debate on who folks think Bruce Boudreau should go with in goal for the Washington Capitals for Game One in the playoffs.  Essentially, who is this team's playoff goalie?
Japers' Rink asked the question today too, and provided the stats for an analytical approach to evaluating the decision.
Does Boudreau go with Michal Neuvirth, who the Caps have

GAME 81 RE-CAP: Caps Punish Panthers in Last Regular Season Home Game

by Cheryl Nichols

The 2010-2011 Southeast Division Champion Washington Capitals hosted the Florida Panthers for the last regular season game at the Verizon Center.  The Caps wrapped up Fan Appreciation Week with a 5-2 win over the Panthers.

The Caps jumped on Florida early with two power play goals in the first period, and made sure they stayed down, adding two more before garbage time late in

GAME 80 RE-CAP: Caps Outlast Leafs in Shootout, Clinch SE Division

The playoff scenarios are still wildly in flux, but one thing now is for certain.  The Washington Capitals will hold one of the top three seeds in the Eastern Conference, courtesy of their fourth straight Southeast Division title, after defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in a shootout before a capacity crowd at Air Canada Centre.
Mike Knuble, the fourth shooter for the Caps, scored the only

Honored

We found out this morning that Caps News Network was nominated as "Best Sports Journalist on Twitter" in D.C.

We are truly honored to be included with such good company.

We have the utmost respect for all of these folks and count many of them as personal friends.

Please visit the link to check out the poll, and please visit the websites of all the nominees.  They all do tremendous work,