Capitals 4, Hurricanes 3 (OT): For the second game in a row, the Capitals blew a 2-0 lead. But this time, they pulled it out in overtime, the first time in the last four extra session matches they've got the full two points. Jose Theodore, despite letting in three goals, made many key saves, including a stop on a penalty shot in the first period. Mike Green added a pair of power-play tallies, and Alex Semin scored his 31st goal of the season. The game-winner came from Tomas Fleischmann, his 19th goal of the year -- no tiny haul. But Flash -- who didn't play in Monday's 4-3 loss to Dallas -- suddenly finds himself a man fighting for a roster spot on a team full of offensive weapons. "If the circumstances weren't what they are, he wouldn't be sitting out," head coach Bruce Boudreau said of Fleischmann. "We'll keep rotating guys in and out of the lineup. The players don't like it, but they understand it." Fleischmann scored 14 of his goals in his first 25 games this season, but only five in his last 30. The natural reaction is feel bad for Fleischmann, who's certainly been a fine servant for this team this season. But if you take the angle that an even rotation could recharge the batteries heading into the playoffs, it certainly is much easier to understand, probably even for those who have to share time. more ›

Tonight the Capitals came from behind to beat the Florida Panthers 7-4. With Alex Ovechkin and Mike Green among a slew of injured players, Mike Knuble put up four points to spark the win. The total tied his personal best, from Valentine's Day, 2003. Asked what it was like to be a leader on this team, Knuble calmly dismissed the assertion. "It's just one game," he said, talking up the importance of hard work over a long season. more ›

Tonight it's draft lottery time in the NHL once more. For the last four seasons, this has been the day that we Caps fans cross our fingers and hope that the team is lucky enough to get a chance at a player who will help them do better in the future. This year, though, Washington will not participate, because the Capitals have made the playoffs. more ›

Yesterday the Washington Capitals announced that they have signed Tomas Fleischmann to a two-year contract at just under $750,000 per season. The Capitals now have long term contracts with every member of their top two offensive lines, both as they stand now and including injured leaders Michael Nylander and Chris Clark. more ›

This weekend the Capitals won their first two games under new head coach Bruce Boudreau. WashingtonCaps.com Senior Writer Mike Vogel announced that Boudreau had turned the team around by fixing the power play. This is true, but Vogel writes that he fixed it by "promoting Nicklas Backsrrom (sic) and Mike Green to the first unit and moving Alex Ovechkin up to his more customary forward spot from the point, where he had been stationed for... more ›

According to Forbes magazine, the Washington Capitals are the third most worthless team in the National Hockey League. This is a big step up from last year, when they were number one! Of course, being businessmen and not hockey fans, the boys at Forbes have failed to take into account the kinds of younger, developing players that the Caps hold, ready to carry them to success either this year or in the immediate future. If... more ›

One of the best things about covering hockey is that you get the summer off. Just ask USA Today's Gary Graves, TV Analyst Darren Pang or the anonymous Western Canadian hockey experts on this conference call. All of them are really excited to watch what happens when Alexander Ovechkin plays with newly signed free agent center Michael Nylander. But as Ovechkin kindly told these vacationing reporters when they asked him how he felt about it,... more ›

The Capitals have re-signed center Brooks Laich (pronounced LIKE) to a one year contract. Laich is a fast-skating, defensively responsible young center who can also play on the wing. The Capitals acquired him from the Ottawa Senators in 2004 in a trade for Washington's all time leading scorer, Peter Bondra. Returning to a recently broken club policy, "financial terms of the deal were not disclosed." According to TSN, however, the contract is worth $725,000.00, and... more ›

Last night the Hershey Bears lost the decisive fifth game of the Calder Cup Finals to the Hamilton Bulldogs. The Bulldogs will now get raises and promotions to the NHL, while the Bears will go home to dark, empty apartments and watch nature shows, searching for an equally absurd example of an obnoxious housepet dominating a bear. Actually, losing in the finals is a perfectly acceptable outcome from the Capitals' standpoint. Their young players got... more ›

On Friday night The Hershey Bears were torn apart by Bulldogs in an embarrassing 3-0 home loss in game one of the Calder Cup Finals. After putting on a convincing impression of "the big bad wolf" in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bears got burned at the beginning of the big dance by reclusive nineteen year old named Carey. Of course, the night's events did not warp into a Stephen King novel. The Bears faced... more ›

That's right. Caps are in the finals! Admittedly, the Capitals are not in this year's Stanley Cup Finals. That honor is shared by the Anaheim No-Longer-Mighty Ducks and the Ottawa Senators. However, many Capitals are still in the finals. No, we're not talking about Ottawa's Antoine Vermette, who was only a Capital for one beautiful summer day, when the Caps claimed him off waivers and then traded him right back to Ottawa. We're not even... more ›

Two games after we suggested the Washington Capitals were trying to lose games for better draft position, the team has won back to back games against teams fighting for playoff spots by a combined score of twelve goals to two. In home games on Friday night and Sunday afternoon, the Caps cakewalked over the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning, and climbed from twenty-seventh place all the way back to twenty-fifth in the... more ›

Written by DCist Contributor Eli Resnick Several recent Washington Capitals draft picks and free agent signings have combined their efforts to take their team on a five-game winning streak, tightening the defending champions' hold on the league lead. Their team, of course, is the Hershey Bears, the Caps affiliate in the American Hockey League. However, far from a random factoid, this is terrific news for the Capitals, who can't always get by on the heroics... more ›