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 thirty-team NHL.
These two dominating wins followed a streak of nine demoralizing losses that prompted some fans to predict a last place finish for the team, and prompted the Post’s Tarik El-Bashir to name eight players who haven’t yet earned a spot on next year’s Caps. Following this assessment, Washington coach Glen Hanlon told his players that if they played hard they could still earn themselves a role in this team’s future. The results have been electric.
The five healthy players on Tarik’s list combined for thirteen points in these two weekend games. Tomas Fleischmann led the charge with three goals and two assists. Boyd Gordon stepped up for two goals and an assist. Kris Beech nabbed a goal and two assists. Even defensemen Steve Eminger and Milan Jurcina each notched an assist, while both played terrific games in their own end. We can hardly wait to see how strongly Eric Fehr, Bryan Muir and John Erskine respond when they return.
Image by Flickr user digitaldefection, used under Creative Commons license.
