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…

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…

Written by DCist contributor Eli Resnick Playing two games in two nights, four hundred miles apart, the Washington Capitals looked like a team in the middle of a grueling road trip last night, in their uninspired 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens at Verizon Center. There were flashes of hope along the way. Lawrence Nycholat’s first-period slap-shot was deflected into the net, but the goal was immediately washed out. The Capitals also dished out a…

This entry was written by DCist contributor Jesse Rounds. On Monday night the Caps came home to the newly minted Verizon Center to take on the New York Islanders and attempt to turn around a post-Olympic slide. An impressive display by the Caps gave Olie Kolzig his 250th career win and Alexander Ovechkin his 40th and 41st goal. The teams were evenly matched through the first period but in a second period bookended by goals…