The Capitals opened their shortened 2013 training camp on Sunday afternoon. Here’s a round-up of Caps-related news from the past couple of days.

Photo used under a Creative Commons license with Garyisajoke.It’s not as hard as netting a game-winner or facing down Steve Downie (after all, we can’t all be Matt Bradley), but covering the NHL’s top team during the regular season is a pressure-filled assignment for the Washington media. Since we get to cast judgments and analyze the Capitals’ play all year, it only seemed fair to ask the players themselves how well we — the media…

The Verizon Center exploded as Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Ovechkin and Mike Knuble celebrateBackstrom’s winning goal, which capped an incredible comeback to keep the Caps from falling into a2-0 hole against Montreal. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)During a second period Saturday that Nicklas Backstrom called “embarrassing,” the Washington Capitals found themselves down 4-1 against the Montreal Canadiens and waiting for a referee review of an earlier play. Eric Fehr, who had the only Capitals goal at that point,…

Mike Green congratulates goalie Jose Theodore after a 2-0 shutout win against the Rangers last night.(AP Photo/Nick Wass)It’s taken only two games for three new guys on the Capitals roster — Scott Walker, Eric Belanger, and Joe Corvo — to net points for their new team. Walker got his first two Thursday, while Belanger scored a goal and Corvo had an assist in the Capitals’ 2-0 win over the Rangers Saturday. It was a…

Young Capitals goalie Michal Neuvirth found himself looking into the back of his net one toomany times Friday night in a 3-2 loss. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez) The Washington Capitals scored first, but the Montreal Canadiens scored more and won 3-2 on Friday night at the Verizon Center. The Caps’ Eric Fehr netted the only goal of the first period for either team, but the Canadiens had twice as many shots on goal in…

Florida defenseman Jay Bouwmeester. (Steve Mitchell/Associated Press) It’s not often in professional sports that the home team has the chance to keep the best player on the visiting team after the game, but that might be the case this afternoon if the Capitals can make the right impression on the Florida Panthers. Panthers defenseman Jay Bouwmeester is an emerging star. He plays defense well, passes the puck well and scores goals. All year, Florida…

Simeon Varlamov’s long trip from Hershey, PA meant he didn’t arrive in time to back up Brent Johnson when the puck dropped Friday against the Ottawa Senators. Instead, the Caps had to rely on team Web Producer and former Division III goalie Brett Leonhardt as their backup goalie for ten minutes of nail-biting NHL action. The Senators took every possible opportunity to try to hurt Johnson and get to Leonhardt, the only Division III goalie…

The Capitals have agreed to terms on a one year contract with former MVP Sergei Fedorov. Fedorov has won three Stanley Cups while playing center, wing and defense. He has also been voted the NHL’s best defensive forward. He reportedly had many contract offers from teams throughout the NHL and Russia’s new KHL, but he took a 33 percent paycut from last season to stay with the Caps for $4 million. This could have something…

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…

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…