Varly Saves the Day in a Battle of Goaltenders

The Caps got off to a hot start last night, as they hosted the Islanders for the third meeting between the two teams. On a rainy Veteran's Day, a packed Verizon Center went wild as Alex Semin (who's been the focus of much criticism for his inconsistent play lately) netted a zinger a mere eight seconds into the game! I had to drive the hockey carpool and was listening to the action on my trusty XM radio when things began to unravel for the Caps. Moulson, Bergenheim and Mark Streit scored quickly for the Isles for a 3-1 lead, stunning the home crowd and sending Jose Theodore to the bench for the evening. Flash continued his hot streak by pounding one in assisted by our solid playmaker, Nick Backstrom and one Mike Knuble, to cut the Islander's lead to within one.

Now if there's one thing we've learned in our past meetings with these boys from Long Island, it's that they've got one heck of a work ethic. These guys battle for every puck and every hit and they ensured that the Caps had their work cut out for them again last night!

Alex Semin tied the game 3-3 in the second, showing signs of the hot stick that's been missing in action the past few outings without his pal Alex Ovechkin. The Caps added another point on the board in the middle stanza, as Eric Fehr's backhand inked it's way past veteran Dwayne Roloson's grasp. So going into the final period, the boys held a 4-3 lead.

The Islanders (again, these guys never quit) tied it up at 17:52 in the third period as Trent Hunter's wicked slap shot buzzed right over Varlamov's shoulder. As has become the norm for these two teams, we were headed into OT. The Caps tried their darnedest to close this one out in OT and put the pressure on Roloson. But no score in the additional minutes, and this one was headed to a shoot out.

What a shoot out it was - going 11 rounds, as Commish Gary Bettman watched on from Ted Leonsis' box. Alex Semin scored the first shoot out goal for the Caps and captain Chris Clark netted the game-winner in an absolute nail-biter of an ending. Semyon Varlamov was spectacular with eight saves, giving him a 2-0 record in shoot outs. The 5-4 win propelled the Caps to the first place spot in the Eastern Conference - nice work boys!

In other news, no new word on any potential movement of Michael Nylander and Ovechkin has been practicing so let's keep our fingers crossed that we see him back in action very soon.

And for a gal's perspective on what it's like to report on the Washington Capitals, check out HM's interview with some of the savviest female hockey writers in the press box over at ScarletCaps.com!

Capitals Salute Our Veterans and Active Troops

Washington Capitals players pose with Microsoft and USO representatives in front of the Courage Caps at the Microsoft Corp.’s annual A Salute to Our Troops program. (left to right – Brian Pothier, Elaine Rogers, President of the USO of Metropolitan Washington, Teresa Carlson, Mike Knuble, Vice President, Microsoft US Federal, David Steckel and Chris Clark. Photo by Getty Image/Jemal Countess.

The Washington Capitals continued their commitment to honoring the country's brave men and women who serve in our military by participating with WTOP 103.5 FM, Federal News Radio 1500 AM and the USO of Metropolitan Washington in Microsoft Corp.’s annual A Salute to Our Troops program with Operation USO Care Package Day. Chris Clark, Mike Knuble, Brian Pothier and David Steckel joined forces with Ted Leonsis and more than a hundred volunteers to assemble 5,000 care packages that will be sent to our troops serving overseas.

The Capitals players recorded video messages for the troops, sending best wishes to them during the holiday season on the Pentagon Channel. “It’s always special when you can help out the people who keep us safe,” said captain Chris Clark.

“We all did video messages for the men and women serving oversees that hopefully can let them know how much we appreciate all that they do for us,” said Pothier.

As part of the program, the USO-Metro hospital services team brought the wounded warriors “Sled Dogs” team from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Naval Medical Center to Kettler Iceplex where they scrimmaged on the ice after the Capitals’ practice. The Caps players met and took pictures with the wounded warriors before heading up to pack the care packages.

This event launched Courage Caps, presented by Microsoft, which is in its third season and has raised nearly $70,000 in the first two years. Courage Caps are team-issued and branded hats that will be sold through December at Capitals home games, at Kettler Capitals Iceplex and online at WashingtonCaps.com with 100% of the proceeds benefiting USO-Metro. Caps fans can purchase their Courage Caps at Verizon Center tomorrow when the boys take on the New York Islanders.

Tomorrow night the Capitals will mark Veteran's Day by hosting more than 50 Wounded Warriors and their families for tomorrow's game at Verizon Center, in conjunction with Microsoft and the USO of Metropolitan Washington. The Wounded Warriors will also be treated to a pre-game reception, where they will be honored and recognized for their service and courage.

Hockey Mom joins Caps fans united in thanking our troops for their service - keep them in your prayers as they stand in harm's way to preserve our freedom.

Caps/Panthers: Part Deux

After returning from last night's win over the Florida Panthers in the wee hours of the morning (2 a.m. to be precise), the Capitals suited up to face the Cats on their home turf at the Phone Booth. Last night's 4-1 victory came at a price, as Jeff Schultz and Mike Green (with lower and upper body injuries, respectively) joined the Great8 in the press box. Jose Theodore got the nod in net for the home team, while Scott Clemmensen held court in the Panthers' crease.

After his fabulous game last night (a goal, a +3 rating and three hits in 18:25 of ice time), young Tyler Sloan was being called "Deion Sanders" by his team mates. Brian Pothier (who had a heck of a game himself with a goal and two assists), referred to the youngster as "our swingman - our Deion Sanders." Way to go Sloaner!

Tonight's rematch got chippy early on as the aforementioned Sloan took a huge hit into the boards courtesy of Michal Repik. But as they've done in the last 13 of 16 games this year, the men in red got on the scoreboard first with a goal from Mike Knuble. Knuble got assistance on his tally from Brendan Morrison and Brooks Laich. Shortly after the goal, Chris Clark took a seat for holding and the boys went on the PK. On the kill, Caps fans saw the phenomenal Quintin Laing block yet another shot - is this guy amazing or what? Hey Quintin, can you rub off some of that "do whatever it takes to get it done for the team" mojo on Alex Semin? And speaking of Semin, he took the second Capitals penalty for - you guessed it - a trip. End of first period: Caps 1 - Panthers 0

Alex Semin's penalty woes continued in the opening minutes of the middle period as he was called for a cross-check. Then Jose Theodore neglected to clamp down on a Panther rebound, resulting in a goal from Michael Frolik to get the cats on the board. The Panthers gave the Caps a power play opportunity at the 4:28 mark and Brooks Laich regained the home team's lead with a sharp-angled goal against Clemmensen. However, they didn't take the lead for long as 19-year old Dmitry Kulikov wound up and shot a rocket past Theo to earn his first NHL goal. Tyler Sloan appeared to be screening Theo on that one. The hard hits prevailed in the second period as Laing nailed Kulikov and John Erskine (back after a nine game absence) absolutely flattened a Panthers player.

The Cats lit the lamp for the third time courtesy of Michal Repik. End of the second period: Panthers 3 - Caps 2

The boys tied it up early in the third as Mathieu Perreault scored his first NHL goal - a huge Hockey Mom high five to him! They regained the lead at 3:01 into the final period from the hard-working line of Laing-Steckel-Bradley with Quintin getting credit for the goal. In what had become an action-packed, tit for tat contest, the Panthers' Corey Stillman blew one past Theo (a soft one I'm sure he'd so love to have back). But about two and a half minutes later, Flash was on the move and scored from a wrap around attempt from Backstrom. Then the Capitals lit the lamp again as Mike Knuble deflected the puck into the goal by doing what he does best, parking his large frame in front of the opposition's net. Knuble's goal made it a 6-4 contest. The boys netted yet another goal from Tomas Fleischmann at 13:38 in the third as the Panthers d-men stood around and watched like a bunch of Squirt house players!

Flash (two goals) and Knuble (two goals and two assists) both had an outstanding game (as did my favorite grinder Laing) to give the Caps a commanding win despite playing without Ovie and Green! Final score: Caps 7 - Panthers 4

Nice job all around - and be sure to join Mike Green for the second edition of Caps on the Fly this coming Monday. Green will chat with Mike Vogel in a live broadcast from the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown D.C. starting at 6 p.m. Fans can can watch the show live at the Hilton Garden Inn located at 815 14th Street in downtown Washington, D.C., or online at WashingtonCaps.com.

Next up for the Caps (hopefully we'll have all the guys back on the bench) is another meeting with the New York Islanders on Wednesday. And stay tuned for news of any possible movement of Michael Nylander as he is set to clear waivers on Monday and could be on his way to a new home somewhere.

Hedman Gets Rocked; Caps/Panthers Preview

The highly-touted rookie defenseman, Victor Hedman, of the Tampa Bay Lightning, received a less than friendly welcome to the league via a brutal hit, courtesy of  Ottawa Senator's bad boy Chris Neil. Now Hedman is no lightweight mind you, standing at 6'6" and weighing in at a solid 230 lbs. But yet again, when someone is coming at you at the speed of light, keep your head up for pete's sake!



Now Chris Neil had to dance with Lightning brawler Steve Downie to answer for what was deemed a clean hit and he proceeded to wallop the feisty former Flyer.

Speaking of dancing, HM has a great gift idea for all you foodies out there in hockeyland. Fellow Capitals blogger Rob Yunich of Storming the Crease fame and his wife have recently penned a very cool new cookbook titled The Kitchen Dance. This great cookbook features detailed shopping lists, tips to help you stock the pantry and ideas about entertaining in tight quarters -- along with plenty of healthy, quick (kosher) recipes such as stir-fries, pasta entrees, vegetarian main dishes, original quick-cooking chicken recipes and delicious desserts. Now with my harried hockey schedule, HM is all about quick and easy recipes so I encourage you all to check it out!

Finally, the boys face the Florida Panthers tonight, their second game sans Alex Ovechkin. Ovie says his injury is "getting better" but he is not expected to see any action this weekend. I think we'd all agree that it's better for him to make sure he's 100 percent rather than come back early (especially with the rough and tumble way he plays)!

The Cats are coming off a 3-0 win against the struggling Carolina Hurricanes and are still without David Booth. As you'll recall, Booth is still suffering from a wicked concussion following a controversial hit from Flyers' captain Mike Richards a few weeks ago. In his absence, the Panthers have won three straight, led by Nathan Horton (goal and six assists in last four games), d-man Jordan Leopold (goal and three assists in last four games) and d-man Dennis Seidenberg (goal and three assists in last three games). Minding the net for Florida is Tomas Vokoun, who currently has a .919 save percentage. And it will be a big night for Panther's captain Brian McCabe, as the 34-year old will be playing in his 1,000th NHL game tonight when the puck drops at Bank Atlantic Center.

The Capitals' keys to victory: We need to ramp up the secondary scoring, eliminate the defensive gaffes in our own zone that have become par for the course and stop giving the opposition power play opportunities due to silly penalties (that last one's for you Alex Semin). Puck drops at 7:30 p.m..

Backstrom on Grate Patrol

Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom met with the homeless on one of the stops of The Salvation Army’s Grate Patrol program Monday evening.

As HM reported earlier, Capitals' center Nick Backstrom joined forces with Mix 107.3’s Chilli Amar,  Gary Dexter with Tires Plus and Comcast SportsNet’s Lisa Hillary in The Salvation Army’s Grate Patrol program on Monday in an effort to help D.C.'s growing homeless population. The group delivered chicken noodle soup, bread, hot chocolate and cookies to the homeless in eight locations in Washington, D.C. With the temperature changing the Grate Patrol van also had sweatshirts to give the homeless to help with the cooler weather.

The Grate Patrol van started at The Salvation Army’s Harbor Light facility at 6:30 p.m. and stopped at eight locations in the northwest part of Washington, D.C. Backstrom and his fellow volunteers delivered the food and sweatshirts and talked to the homeless about their everyday struggles of living on the streets.

“This was a different experience for me, but the people were happy we were there,” said Backstrom, who is the spokesman for the Capitals’ canned food drive at their Nov. 20 game. “We weren’t just there to pass out food, we were there to talk to them and try to help any way we could.”

The Grate Patrol program started in 1985 and operates 365 days a year with service to more than 1,000 individuals each month. Originally the program offered meals alone, but today an outreach coordinator helps homeless get back on their feet. The Grate Patrol got its name from the homeless sleeping on grates to stay warm.

This is such a tremendous cause and unfortunately the ranks of the homeless are most likely growing due to the economic recession. Caps fans are encouraged to volunteer with the Grate Patrol program by either preparing or delivering meals any day of the week. Go to http://www.blogger.com/www.SalArmyDC.org, Facebook, or Twitter for more information.

Canuck Craziness and Other Mid-Week Musings

As you know, one of HM's other favorite teams (waaay behind my Washington Capitals of course) is the Vancouver Canucks (who just signed former Cap Matt Pettinger by the way). Well the boys found themselves in quite a bit of a melee last night when they faced off against the New York Rangers and uber-antagonist Sean Avery. I don't think I've seen an all-out scrum like this in quite awhile (yes, it's better than Sunday's bench brawl between the Blue Jackets and the Caps. Note to self: next time sometime challenges you Jason Chimera after you run the league's MVP, you may wanna man up and drop 'em). Check out the craziness that ensues between Sean Avery and Vancouver's Shane O'Brien on the bench, mere inches from TSN's Ray Ferraro's face. Wonder if Sean Avery was gabbing about O'Brien's weight or something, as he apparently did to Bruce Boudreau during last season's playoff series.



In other hockey happenings:

• Vincent Lecavalier scored his second (yes, second) goal in the Lightning's win over the Leafs. What in the sam-harry-hell is going on there?
• For anyone still wondering if D.C. qualifies as a true "hockey town", the D.C. City Council declared November 3 ‘Washington Capitals Day’ -so there!
• The Caps face the New Jersey Devils at the Rock this evening minus Alex Ovechkin. Time for Alex Semin, Brooks Laich, Tomas Fleischmann and the rest to get down and dirty and light up Marty's lamp. Hershey's Mathieu Perreault was called up yesterday so maybe he can get in on the action as well! HM has a previous engagement this evening so check out the fabulous writers in my blog roll tomorrow for complete coverage.

Capitals Raise Nearly $25,000 for Hockey Fights Cancer

Washington Capitals season-ticket holders were honored with right wing Matt Bradley (far right) and defenseman Shaone Morrisonn (far left) at pregame ceremony during the Capitals Hockey Fights Cancer Night on Oct. 27.


A huge Hockey Mom high five to the Washington Capitals and especially their generous and fabulous fans for their efforts in raising nearly $25,000 for Hockey Fights Cancer! The organization raised the much-needed funds through their Hockey Fights Cancer Month initiatives in October to benefit ZERO – The Project to End Prostate Cancer. Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in America, affecting one of six men.

The Capitals hosted a practice jersey auction during the team’s Oct. 17 and 27 home games that raised $24,705 for ZERO. Nine jerseys went for $1,000 or more, with Brooks Laich’s jersey the top seller at $2,550. Other top bid recipients were jerseys worn and autographed by Nicklas Backstrom, Matt Bradley, Chris Clark, Mike Green, Milan Jurcina, Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Semyon Varlamov.

Before the Oct. 27 game against Philadelphia the Capitals hosted ZERO’s mobile screening vehicle at Verizon Center and provided free prostate cancer screenings. During that same game the Capitals also honored 25 season-ticket holders who have beaten, are battling, have treated or in some way been affected by prostate cancer. Caps right wing Matt Bradley and defenseman Shaone Morrisonn (both who've personally lost loved ones to cancer) greeted each participant on the ice and posed for a group photo.