January 21 - Washington Capitals vs Pittsburgh Penguins (at Pittsburgh)

The only thing better than the Caps winning a game against the Flyers is the Caps winning over the Penguins and last night's game was fantastic. Not only did my Capitals win, they did so convincingly.

Pretty much every player had a great game, even Jose Theodore who gave up a really weak goal at the beginning of the game, bounced back and put in a solid performance with 34 saves. Ovechkin came away with two goals, an assist and a great defensive move - awesome. Knuble did another pound in of an Ovie rebound and scored another great goal. Backstrom had a fancy falling-down goal in the crease, Eric Fher scored on a lucky bounce combined with great positioning on his part and the most beautiful goal was the game winner by Tomas Fleishman with a truly sensational pass from Alex Semin.

The Penguins were good, but really, unremarkable. The Caps kept them in check nearly the entire game. Aah the satisfaction of a 6-3 walloping against the NHL team I hate most. :)

Check back this weekend for photos of the amazing souvenir Neil brought me from Ukraine. (Yes, it's Caps-related)

January 13 - Washington Capitals vs. Florida Panthers (at Florida)

My mom's in town and after picking her up from the airport and making a quick dinner, I immediately sat her down on my couch and we watched the game. :) When the Caps were down by two or three goals, I said something like, "This HAS to get better," and she said, "Should we turn it off for a while?" That question was kind of like blasphemy in my household. I mean, turn it off???!!!

When the game ended a couple hours later with Tomas Fleischmann's first-ever shootout goal, my mom smiled and commented that it was a good thing we hadn't turned the TV off. Whewh.

So the game wasn't pretty, but the comeback was extraordinary. I loved Chimera and Ovie's goals, especially. It's good to see the team play with that kind of character and determination. They're going to need it down the stretch.

I also thought Jose Theodore was outstanding. He can really play when he's having a good night and in spite of his occasionally spotty performance, I like him.

The Caps are home tomorrow night to face the Leafs and I am bringing a Toronto native to the game with me. She claims to be part Leafs fan, part Caps fan. We'll see...

January 5 - Washington Capitals vs. Montreal Canadiens and Alex Ovechkin is Captain of the Capitals

What a great night for Caps hockey! Ovie was in the starting lineup and was announced as the new captain of the team and then the Caps beat the Habs in style.

Alex Semin was on fire tonight and scored two goals and Tomas Fleischmann had a goal and two assists in his first game as a center. Eric Fehr also scored, which was great for him, especially since he had fallen out of favor of Coach Bourdeau over the past week and was a healthy scratch in the last game.

What a relief that the Caps broke that losing streak and they did it against a worthy opponent.

Here's a video from NHL.com with cheesy music showing Ovie putting on his captains jersey for the first time. I think it's awesome that the team has entrusted him with the responsibility.



In more Caps news, the Caps Insider is reporting that David Steckel signed an extension. Yay!