By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
Hillen's deal is worth $1.4 million, so his cap hit will be $700,000 in each of the next two years.
With Cameron Schilling joining Tomas Kundratek and Steve Oleksy in the lineup, half the Caps' defense corps was with Hershey when the NHL season began.
The 22-year-old center scored two power-play goals in the third period to lift the Islanders to a 5-2 win over Washington, ending the Capitals' three-game winning streak.
Hamrlik will find out at noon Wednesday whether he's going to another NHL team or staying with the Caps. The 38-year-old has played just four games this year, a healthy scratch for the past 11.
As Green nurses a lower-body injury that could keep him out Thursday night against the New Jersey Devils and possibly beyond that, the Caps know that as valuable as the 27-year-old is in all facets, they can't afford to lose him for too long.
Braden Holtby is tasked with stopping a fair share of breakaways and odd-man rushes. But those aren't the scoring chances that the Washington Capitals goaltender fears.
Capitals players were skating for a long time before the official start of camp Sunday. But their most recent game experience varies. Here's how each guy spent the NHL lockout
Cameron Schilling likes to play it safe. He bought clothes with his first paycheck from the Washington Capitals, and he drives a used Audi.
The common refrain much of this season was that the Washington Capitals were too talented to play so inconsistently. Too talented to be in danger of missing the playoffs.
Braden Holtby just stared. It was Game 7 against the Boston Bruins, and Rich Peverley slashed him across the left arm. The Washington Capitals' rookie goaltender didn't flinch.
Braden Holtby's mask wasn't supposed to be a metaphor.
Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby handles the puck better than some skaters and likes to leave his crease. But as coach Dale Hunter has pointed out, it's a risk-reward part of his game that sometimes comes up snake-eyes.
Coach Dale Hunter billed it as not just a playoff game, but like a "Game 7" of a playoff series. It's a mantra that begs for play as if there's no tomorrow.
Mike Green was a Norris Trophy candidate two years ago on the strength of his offense.
Washington Capitals general manager George McPhee doesn't mind Mike Knuble showing some frustration about not being in the lineup. That the 39-year-old alternate captain pointed out, "You want to go somewhere where you're going to play and you're going to contribute to the team," is a sign of his competitive nature as much as anything else.
Schultz said he got beat because he went to the wrong side of the net.
Capitals put forth 'terrible effort' in loss to Hurricanes →
"I think that was the case last year is he wanted to come back because maybe we weren't doing so well," defenseman Jeff Schultz said. "And he wanted to get back out there helping us and even made it worse."
Capitals miss Mike Green, but know he shouldn't rush back from injury →
