The sense of relief was palpable as the Washington Capitals left the ice Saturday night at Toronto's Air Canada Centre. Their confidence was back.
The Montreal Canadiens are the perfect elixir for the Washington Capitals. It doesn't matter where the game is played or which goalie is in net, the Capitals own the the Canadiens.
Mike Green has missed 47 games with ankle and groin injuries. Nicklas Backstrom has missed 22 with a concussion. That's a lot for the Washington Capitals to be missing, though playing without stars has become something of a norm.
The moment came about midway through the Washington Capitals' 5-2 defeat to the Ottawa Senators: a perfectly executed odd-man rush and Craig Anderson robbed Marcus Johansson from point-blank range. The Caps just can't catch a break.
It doesn't take a sharp hockey brain to figure out that leading NHL goal-scorer Steven Stamkos streaking down the ice alone isn't an enviable position for a goaltender.
As many years as NHL players have been around hockey, add years onto that for their fathers.
Two-goal lead and easy couple of points — all gone in 12 seconds. On Tuesday night, the Washington Capitals went from cruise control to a 3-2 shootout loss to the Winnipeg Jets at Verizon Center that left Matt Hendricks at a loss.
In the third period of the Washington Capitals' 3-1 victory over the Calgary Flames at Verizon Center, Rene Bourque lifted his right elbow up and struck Nicklas Backstrom in the jaw. Backstrom stayed in the game briefly but had to come out.
Tomas Vokoun turned in a lot of spectacular performances during his four seasons with the Florida Panthers, often being just about the only reason they won on various nights.
