Caps go top to bottom
By: Brian McNally
Examiner Staff Writer
November 30, 2009
Cellar-dwelling 'Canes up next for Washington
In the span of two days the Capitals will go from playing on one of the NHL's grandest stages to a run-of-the-mill weeknight game against the sport's worst team.
The Carolina Hurricanes have been a model franchise for much of this decade. They reached the Stanley Cup finals in 2002 and won the championship in 2006. Last season Carolina made it to the Eastern Conference finals.
But everything has fallen apart this year. Injuries and age have conspired against the Hurricanes, who are 5-16-5 with an NHL-low 15 standings points. Only one other team has less than 23. So the Caps must shake off the warm memories of Saturday's dramatic 4-3 shootout win at Montreal and get ready for Monday night's Southeast Division game in Raleigh, where the atmosphere will be decidedly less electric.
Washington (15-5-6, 36 points) is tied for most points in the Eastern Conference. And only the San Jose Sharks (17-6-4, 38 points) have more overall. Eric Fehr scored two goals on Saturday night, including the game-tying tally with just 12 seconds left. He now has six goals on the season. Alex Ovechkin also registered goal No. 18 in just his 20th game. That is tied for second in the NHL behind only New York Rangers' forward Marian Gaborik (19).
One negative: The Caps again couldn't hold an early 2-0 lead against the Canadiens and had to scramble for Fehr's late power-play goal with netminder Semyon Varlamov on the bench for the extra attacker. But they'll take the points and go after a third consecutive victory on Monday. No word on who will start in goal -- the Caps cancelled practice for Sunday in North Carolina -- but with two games in three nights it could mean the return of veteran Jose Theodore, who hasn't played since Nov. 14.
