[Bob 0119]

Today’s Storyline

Fehr Game – Washington may be meeting the 30th-place team in the NHL standings, but the Caps hope to reverse what’s become a trend in their series against Carolina – the team with the better record tends to struggle. The Canes finished last season on a 3-0-1 run against Washington , which was firmly entrenched in first place in the Southeast Division. Looking back to Carolina ’s last division title, in 2005-06, Washington held a 3-1-2 advantage in the last six meetings despite sitting near the bottom of the league standings. As the Caps seek their third straight win tonight – and hope to hand Carolina its fifth straight loss – they’ll look for a result that’s more true to form in the standings.



NOTE OF THE NIGHT

Southeast, at last – After nine straight non-division games, the Capitals return to Southeast action Monday with their first of six games this season against Carolina . Washington is 4-0-0 against the Southeast Division and 8-4-5 against the rest of the Eastern Conference. Three of Washington ’s next four games and four of the next six are against Southeast opponents.



FIVE MORE NOTES NO MEDIA PERSON SHOULD BE WITHOUT

Multiples of 8 – Eric Fehr (three goals) and Alex Ovechkin (two) have accounted for all of the Capitals’ scoring in the last two games, both wins; the last player other than those two to score a goal was Jay Beagle (one week and 154:30 of playing time ago, against Ottawa ). Saturday was the first two-goal game of Fehr’s career and the first multiple-point game for Ovechkin since Oct. 29 at Atlanta .



Get it started – Alex Ovechkin has scored the game’s first goal six times, tied for the league lead, and has scored the Capitals’ first goal nine times in the 20 games he has played. Fifteen of Ovechkin’s 29 points have come in the first period (10 goals, five assists). The Capitals are 9-0-3 when Ovechkin scores a goal.



Fehr game – Eric Fehr has three goals in the last two games, lifting his season total to six, halfway to his total from last season (12 in 61 GP). Saturday’s game was the first two-goal game of his career and he skated a career-high 17:13. Three of his six goals have been the first goal of the game. In 10 games since returning from injury Fehr has posted five goals and three assists with a +6 rating. He has only had one minus game all season.



Starting something – Washington has scored first in 20 of 26 games this year. The Capitals have outscored their opponents 32-12 in the first period; they lead the league in goals in the first period and are tied for the fewest allowed. Caps goaltenders have a .952 save percentage in the first period. Washington has scored at least one goal in the first period of 22 of their 26 games, including seven straight (10-3 in that time). In the rare occasions that the Capitals have allowed the first goal they are 4-0-2.



Gnarly Varly – Goaltender Semyon Varlamov posted his 10th win of the season Saturday in just his 14th game (10-1-2, the best points percentage in the NHL). He has been especially good lately: 6-1-2 (1.97, .934) in his last nine games and 5-0-2 (1.68, .940) in his last seven games.

[Gametime33]

You have thrown out a lot of stats at us, so feel free to correct me if I mess up a few of my own to point out.

Ovechkin will not be scoring any first period goals for the next two games versus Florida and on the road against Philly.

Still smarting over the game misconduct and subsequent suspension Ovie incurred for his "reckless play" (Gabby's quote in Tuesday's Washington Post)

So that stat isn't going to go up unfortunately.

However, the Caps could welcome back into the lineup another Sascha whose been nursing a banged up wrist.

Alex Semin is a matchup problem for anyone when he's on the ice.

Fleischmann & Semin in my opinion are our two fastest skaters.

With Mike Knuble (broken finger) also practicing and about ready to return to action, it appears the Caps will not suffer too much scoring withdrawal minus the Great Eight.

The Caps went 4-2 without Ovie when he jammed his right shoulder.

Kudos to Nicklas Backstrom for carrying the top line as Boudreau shuffles guys around.

Probable lineup for the Panthers could go like this

1st Line-Fleischmann, Backstrom, Semin
2nd Line-Laich, Fehr, Morrison
3rd Line-Steckel, Bradley, Perrault

The defensemen are getting healthy too.

Shaone Morrisonn is day-to-day with concussion-like symptoms, and Tom Poti is due to start skating with the team at Kettler soon.

Pothier, Jurcina, Erskine & Green are picking up the slack for the good guys in red.

Green leads the team with an on ice time average of just under 39 minutes.

Ovechkin is right behind him.

The Caps tend to stretch their games out as they already have 6 overtime losses.

Let's hope they can keep adding to the win column with their fourth win in a row.

Rock the Red!