Bad bounces happen, both physically and metaphorically.  In a season full of them for the Washington Capitals, they happened again last night in a most stunning fashion, turning a 2-0 lead with three minutes to play against the Winnipeg Jets into a 3-2 shootout loss.

In a span of eight seconds, the Caps gave up a goal playing three-on-six, then another power play goal from the center ice line that was supposed to be a hard dump-in.  Instead, it ricocheted off defenseman Karl Alzner’s stick and past a surprised Tomas Vokoun for the equalizer.

Yup.

The Caps found themselves playing three-on-six in the first place due to a slashing call on Roman Hamrlik at 15:55 and the very rare playing with a broken stick call against Brooks Laich 69 seconds later.

“I tried to clear the puck right away, and wasn’t aware [my stick] had snapped, and [the referee] made the call,” Laich said.  “I’m not gonna comment on the call.  Officials don’t want to be a factor in the game. They try their best, calls good or bad, they go your way or don’t sometimes.”

Trailing by two and sensing a momentum shift, Winnipeg coach Claude Noel pulled his goalie, Ondrej Pavelec, in favor of the extra attacker and the tactic paid off.

The Caps withstood playing three men down for 40 seconds, but eventually a rebound found an unguarded man, and Caps-killer Evander Kane found the back of the net, his 19th of the season and eighth in his last eight games against the Capitals.  The Jets won the ensuing face-off, and defenseman Dustin Byfuglien carried to center ice and attempted a hard dump-in.  But Karl Alzner was caught in no-man’s land and the puck deflected off his stick and beat Vokoun stick side after the goalie already started to move to play the dump-in.

The apoplectic Verizon Center crowd fell silent, in total disbelief of what they had witnessed.

“That’s what a team always needs – good luck and some bounces,” Byfuglien said after.  “I thought we’ve worked hard lately and haven’t really got a nice bounce. Luckily we got one tonight.”

“He dumped the puck in off my stick and it went in the net,” Alzner said matter-of-factly. “Pretty simple, and pretty stupid.  And pretty unfortunate.”

Washington had the two-goal advantage courtesy of two power play goals of their own, with Alex Ovechkin scoring the first on a rebound of an Alexander Semin hard shot, then Ovechkin setting up Semin on the back door with a beautiful cross-crease pass with another man advantage.  Those powerplay goals will be lost, however, in the discussion of the collapse of the last four minutes.

There were six penalties called all night, four coming after the the 9:36 mark of the third period.  Goals were scored on all four.  That, my friends, is a fine example of the referees insinuating themselves into the play of a previously scoreless affair.

After the wind had been taken out of the Caps’ sails and out of the arena, this game had only one logical conclusion: The Gimmick.  The Jets didn’t even need their third shot, as Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little both beat a tired-looking Vokoun (25 saves) while Ovechkin was the only of the three Caps’ players (Semin, Mathieu Perreault) to beat Pavelec (32 saves).

Alzner didn’t mince words describing the prelude to the unfathomable ending, which contributed to the late penalty calls.  “Seemed like towards the end of the game we got up those two goals and guys started sitting back, seemed to be a little bit weaker on pucks.  We got jammed up in our own zone and take [Hamrlik's] penalty because of it.”

Bad bounces happen.  But sometimes you make your own luck.

GAME NOTES:  The loss, coupled with wins by Florida and Ottawa pushes the Caps down to ninth place in the Eastern Conference, tied in points with the Panthers with 61 points, but in second in the Southeast Division due to tiebreakers.  Ottawa sits in seventh with 63 points, Toronto holds eighth place with 62.

Washington won 34-of-57 face-offs (60 percent).  They outhit Winnipeg (22-19) and blocked 22 shots compared to 18 for the Jets.

The last time the Caps scored two power play goals in a game was Jan. 13 against Tampa Bay.

Mike Kunble was a healthy scratch for the first time this season.  He was joined in the press box by John Erskine.

Here are a few photographs from pre-game warmups and Florida Panthers v. Washington Capitals game on Feb. 7 at Verizon Center. Caps won 4-0 (Game 53 Re-Cap).

Former Capitals Tomas Fleischmann and Matt Bradley faced off against their former team. Jose Theodore is injured so Caps fans didn’t get to see #60 in goal.

All photos taken by Cheryl Nichols (@cnichols14) from the stands. Click on photo to enlarge.

Florida Panthers (and former Capitals) Tomas ("Flash") Fleischmann during warmups at Verizon Center (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Florida Panthers Goalie Brian Foster has a cool mask with palm trees on back. (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Florida Panthers Stephen Weiss during warmups at Verizon Center (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Florida Panthers Kris Versteeg during warmups at Verizon Center (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Florida Panthers John Madden during warmups at Verizon Center (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Caps fans showing support for former Capitals Matt Bradley during warmups on Feb 7. (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Florida Panthers Krystofer Barch during warmups at Verizon Center (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Florida Panthers Jason Garrison and Erik Gudbranson during warmups at Verizon Center (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Florida Panthers (and former Capitals) Tomas ("Flash") Fleischmann during warmups at Verizon Center (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Florida Panthers started goalie Scott Clemmensen against the Caps on Feb. 7 (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Feb. 7 was a good first Caps game for this new fan! (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Dmitri Orlov in his full cage for Feb. 7 game after pucks to the face in last two games. (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Celebrating Mathieu Perreault's goal thirteen seconds into the Feb. 7 game. (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Celebrating Mathieu Perreault's goal thirteen seconds into the Feb. 7 game. (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Alex Ovechkin's first of two goals during Feb. 7 game. The puck is in the lower left of net. (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Jeff Halpern almost scored in last few seconds of game. (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Joel Ward (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Celebrating Ovi's second goal of the night on Feb. 7. (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Keith Aucoin (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Three Stars of the Game for Feb. 7 (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Mathieu Perreault found the back of the net thirteen seconds into the game Tuesday night and the Washington Capitals never looked back. Washington kept piling on the goals and netminder Tomas Vokoun remained stalwart in net, dominating until the final buzzer in a 4-0 shutout win over the Florida Panthers.

Celebrating Ovi's second goal of the night on Feb. 7. (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

With the victory, Washington (28-21-4) vaulted over Florida (24-17-11) into first place in the Southeast Division and the third spot overall in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, while the visiting Panthers tumbled to second place in the division and ninth in the conference.

Head coach Dale Hunter termed Tuesday’s game a must-win “playoff game,” and the Capitals responded to their coach’s exhortation with aplomb. Captain Alex Ovechkin scored twice, and Perreault and Jason Chimera potted momentum-changers within the opening moments of the first and second period to keep Florida on its heels the entire game. [Read more...]

Losing Brooks Laich could be the straw the breaks the camel’s back in the Washington Capitals 2011-12 season.

In the second period of Sunday afternoon’s 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins, Dennis Seidenberg delivered a routine hit on Laich that jammed the Caps forward’s knee against the boards awkwardly.  Laich immediately dropped,and needed teammate assistance to get to the bench.  He disappeared into the locker room, reappeared once to test his knee during a television timeout, and then left again.  The next time anyone saw Laich, he was using crutches to get to his car after the game. [Read more...]

Brooks Laich had to be helped off the ice in second period on Jan. 5 (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

The Boston Bruins, defending Stanley Cup Champions, came into Verizon Center on Super Bowl Sunday and avenged their loss to the Washington Capitals of 10 days ago.  As good teams do, they took advantage of a couple of defensive miscues by the Caps and emerged with a 4-1 win.

But the bigger story to the Caps was losing resident handyman Brooks Laich, who left the game with a left knee injury after colliding with Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg with eight minutes remaining in the second period.  Laich, one of the toughest players in the league, needed help getting off the ice and down the runway to be examined by the Caps’ training staff.  He came back out and tried to put weight on the leg during a timeout but was not able to skate. [Read more...]

The Washington Capitals have officially found someone they can beat on the road.

Tomas Vokoun stopped all 30 Montreal Canadiens shots he faced, leading the Caps to a 3-0 shut out of Les Habitants before a disgusted crowd of over 21,000 at Bell Centre in Montreal.  It’s the second time this season the Caps have shut out the Canadiens on their home ice, and third time in their last three trips to the Old Province.  The Caps are 5-0-1 in their last six trips to Montreal.

Vokoun was sharp in goal, but hardly tested by a Montreal team that’s really struggling to put goals on the scoreboard.  The Habs are 9-11-7 at home, 3-5-2 in their last 10 games, and now tied with Carolina for fewest points in the Eastern Conference.

On the other hand, the Capitals were sorely in need of a road win, and Bell Centre was the perfect tonic.  Saturday’s win was the Caps ninth on the road this season and comes at an important time, having fallen out of first place in the Southeast Division as a result of losing in Florida Thursday night.

Pending results of the rest of the games on the slate in the NHL tonight, the Caps tenuously hold the eighth spot in the Conference with 58 points (27-20-4).

Dennis Wideman got the Caps on the board in the first period, sending a knuckleball past Peter Budaj (20 saves) after Brooks Laich (two assists) won an offensive zone face-off.  The tumbling puck floated over Budaj’s left shoulder and the goalie barely flinched, having been screened on the shot mere moments after the draw.  It was Wideman’s 10th goal of the season.

The rest of the first period and all of the second was a sloppy mess, with both teams committing turnover after turnover, and the Caps willing to settle into a 1-2-2 zone and allow Montreal to try to dictate the speed of the game.  The game plan that worked, as Montreal continually fumbled the puck through the neutral zone or were satisfied to hoist 30 foot shots into Vokoun’s chest.

In the third period, the Caps doubled their lead when Matt Hendricks (3) deposited a rebound into a wide open cage from 15 feet.  Credit for the hard work on the goal goes to Alexander Semin, who won a loose puck in the corner while sitting on his rear-end, and Brooks Laich, who corralled said puck and did hard work to get the puck on net where Hendricks could pick up the loose change.

Semin put his own name in the scoring column a little later.  He picked off a lazy Montreal D-to-D pass in his own end and went off on a breakaway, but was hooked from behind by Tomas Kaberle before he could get a shot off against Budaj.  On the ensuing penalty shot, Semin made no mistake, burying a slap shot from the slot top-shelf glove-side on the defenseless goaltender.

It was the Caps second penalty shot of the game, a first in Caps history in one game.  In the first period, Troy Brouwer was awarded a free shot on Budaj after the netminder threw his stick at the puck when he thought Brouwer had an open goal on a semi-breakaway.  Brouwer was not able to convert as Budaj closed the five-hole on Brouwer;s attempt.

The game marked the return of captain Alex Ovechkin from his three-game suspension.  The Great Eight was credited with one shot on goal, two attempts blocked, two misses, three hits and two blocked shots.  He looked to be trying to play playmaker early in the game, then increased his physical play as the game went on.

It wasn’t particularly pretty and the Caps were again outshot.  But they need two points any way they can get them these days, and they took advantage of a team that is struggling right now worse than they are.

The Capitals come home to face the second-in-the-conference Boston Bruins in a Super Bowl Sunday matinée at 12:30 pm.  The Bruins fell to Pittsburgh 2-1 earlier Saturday and are 4-5-1 in their last ten games, including a 3-0 loss to the Caps in the first game of Ovechkin’s suspension.

by Jack Anderson, special to District Sports Page

There’s still time to rectify the situation, but the Washington Capitals are in a bad way.

Questions abound for a defense that breaks down at all the wrong times and an offense that can’t seem to rediscover the magic. Dale Hunter – quite possibly George McPhee’s last hope – was expected to bring a new dynamic to a squad that went stale under Bruce Boudreau.

Thus far, it’s been a bumpy ride.

Some of the lack of production can be blamed on injuries to Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green. Alex Ovechkin’s three-game suspension did little to help Washington’s anemic offense get back on track either, but even with Backstrom and Ovechkin in the lineup, the Capitals were regularly outchanced and outshot.

If not for Tomas Vokoun’s recent stretch of steady play, the Capitals would be in an even worse predicament. They have improved defensively under Hunter, but breakdowns at inopportune moments have compounded with a lack of goal scoring to prevent the Caps from establishing any foothold in a crowded playoff picture.

Washington will receive a boost with Ovechkin set to return Saturday night in Montreal, but there remains a shortage of quality play up the middle along with the ever-growing concern that Hunter’s system just isn’t the right fit.

Forget Backstrom’s absence – the Capitals weren’t able to maintain any sort of consistent offensive pressure with him – a bigger issue is acquiring another centerman at the trade deadline. If the Caps can land one and Backstrom gets healthy, the odds for a playoff berth go up drastically.

However, even that scenario doesn’t ensure a spot. Hunter’s man-to-man scheme and its anemic offensive side effects might be the biggest thing crippling a squad that was already struggling to generate offense under Boudreau.

In theory, Hunter’s gameplan is simple. He wants a high-pressure effort in the defensive zone where his players win one-on-one battles. Such a system emphasizes a special mix of physicality and skill that’s tough to find from top to bottom on an NHL roster.

In the OHL, Hunter’s teams simply outclassed opponents with their superior athleticism. The NHL is another story. In the salary cap era it isn’t possible to have six elite defensemen – the league is simply on a more level playing field than its minor league counterparts.

And the Capitals aren’t as high in the NHL’s pecking order than they once were, making Hunter’s strategy even riskier.

Consider his personnel. John Erskine and Jeff Schultz are clearly not good fits in the system and have seen their ice time diminished significantly. For a short period of time, playing with virtually five defensemen is feasible. But this has been going on for the bulk of Hunter’s time here and players like Dennis Wideman and John Carlson are showing negative effects.

Wideman’s offensive abilities have been limited with increased ice time. He’s skated over 25 minutes in 20 of 28 games in the Hunter era. Carlson’s struggles might have more to do with the system itself than fatigue. He hasn’t looked comfortable in weeks and has regressed at an alarming rate in his second season. The wear and tear on the entire defensive corps is noticeable as it has been outworked in key situations often over the past several games.

Of course there is a greater commitment on the defensive end from the entire team. That’s resulted in a lower goals against average, but teams are still taking advantage of the same mental errors and occasional breakdowns that tormented them under Boudreau.  That commitment is also taking it’s toll on the offense, where Hunter’s Caps are being outshot and outchanced on a nightly basis.

So long as those issues persist, the focus will remain on Ovechkin and the offense to contribute more than the 2.54 goals per game they have with Hunter.

McPhee made a huge gamble by handing the reins to an inexperienced coach and a system that doesn’t seem to have a place in the NHL. With the Caps faltering in the midst of what is going to be a grueling stretch run in jam-packed playoff race, it’s a bet that doesn’t appear to be paying off.

If it doesn’t, McPhee will have plenty of explaining to do come April.

Jack Anderson is a special contributor to District Sports Page. He has been covering Washington, DC sports as a credentialed reporter since 2009. He covers the Capitals for NHL Home Ice and TSN Radio and is a freelance writer having contributed to the Washington Times, Associated Press and NBC Washington.  You can follow him on twitter @jackandersonIII.

Keith Aucoin mixing it up in a January game for Hershey. (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

The Washington Capitals made a flurry of moves Thursday for what may be just the start of a very busy couple of weeks for GM George McPhee as the NHL trade deadline approaches.

The move with the most obvious impact was sending forward Cody Eakin down to AHL Hershey and recalling forward Keith Aucoin.  Aucoin, 33, leads the AHL in points (70) and assists (59) with 11 goals in 43 games with Hershey this season.  Aucoin in only 30 assists shy of matching the AHL record for assists in one season.  He’s a seasoned AHL playmaker and right now, the Caps can use all the veteran help they can get.

Eakin, 20, has four goals and four assists in 29 games with the Capitals this season.  A widely heralded prospect, Eakin just hasn’t been able to get on a run with the Caps, and recently has been helming the fourth line, getting around six minutes a game under Coach Dale Hunter.  At this point in his development, it’s better for him to be playing every day at Hershey getting plenty of playing time.

The switch starts to address one of the major needs for the Capitals, though it still perpetuates another.  The Caps are getting very shaky contributions from their centers and Aucoin brings a more seasoned game than Eakin right now.  Unfortunately, it’s not just on the offensive end the Caps need help with regard to their center position.  On defense, the center has to act as a third defenseman, and Aucoin is small in stature (listed at 5’11, 170) as are fellow centers Marcus Johansson and Mathieu Perreault.

It’s not a perfect fit, but the Caps need to try everything at their roster disposal until they decide to get into the market for a second line center.

The Capitals also made a pair of minor league trades Thursday.  In one, they sent RW Matt Ford to Philadelphia in exchange for 22-year old defenseman Kevin Marshall.  Marshall recorded five points (two goals, three assists) for AHL Adirondack this season and appeared in 10 NHL games for the Flyers, collecting eight penalty minutes.  He was a second round pick (41st overall) in the 2007 entry draft for Philly.

In the other deal, the Caps acquired center Mike Carman from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for defenseman Danny Richmond.  Carman, 23, scored six points (three goals, three assists) for the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL.  Carman was a third round pick (81st overall) of Colorado in the 2006 entry draft.

Both players will report to AHL Hershey.  Marshall gives the Caps a little more blue-line depth in the organization.

Matt Ford and Danny Richmond, shown here in a January game in Hershey. (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Philipp Grubauer continues to build on his impressive rookie year, as this week the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) named him the Reebok Hockey Rookie of the Month for January. Grubauer played in nine of the South Carolina Stingray’s 13 games in January, going 7-1-0 with one shutout, a 1.66 Goals Against Average, and a .935 Save Percentage during that span. The Stingrays went 11-2-0 in January.

Philipp Grubauer at Capitals Training Camp (Photo by Cheryl Nichols)

Earlier this season, Grubauer was named Reebok Hockey ECHL Goaltender of the Week (Oct. 31-Nov. 6), and was the ECHL’s Goaltender of the Month for November.

Grubauer should expect another heavy workload in February — goaltending partner Daren Machesney sustained a groin injury during a game on Sunday, and will be out for an “extended period of time,” according to Stingrays trainer D.J. Church. Coach Spencer Carbery later confirmed that Machesney is expected to miss six to eight weeks.

While Machesney is on the mend, the Stingrays dealt for goaltender Billy Sauer from the Florida Everblades Wednesday in exchange for future considerations. The Stingrays opted for a trade instead of signing an emergency back-up goaltender due to the length of time Machesney is expected to be out.

“The injury was such that we couldn’t rely on an emergency back-up for a long period of time,” Carbery told the Charleston Post & Courier. “We’ve seen Billy play and he’s someone that we’re confident can get the job done when he’s called upon.”

Grubauer is expected to get most of the starts while Machesney heals, but luckily for the Stingrays, Grubauer relishes pressure situations. “I prepare to play every game like I’m the starter,” Grubauer said this week.

The Washington Capitals entered last night’s game against the Florida Panthers in first place in the Southeast Division, good for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.  In the span of 60 mostly lifeless hockey minutes, they found themselves on the outside of the playoff picture looking in, losing in regulation to the Panthers 4-2.

Washington fell to 8-13-3 on the road.

The result left the Caps 1-1-1, good for three points, while captain Alex Ovechkin served his three-game suspension for his high hit against the Pittsburgh Penguins Zybnek Michalek.

Both the Panthers and the Capitals entered the game missing some of their most important pieces, but Florida managed to control play much of the game, eventually outshooting the Caps 38-28.  They got two goals from Mikael Samuelsson and one each from Steven Weiss and an empty net goal by Shawn Mattias to seal the deal, after yet another disastrous turnover by John Carlson.

Carlson could have had a chance to be one of the heroes for the Caps, as his slap shot past Scott Clemmensen (26 saves) at 17:39 of the third period cut the Florida lead to 3-2.  But following the goal the Caps had a hard time controlling the puck and entering the Panther zone, as they had for much of the evening.

They were finally able to get Michal Neuvirth (34 saves) off the ice for an extra attacker with just over a minute left, but a miscommunication between Carlson and Marcus Johansson put the puck on the stick of Matthias, who calmly skated the puck into the Washington net.