The team’s hold on first is tenuous — they’re in Tampa Monday night, the ‘Bolts losers of their last three games. Win and complete the sweep of Florida and the Caps suddenly will have a sliver of breathing space against the upstart ‘Bolts. But to win and retain first place the Caps will, as with their last visit to Tampa ( the super impressive 5-2 triumph), have to drive hard and in ornery fashion toward Dwayne Roloson’s cage. I think this is an improved Capitals’ club relative to the one that won so well on its last visit to Tampa, but I look for the hosts to offer a much stronger effort in what is certainly the biggest game the teams have played this season to date.

Bigger picture: Suddenly, the Caps are just four points back of Philadelphia for first in the Eastern conference. And if you watched the Flyers’ performance on national television yesterday afternoon, you’d favor the Caps or Bruins prevailing for first coming down the stretch.

• Sunday night, the Caps’ second line — so impressive against St. Louis last Thursday night — went shotless through the game’s first 50 minutes, but Alexander Semin again made a big play late to get his team the W. Bottom line: Production is at last coming from a more balanced top six forward corps.

• An exceptionally questionable tripping call on John Erskine set in motion final minutes madness for the Capitals’ penalty killers, and allowed the punchless Panthers an opportunity to square things at 2 late. Bruce Boudreau took note of the glaring discrepancy in penalties Sunday — seven for the ‘Cats, just one extra-man opportunity for the visitors.

• As aesthetically challenged as Sunday night’s win was, there was a trait to it that bodes well for the postseason. Once the Caps took the lead in the second period, they became a 20-man unit of puck protection in their own end. Pucks were secured and chipped and smacked off boards, up and away from harm’s way. The only time you saw pucks played into the middle of the ice on breakouts was when Panthers’ skaters over-played one side of the ice, and even then Capitals’ skaters made wise decisions with the puck.

• Dave Steckel’s departure has created an unprecedented opportunity for Boyd Gordon. He responded on Sunday with what Boudreau called his best game of the season. Marcus Johansson deserves plaudits for shaking off a brutal-looking leg injury early on and coming back and delivering the game-winning assist.

• Penalty killing has become an increasingly shared burden among Capitals’ forwards. Bruce Boudreau appears to have confidence in virtually all of his forwards to kill penalties. The result is that on a night like Sunday, with its glaring power play discrepancy, with greater balance overall now in place among the forward lines, there’s far greater balance of minutes skated than we’ve seen in previous seasons. Under 17 minutes for Ovi Sunday, 13-plus for Boyd Gordon, 16 minutes for Jason Arnott, 14 minutes for Marco Sturm, 15 minutes for Semin. Good way to stay fresh.

• Much has been made of Ovi’s return to impact form in recent weeks, but Nicklas Backstrom, too, looks like his game-breaking old self at long last. Suddenly he’s a world-class stickhandler again, suddenly his shot has sting on it.

• Scott Hannan: Another rock solid showing. Must. Be. Re-signed.

The Caps are 3-0 since the big moves of last Monday. They ought to feel good about that, but those results came against three teams who will not be playing postseason hockey. A much better test comes Monday. Let’s win another for the Dads and label them first-place good luck charms.

Alexander Semin, however, answered late on the power play  — and eventually added the shootout winner. The Caps are 4-0-0 on the season when he scores. More on him in a moment.

• Just a Coincidence? It is clear the power-play, Boyd Gordon, scoring more than three goals and playing beyond regulation have been good things for the Capitals this year. They are 5-0 when converting on the PP, 6-0 when Gordon steps onto the ice, 7-0 when they light the lamp at least three times and 4-0 in overtime. What all of that turns into is 16 points, an 8-4 record and first place in the Eastern Conference.

• The Silent Leader: Jason Chimera scored yet another goal and earned the hard hat for his effort last night. He sounded an awful lot like a leader in the locker room after the win. While head coach Bruce Boudreau wanted to give Toronto credit for their comeback, Chimera held the guys in the room to a higher standard, saying, “It was nothing they really did, we kind of gave them three goals.”

• Fuzzy Numbers: Offensive production can be deceiving. Mike Green has scored goals in the last two games, and four points in them, but he wouldn’t boast much about other aspects of his game. He skated a -3 last night. Some of it was not his fault, but there was one goal he directly contributed to by leaving his feet. Ed Frankovic of WNST believes the worst thing a defender can do is leave his feet, and Green did just that, resulting in a Toronto goal.

• Sarge had a third period to forget as well — he was on the ice for all three Toronto tallies. He was a -2 on the evening.

• Four for the Show: Washington renewed from last season a trend of winning despite surrendering four or more goals against the Leafs last night. Washington had eight wins last year despite giving up four goals in a game, and last night was this season’s first.

• Young and Impressionable: Rookie Michal Neuvirth has taken perhaps the biggest step in his play this season of any Capital. Not only has he played in 12 games, but he is also first in wins with eight and tenth in the league in goals against, posting a 2.31 average. Neuvy’s teammates have taken notice too. One guy in particular, Mike Green, feels particularly good about him between the pipes.”He’s incredible. I don’t want to pump him too much but he’s been outstanding for us. As a defenseman I feel so comfortable with him behind us,” Green said. “There’s already a mutual bond that we feel even though he’s only been here a short period of time.” Wednesday’s game was Neuvirth’s first shootout win at the NHL level. It might be worth noting: the last time you heard Caps’ defenders sing high praise for playing with supreme confidence because of the caliber of netminder backstopping them, that goalie’s name was Cristobal Huet. Huet’s acquisition was a bit of a magic charm in 2008. Big juicy rebounds left by Olie Kolzig suddenly disappeared. Caps’ defenders just seemed to know where the puck was going to be with Huet in net. The same quality appears to be taking hold with Neuvy.

• Wednesday night offered yet another “Semin Hat Trick”: Alexander Semin is an enigma that could stump Sherlock Holmes. After taking an offensive zone penalty in the game, authors a beautiful assist on the Caps’ first goal on the power play, later takes another offensive zone penalty, and finally scores, dramatically and late, to send the game into overtime. A goal, an assist, an offensive-zone penalty–from this we’ve coined the phrase “Semin Hat Trick,” but hardly an improvement on a Gordie Howe’s labor. Like it or loathe it, it’s become somewhat of a trademark of Semin’s play. Out of career totals for all players currently on the Washington Capitals’ roster, Semin leads in penalty minutes. He has even more than Alex Ovechkin or seasoned veteran Matt Bradley. Since (mercifully) Semin doesn’t fight and isn’t known for delivering life-altering hits that could be called for something, those high penalty numbers aren’t coming from rugged play that could perhaps be defended on some level but rather from mental errors and especially undisciplined stick-work, mistakes he’s clearly a talented enough player to avoid. There has been maturation in his game over the past season and a fraction, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Or maybe this just is Semin’s game, and you have to live with it.

Actually, you can, because on Wednesday word arrived that the Flyers’ best player, Jeff Carter, was donesy for the duration of the postseason. And Simon Gagne — admittedly only a fraction of his once lethal presence on the wing, is shelved for weeks. Both will undergo surgery on Friday.

And looking out just a little further, it’s difficult imagining the offense-challenged Bs taking down Pittsburgh in round 2, meaning, of course, you know who versus you know who again in a spring fling of high hatred — but with the Eastern conference crown at stake. That’s assuming of course that the Caps can manage to do what the New Jersey Devils cannot this spring — hose down the white-hot Dan Carcillo. And so the Caps’ progression this postseason very well could offer a dreamy takedown of tormentors past — both Pennsylvania franchises.

Such showdowns would make some in the league hierarchy happy, don’t you think?

I watched game 4 last night in the delightful company of my blogger buddy Pepper downtown. We agreed in mid-pitcher that a you-know-what earned through the trials of persevering against you know who would make a late spring celebration all the sweeter. Inspired by even more intake, we also agreed we’d make a pilgrimage to Western Pa. this summer solely for the purpose of publicly urinating on their new rink.

But we mustn’t look too far ahead; a suddenly rejuvenated Flyers’ team won’t be an easy out (or put another way. . . sans Carter, Gagne and a netminder, it will). But with each passing day this postseason I become more and more convinced of the claim that Al Koken made on ‘Washington Post Live’ the other day — that only the Washington Capitals can take down the Washington Capitals in the East.

Wednesday night’s game was very much in doubt deep in period two, with the Habs leading 2-1, and the Caps took a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty in the waning moments of the frame, affording Montreal’s dazzling power play an opportunity to break the game open a bit. Instead, Boyd Gordon gathered a clearing pass off the near boards from Tom Poti, led a shorthanded charge up the ice on a two-on-one with Mike Knuble, and deftly delivered a crossing pass onto the tape of Knuble, somehow eluding the stick of a sprawled out Josh Georges, which Knuble banged home to knot it up at 2 with just 6 seconds to play in the period.

For the second consecutive game in the series Boyd Gordon was a shorthanded catalyst, and at a critical juncture in a game.

All of Montreal’s surging momentum stopped in that instant. A frenzied Bell Centre crowd was hushed. Foreboding set in. The second intermission wasn’t a time so much for the Habs to regroup as it was a respite for a suddenly prosperous Capitals’ club to identify a final frame’s opportunity to head home up three games to one in the series. They’d been outshot 21-9 in the middle period and yet escaped in a deadlock. The third was a must-prosper period for the hosts, all the pressure squarely on their sticks.

“Again, we played great short-handed and Gordo, what can I say about him? He’s a hard-working guy and when he makes a play like this it means a lot for our team,” Ovechkin said afterward.

If Gordon swung the game’s momentum with his shorthanded playmaking, it would be Ovechkin, again skating every shift to a chorus of boos in Bell Centre, who would ignite the series-swinging surge. He’d already staked the Caps to a 1-0 lead in the first, removing the albatross of an O-fer power play to date in the series. Picking up a drop pass from Alexander Semin, he powered in against Hall Gill and lasered a wrister past Carey Price’s right pad before either Gill or Price knew what hit ‘em.

The very next shift the Capitals’ fourth line would deliver breathing room, Matt Bradley making like a 60-pt. setup guy and sheer-willing his way with the puck through an amalgam of Habs behind Price’s cage. He found Jason Chimera (strong again) on the far side of the low slot, and Price had no chance. 4-2 Caps, game, set, and series.

Semyon Varlamov, a hero in game 3, was actually more impressive in game 4. He stopped 36 shots on the evening, his once much-maligned glove hand his best defense throughout much of the Habs’ 21-shot attack in the second period. He is again in spring staking a strong claim to being the Capitals’ foundation of the present and future in net.

“He was the difference,” Knuble noted.

A series that started in so sour a fashion for the Caps suddenly can end as quickly as commonly forecasted Friday night. Closeout games are the hardest to win, and every game in this series has been fiercely contested. But there appears no satisfactory answer in net for the Habs against these high-flying Caps. The Habs are without hope, and 22,000 exited Bell Centre last night knowing it.

After an introduction by 107.3′s Chilli Amar, the ladies were separated into groups, and each group attended the following sessions:

• Hockey 101 “chalk talk” with Rod Langway and Lisa Hillary
• On-Ice Demonstrations with Dean Evason, Jeff Schultz, Tomas Fleischmann, Boyd Gordon, and Michal Neuvirth
• Hockey equipment discussion with Brett Leonhardt
• Film session with Bruce Boudreau

By far the most popular event were the on-ice demonstrations.  Each attendee was able to take a slapshot, guided by either Schultz or Fleischmann.  They were also able to put on the goalie’s glove and, with Neuvirth’s encouragement, attempt to catch a (soft) puck lofted towards them by Gordon.  This also turned into an impromptu photo/autograph session, but that was to be expected.

That’s not to say that the other sessions weren’t worthwhile, though.  I was able to catch parts of the other sessions and found them to be engaging and interesting.  The chalk talk by Langway and Hillary was helpful.  Boudreau, not surprisingly, had everyone cracking up with his witty commentary.  The equipment discussion was also pretty funny.  Someone asked a question about visor size and if it was regulated.  The answer was no, and the example of Crosby was given: “He wears a big one, to hide the tears.”

I was able to catch up with Boudreau between sessions and ask him about his recent comment that he was happy about the planned “Slap Shot” remake.  “It’s cool; the timing is good, if they do it right.  Now, if they do it like “Slap Shot” 2 & 3, straight to DVD, not so much.”  Amen to that, though I’m still not sure if a remake is such a good idea.  But hey, if Gabby thinks it’s cool, it can’t be all bad.

As always, it was a successful event; so successful, in fact, that the Caps are considering holding two per season.  See below for some photos.

“Green is an atypical offensive defenseman,” Masisak wrote. “He enjoys carrying the puck, which often leads to exhilarating rushes from one end of the ice to the other. His stick-handling and creativity rivals that of Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin, while his vision and passing ability is equivalent of a playmaking pivot like Nicklas Backstrom.”

A team like Carolina proves that you don’t necessarily have to have a no. 1 blueline stud to win a Cup, but the vast majority of champions do. The Caps have theirs.
Another key ingredient is an elite playmaker for both the no. 1 line and the top unit power play. Nicklas Backstrom is that. Swedish hockey media years ago identified Backstrom as an heir apparent to Peter Forsberg. That may have been an unfair comparison, but in his rookie season in ’08-09 Backstrom made a magnificent, Calder finalist transition to star center status in North America. His stock, too, is one you buy.
The center position on the Caps was one thought to be improved but still a work in progress this time a year ago. This season a healthy Michael Nylander — the team’s top scorer in the preseason — will in all likelihood center the team’s third line. The Caps will skate three productive lines this season, and that helps out a bit in the playoffs.
In the cumulative, all of these factors are significant and indicative perhaps of a good-bet-for-the-playoffs kind of club. But if I had to point to a catalyst cause for all the truly heady predictions it’d be to the perception that the Capitals’ well drafted and assembled core of young talent, which certainly includes the likes of Alexander Semin, Brooks Laich, Shaone Morrisonn, Jeff Schultz, Boyd Gordon, and Tomas Fleischmann, is collectively skating impressively now but also with their best NHL days still ahead of them. It’s a 95-to-100-pt. club on paper in the early October moment, absent the achievement of any notable production improvement among all the skilled youth. Who believes they’ve all plateaued?
Ultimately, a Stanley Cup caliber team is forged by distinctive chemistry, and this, too, is a calling card of these Caps. Something obviously special took hold in that room last spring. And it’s basically all back, ripening.

Gordon, 24, completed his fifth professional season with the Capitals in 2007-08, matching his career high with seven goals and adding nine assists in 67 games. Gordon won 55.8% of his faceoffs, good for second on the team and ninth in the NHL, and averaged 4:00 of penalty killing ice time per game, which was third among NHL forwards. His +5 rating was tied for seventh on the team. Washington was 7-0-0 when he scored a goal and 10-2-1 when he had a point.