I was struck at the ferocity and domination with which Detroit skated in periods two and three last night in San Jose. Especially in the third, Detroit simply imposed its will against a terrific Sharks club, and did everything but tie up the game. San Jose triumphed principally because Joe Thornton, heretofore a postseason no-show in big games, skated the game of his life when his team needed it most.

Like every club in the NHL’s postseason, the Wings are battered brutally, and last night they lost Todd Bertuzzi and Dan Cleary to the medical ward as well. But it just didn’t seem to matter. To the Wings, injuries are an obstacle but never an excuse.

Detroit is an “old” hockey team, too, but did you see how energized and fleet of foot they looked when their season was on the line last night? And when you compare that with how our Capitals looked in every third period of the second round, what conclusion do you draw?

This week the Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg reminded us that the offseasons of sports are what we in sporting Washington do best. And so the headline-grabbing news relates to hockey coaches and GMs staying put, and the hoops team getting a nifty new look but not a badly needed name change. Again: it’s middle spring, and nothing of consequence is transpiring for D.C. sports. We are a horrible, horrible sports town, still, not because our residents lack passion or commitment as with those in great sports towns, but because of the rank incompetencies of the men who are the stewards of our teams.

The early hours of every hockey offseason in Washington are grotesque because they are always arrived at prematurely. But I am finding this offseason uniquely vexing, for it is forcing upon me a confrontation with a new and unpleasant consideration of our owner and his management team. Our owner, the executives surrounding him, his coach, they are all fine men, and quite competent at their jobs. They are better than average, I think. And because they are merely better than average they loom as exemplars among their local peers. But what concerns me this spring is that we’ve no evidence that Capitals management possesses what might be termed a Special Forces mindset for securing a coveted target.

And in the world we live in, I think, truly coveted targets require Special Ops.

The Detroit Red Wings strike me as a Special Forces operation within our sport. Notable obstacles are ever placed in their way — amid all the heightened talk of franchise relocation this season, we’re reminded that the Wings would very much like to move to the Eastern conference, to address their longstanding travel ardor. They are, annually, a road weary hockey club. It just never seems to matter. And given their now decades-long reign of success, they ever draft late in each round of each entry draft, after all the bluechip talent seemingly has been selected. It just never seems to matter. They lose a Scotty Bowman and replace him, after a brief dalliance with Dave Lewis, with a Mike Babcock. They just go Special Ops on the opposition as the occasion mandates. The San Jose Sharks defeated a special adversary last night.

What about our Washington Capitals would you identify as Special Ops rival to the Wings? Its Marketing? Its web ops? Anything?

A few years back, there was frenzy over allegations that the New England Patriots, another outfit deadly serious about winning, was engaging in illicit, outside-the-sanctioned mode of football operations: that they were cheating. I haven’t much interest in the NFL, but for some reason this week I thought back to that moment and that team. I don’t know that much came about those allegations against the Patriots, but today I find it interesting that it was the Patriots — and not say the Redskins — who were forced to defend themselves against such attack. I guess today still a lot of football fans outside of New England believe that something sinister and covert was executed by Bill Belichick.

The warfare-sports mix of metaphor needs to be executed, if at all, with limit and care. But this spring in Washington, with the stunning news of the remarkable mission of SEAL Team Six, I can’t help but wrestle a bit with the notion that when it comes to hockey in my hometown, we are badly in need of the equivalent of a SEAL Team Six running things, when at present, relative to a club like the Wings, we have McHale’s Navy.

I’m hardly alone in such thinking. Again I reference the recent post mortem of the Post’s Tom Boswell:

“[George] McPhee respects his players’ pain. His face darkens as he describes Mike Knuble playing with a shattered thumb that required four pins and pain-killing shots just so he could take the ice. He knows which man can’t open his own car door after a game, which may never play again and which could hardly get off the ice unaided after one game.

“Attuned to such sacrifice and 100-hour coaching weeks, McPhee transmits that appreciation to Leonsis, a man defined by loyalties. If you bleed for them, they find it mighty hard to slit your throat [emphasis OFB's]. And that’s wrong?

“In a sense, the Caps are trapped by their own culture of decency, self-regard and optimism. They want to give everybody a second, and sometimes a fourth chance, even the coach. They don’t want to act in haste and repent at leisure, even if it means soft players aren’t traded and get to repeat their spring failures. They don’t want to blow up what they’ve built because they believe in sound foundations. But the Caps also flatter themselves that what they have created is a notch better than it actually is.”

As it relates to the real serious news of this spring, of covert warfare and military unilateralism, I am intrigued by what’s followed the initial awe and celebration of our nation’s feat over its greatest foe. Just in the past few days, a segment of our culture, clearly flanked left on the political spectrum, is articulating something akin to buyer’s remorse: Did we really have to go hitman? For these thinkers, there seems something elementally and intrinsically indecent about such a world.

And they’re right. And it’s this harrowing indecency which requires Special Ops.

On a far less important scale triumph in pursuit of sports’ greatest prize — securing the coveted target — surely requires something akin to a Special Ops mindset. Tampa Bay under the guidance of Steve Yzerman, a good many in hockey today believe, is closer to executing that mindset than we in Washington with our team. Yzerman of course was bred in Detroit.

The setup: Each blog submitted a list of questions to be answered by the other site. The results: well, you’ll have to be the judge.

So what do Detroit Red Wings aficionados want to know about the Caps? Well, below are the literary pebbles (yeah, definitely not gems) that make up some of our team’s responses to the TPL questions. To read their answers to our set of questions, like what we’d see out of Mike Babcock (and his flowing locks) in an HBO 24/7 type show, check out the other half of our exchange here at TPL.

TPL: Every Winter Classic road team has lost in the Cup finals that same year (PIT 08, DET 09, PHI 10). Given the overwhelming sense that history is not on your side this year, do you think it’s still worth playing out the rest of the season? Are the Caps destined to lose in the Cup finals?

TPL's Rob, left, during a typical day in Detroit

OFB’s Mike: Traditions are made to be broken. Now excuse me while I go burn my Winter Classic jersey.
OFB’s Alex: About a month ago I would have been completely unsurprised by another Caps’ first round exit, but, especially since the trade deadline, I have been impressed to the point of pulling my Stanley Cup prediction out of the recycle bin. And that was Canucks in six versus the Caps. Damn!

TPL: How much job security does Boudreau actually have? He’s had some ridiculously talented teams fall very short of expectations. Is it Cup finals or bust this year?

Mike: No. Might be conference finals or bust, though.
OFB’s Lis: This franchise owes Boudreau a lot (see Caps: November 2007 vs. Caps: March 2011), and Boudreau seems to have more job security than Pat Sajak, frankly, compared to most of the NHL. However, with this year’s trade deadline moves, I think there’s more pressure on his shoulders, because he has the personnel to get to the Cup finals.

TPL: Leonsis and Ilitch, our respective owners, have very different styles in terms of blogger engagement. Is it nice having an owner who is actively engaged in discussing his own team or would it be better for them if he were a bit more detached?

Mike: Yes, a thousand times yes: an engaged owner is fantastic. Sure, there have been times we’ve gone against Ted’s grain and rankled him a bit — and paid the price. But overall, an owner like Leonsis is a rare and wonderful thing for any sports fan.

TPL: Across the DC sports market, where do the Caps rank in terms of the local teams?

Lis: Let’s see – sandwiched at different points over recent seasons between Albert Haynesworth, Gilbert Arenas, and the “Natinals,” the Caps have managed to remain the D.C. team with the best record and the least amount of coverage (except maybe for D.C. United).

TPL: Neuvirth? Holtby? Varlamov? If/when they’re all healthy, who’s the guy for the playoffs?

OFB’s Andrew, Dissent 1: It has to be Neuvy. I tend to like technical goalies more than athletic ones, and Varly also has a big x-factor: his problems with injuries. People call Matthew Stafford a china doll, but Stafford doesn’t have anything on Varly, who seems to only be able to play for a few weeks at a time. Neuvy has shown he can play under pressure–see his play against the Penguins. That said, Holtby is quickly jumping up my personal depth chart, and I know Lis has some thoughts on his potential—well, it is really a “love affair”–but I’ll let her explain.
Lis, Dissent 2: Welcome to the OFB civil war. Holtby will be the best goalie of them all, hands down, but Varlamov, if he’s healthy, should get the start. He responds better than anyone on the roster to NHL playoff pressure. Yeah, there have been a few bad outings, but he’ll be playing this year with a much more solid defense and a team that shouldn’t be dragging the series out to 7 games.
Mike, the Voice of Reason: Varly has the biggest upside, but never seems to be healthy. Neuvy is the most consistent. Holtby’s hot right now but makes the other two look like grizzed vets. Thus: Go into the playoffs starting Neuvy, with Varly as backup. Let Holtby lead the AHL Hershey Bears to the Calder Cup, and bring him back to DC next season.

TPL: Do they have Buffalo Wild Wings in D.C.? …and if so, what’s Boudreau’s favorite flavor of sauce?

Alex: There is in fact only one Buffalo Wild Wings inside the Beltway (and several others around). We “understand” Gabby, on his annual April vacation, discovered the robust wild wing flavor.
Mike: Based on the HBO 24/7 series, I’d say Boudreau’s favorite wing sauce flavor is Cookies n’ Cream Ice Cream.

TPL: True or False: Jason Arnott, at this advanced stage in his career, is a better fit to replace PJ Crowley than he is on the Caps current roster.

Mila Kunis, Natalie Portman - photo via awardsdaily.com

Mike: False; in fact, by Detroit standards, Arnott’s career is just beginning. Though I did hear Lidstrom is a strong candidate to replace Regis.
Lis: Plus, Arnott’s been the Ronald Reagan to ending Alex Semin’s Cold War. So keep Arnott in hockey, please.

TPL: True or False: The movie Eastern Promises was based on Semyon Varlamov’s upbringing as a Russian mob boss before he broke into the NHL.

Lis: False, but we do suspect Semyon gave Robert Pattinson his big break by turning down the role of Edward in Twilight (see Varly’s roster headshot on Caps’ website).

TPL: ….and on a Black Swan-related note, Mila or Natalie?

Alex: This is more difficult to figure out than Macaulay Culkin. Seriously, what was he thinking? However, blue-wigged stripper Alice in Closer is making me think twice about Portman.
Married Mike: Neither. Pre-married Mike: Both

Now check out TPL in the hot seat.

From the Detroit News

Maltby was famous for his participation in Detroit’s grind line: a third line of players who embodied what is Detroit blue-collar hockey. Maltby, with his line mates Darren McCarty and Kris Draper, tormented other teams’ top scoring lines. The three were physical, had no fear while they were on the ice, and had the ability to knock an opponent into the boards while scoring a goal. The line played a key role in three of the Wings’ championships.

Maltby continued to thrive in Detroit even after McCarty left the Wings organization. Despite not being known as a scorer, Maltby is +18 in his career and totaled 260 total points. He played total in 1,072 games, most of them with Detroit, and totaled 867 penalty minutes. He would also go on to win one more cup, in 2008, when Detroit defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins.

His style of play is something that is under-represented in today’s game. Maltby showed that hockey was about more than just scoring, or dropping the gloves. While he did bring a lot of toughness to the Detroit roster, he also played with a drive and a desire like no one else. He simply wanted to be a part of a winning team and strove help his teammates. While that may have been with a thundering hip-check, it was help none the less.

Maltby was one of the guys who helped get the Wings over the hump in the ’90s. Another player in his vein—to complement players like Brooks Laich, Matt Hendricks, and Matt Bradley—could be just what the Caps need to get themselves over the hump.

Maltby was certainly no point-getter, nor a dominating enforcer; but he loved the game, and it showed every shift. He enjoyed every second he was on the ice . . . and his efforts were vital to the Detroit dynasty.

Eastern Conference

Prediction: Caps in 5; (Alex however has a Caps’ sweep)

The first round matchup between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New Jersey Devils is full of questions. Will the goaltending hold up for both teams? Will Ilya Kovalchuk emerge for the Devils? And of course, the inevitable question of whether Daniel Carcillo, also known as the cleanest player in hockey(note sarcasm), will earn himself a suspension.

While there are so many questions in the series, picking the winner is really a no-brainer. Philadelphia is just lucky to be in the playoffs, and they may steal a game or two in the series, but there is no way they will prevail. The boys in orange and black just don’t have enough offense and goaltending is just a wee bit of a question mark.

On the the other end of the ice is the New Jersey Devils, a team filled with All-Stars, Olympic medalists, and some guy named Martin Brodeur. Sure, Marty hasn’t been stellar in all high pressure situations, but he remains a top-5 goalie in the league. Not only that, but he has a solid defensive corps in front of him. By no mean do any of them stand out as a top-5 d-man, but they certainly have the experience and hockey knowledge to take the team a long way.

In short, despite the inevitable antics, the Flyers do not have a snowball’s chance in hell to win this series. Rangers blogger for SNY, Jimmy Hascup, described Philadelphia’s style of play perfectly. He said, “they don’t even play hockey, they should be in the MMA Octagon.” That is exactly why they will not win this series.

Prediction: Devils in 5

Ryan Miller moves from the pressure of the Winter Olympic Games to the pressure of the NHL playoffs. That said, the job should be a little easier for him this time around because he won’t be facing an offensive powerhouse like Team Canada. Instead, Miller and Sabres will be facing the Boston Bruins in a divisional matchup.

Fans will be lucky if Buffalo and Boston combine for more than 20 goals in this series. Both teams are built on their defense and lack a lot in the scoring department. Boston is led by Zdeno Chara and Dennis Wideman, while Buffalo’s defense features Calder candidate Tyler Myers and Henrick Tallinder.

In all reality though, both team’s live and die with their goalies. Miller is right at the center of discussion for the Vezina Trophy and has even garnered discussion for the Hart. Tuukka Rask will oppose him  between the pipes for the B’s. He has had a solid season between the pipes, posting a 1.97 GAA and a .931 save percentage. That said, there was a stretch of time where he did lose nine games in a row.

All in all, the deciding factor of this series will be Ryan Miller. Tim Connolly, Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy will only have to provide modest offense if the Miller we have seen all year shows up. If he is not on his game though, this could be a longer series, with neither team lighting the lamp more than three times in a game. Sorry Boston fans, I know you were happy you made it, but the worst thing for a team to run into in the playoffs is a hot goalie. And in the case of Ryan Miller, maybe the world’s best.

Prediction: Sabres in 6

This matchup may be one of the most deceiving of all the Eastern Conference first-round pairings. On one side of the ice there is the Pittsburgh Penguins, the defending Stanley Cup Champion, and one which has been to back-to-back Cup finals. Opposing them is the somewhat undervalued Ottawa Senators. Ottawa flew under the radar for a lot of the season, but the talent and experience is in place to make a deep playoff run.

Pittsburgh has a star-studded lineup, but you don’t need us to tell you that. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar lead a team with high expectations and fans with higher. Anything but a repeat will be unacceptable, and the biggest thing that might prevent them from hoisting the Stanley Cup sat on the bench during the Olympics. Marc-Andre Fleury is a talented but erratic netminder.

If Ottawa’s veterans can knuckle down and play the kind of hockey that once won them a conference title, then they have a fighting chance against Pittsburgh. Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson, and Mike Fischer possess the skills needed to steal a game or two in Pittsburgh, and there’s always the human shot-blocking machine, Anton Volchenkov. A huge blow perhaps to Ottawa’s chances was the end of season injury to Alexei Kovalev — a torn ACL.

Still, Ottawa’s goaltending could be one of the more under-reported storylines of the first round. Brian Elliott doesn’t have to stand on his head, but he has to be better than Marc Andre Fleury. And he’s plenty good — one of the best goalies this past season. This is not the same Pens’ Cup-winning club of a year ago — it’s a team whose blueline doesn’t look nearly as strong and stable absent the departed Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill. Pittsburgh should be able to pull it out, but it won’t be without some nail biting in the closest series of the Eastern Conference.

Prediction: Penguins in 7

Western Conference

What’s not to like about the other conference’s first/last first-round series? If people are calling Montreal/Washington the David and Goliath first-round series, then this series might be more in the realm of Sparta versus Persia proportions. San Jose is the perennial second-round flop that everyone expects will do well and Colorado is the little engine that could, a team that wasn’t even supposed to be around right now, and almost wasn’t.

The reason we’ll take San Jose in this matchup is only because they normally lose in the second round (last year against Anaheim was an exception). The season series was even, and Craig Anderson had an outstanding first half but slipped up a bit this calendar year. Not forecasting necessarily that he will, but we’re also not going to be the ones to say he can’t pull off an awesome April turnaround. If Colorado’s young team, led by Matt Duchene and the trade deadline-acquired Peter Mueller, gells and is olivious to postseason pressure by virtue of their collective youth and inexperience, they stand a chance at upsetting San Jose and Dany Heatley. He might realize he should have stayed in Ottawa.

Prediction: Sharks in 7

If Chicago had reliable netminding we’d call this one of the early enders in round one. It still might be — that’s how loaded the Hawks are. But Nashville plays the Western conference’s most physical brand of hockey, and that could pose a challenge to Chicago’s fleet of skilled scoring forwards.

It’s Antti Niemi vs. Pekka Rinne in net — advantage Preds. Still, while Nashville has an unheralded corps of offensive weapons up front, and some terrific bangers on the back end, they’re no match for the elite Hawks.

Prediction: Hawks in 5

After scraping through with the Art Ross Trophy, Henrik Sedin and the Canucks will be at full force in the first round and a force to be reckoned with. But, if there’s one upset that is likely to occur in the first round, it’s gotta be this one. Los Angeles has an amazingly gifted young core, and more than capable goaltending in Jonathan Quick. They also have a great supporting cast in vets like Jeff Halpern and Ryan Smyth, who reignited his scoring touch with Anze Kopitar at center.

Vancouver’s lineup is as deep as they come in the NHL, but we’re not so confident that Roberto Luongo and the British Columbians will be as physical as Los Angeles. The secondary scoring on this team is fantastic, though, with last summer’s acqusition of Michael Samuelsson a clever signing. Alexandre Burrows, Mason Raymond and Ryan Kesler all had career years, and it seems they’ll continue their top-five goal production in the postseason. But we’re willing to take a gamble on Los Angeles and say they’ll wear Vancouver’s forwards down physically with the likes of Drew Doughty, Rob Scuderi and bone-crusher Jack Johnson on the blueline.

Prediction: Kings in 6

This may be the most intriguing first-round matchup — the Cinderella story Coyotes, owned and managed this season by the league, and flirting with no. 1 overall out West well into March, and the late-surging Wings, who’ve battled through ravenous injuries to earn an underdog-with-an-edge status this postseason.

The Coyotes will need Vezina candidate Ilya Bryzgalov to keep up his backbone backstopping ways in this series. Bryzgalov merely won 42 games in the regular season and posted an eye-popping eight shutouts. Detroit will counter with rookie netminding (and Calder candidate) sensation Jimmy Howard. All the experience in this series is obviously on the side of Detroit. All the MoJo appears to be with the Wings. But wouldn’t it be an amazing feather in the Phoenix cap if they took down the perennial conference power?

Prediction: Wings in 6

OK, not quite a million for the tickets, but still pricey

I just received the annual email from the Washington Capitals to renew season tickets for the 2010-11 season.

This year’s increase in price? Approximately 32%.

Ouch.

Yes, the Caps’ current ticket prices—particularly for my seats in the front row of the upper deck—are not only significantly discounted from face value, but quite a bargain by league standards. According to The New York Times, 20 NHL teams charged more, on average, for tickets than the Capitals did in 2009-10.

Nonetheless, it was a bit of a shock seeing the new total invoice amount in a painfully-enlarged lump-sum. Marketing suggestion: since the per-ticket price is not provided anyway (it required math… “It was my understanding that there would be no math”), why not proffer the bill in easier-to-digest monthly payment amounts? It’d be no less frustrating than obfuscating the individual ticket price, and it would be much be easier on fans’ hearts.

One must admit that this increase, while a bit breathtaking at first, is actually reasonable. After all, aren’t the Washington Capitals the hottest ticket in town? Sure, demand jumps even higher for marquee opponents (Pittsburgh, Detroit, Philly, etc.); but no matter the opponent, D.C. is craving Caps games. One needs look no further than the team’s impressive streak of sold-out home games reaching back to last season’s playoffs… something previously unimaginable for a hockey team in Washington.

As a side note, not all ticket holders received quite the sticker shock I did. For instance, a friend in Section 104 faced the same dollar increase I did… which translates to a much more palatable 14% increase for him.

Even after these increases, the Caps’ 2010-11 season ticket price increase will bring their average price up to approximately the 2009-10 league average — in other words, roughly a middle-of-the-pack ticket price for a top-of-the-pack team.

So yes, after recovering from the initial shock, I’ll be re-upping for season tickets. After all, the chance to see the most exciting team in the NHL play 41+ times a year is a rare and wonderful opportunity, and one worth a premium price even during tough economic times.

Let us hope, however, that this year’s big increase remains an aberration — a one-time “market adjustment” to bring prices more in line with demand — in the Caps’ overall ticket-price history. The last thing the Caps (or their supporters) need is to price out loyal fans and fill the arena with cellphone-talking corporate types who kill the amazing energy level at the games.

Times have changed indeed.

It was a game the Caps almost certainly should not have won, and would not have won, absent the stand-on-his-head heroics of Jose Theodore. Journeymen netminders in New York and New Jersey and Pittsburgh took down terrific Capitals’ clubs of a quarter century ago. On Tuesday night, a journeyman netminder wearing red, white, and blue took down the Wings.

A few patrons at Verizon Center last night likely were taking in their first hockey game of the season — marquee games have a way of attracting such newcomers — and all of them could have been forgiven for believing that the visitors from Detroit were the first-place team in their conference while the host Capitals were in 9th and fighting for their postseason lives.

Such was the Red Wings’ dominance: literally, a doubling by the Wings of the Caps in terms of shots on goal (46 to 23). The Wings skated through and around four Capitals’ defenders during five power plays on the night, Theodore and the Caps somehow managing to keep them off the board during all five.

“It was like men versus boys,” Bruce Boudreau said afterward. “I don’t think we touched the puck. They came out with a vengeance, and I’m sitting there thinking this is what Stanley Cup champions that are desperate do.

“And it’s a bar that we have to get to. We were just fortunate our goalie was great in the first period.”

All season long Bruce Boudreau has referenced the importance he believes the frenzied, sold out Verizon Center crowd plays for his team. Tuesday night’s Red Army was playoff loud. From the second period on I couldn’t hear the OFB intern seated next to me. It was a beyond impressive atmosphere to showcase for the healthy number of Hockeytown supporters seated within it. They may not yet believe there’s a second Hockeytown in this league, but they surely recognize that there’s more to this town than the Redskins.

It was also an eyebrow-raising atmosphere to showcase for the season’s first all-media-personalities-in-the-press-box showing since opening night. Channel 7 showed, Channel 5 showed, even a Washington Post columnist showed!

Hearing the battling cheers between the two team’s faithful was rousing and raucous and well simulated a playoff game’s atmosphere, and it really highlighted just how far the Washington hockey community has come. D.C. has truly fallen in love with these Capitals, and the Red Army shows it night in and night out and, and on nights like Tuesday, it transformed a hockey game into a heavy metal concert.

Victory Tuesday night was made possible by Jose Theodore principally but also a first period knotted at zero after a 15-3 frenzy of shots dominance by the guests. The Capital then could get to the first intermission locker room, regroup, and feel like bank robbers who eluded law enforcement.

After Detroit struck first on a Dan Cleary tally the clock wound down toward a worrisome second intermission deficit. The Capitals then needed heroism to counter Detroit’s desperation and dominance, and they got it from a star-and-grinder combination. A gorgeous Mike Green spring pass across the ice, hard and flat and accurate, to Boyd Gordon, who deftly directed an on-the-tape saucer centering pass to a driving-to-the-net Matt Bradley, tied the game, turning around its fortunes.

“I think we were resilient,” Gabby noted. “We could’ve given up a few times. We also need to know that we need to play much better if we want to win the whole thing. That team played like I hope they played the seventh game of the playoffs, because if they can play a lot better, then we’re in trouble. I thought that was the best team we played all year, and I’m shocked that they’re in ninth place right now.”

An Alexander Semin brain lapse high in his own zone led to a turnover and a Brian Rafalski blast between Jose Theodore’s pads with just over 8 minutes remaining. It appeared as if established hockey royalty would rule the night.

But a new king of centers, Nicklas Backstrom, went on a one-man, defender shredding, magic stick mission on a power play, besting Chris Osgood, tying the game, and reigniting sonic bedlam. Then it sounded like a game 7.

The Capitals on Tuesday night didn’t make many terrific plays, but they made them when they needed to. Less than a minute after Backstrom’s score-evening strike Dave Steckel redirected an Alex Semin shot past Osgood to give the hosts their first lead of the night, late. They needed only to hold on, and Jose Theodore made sure they did.

“It very easily could have been 6-0 after the first period,” Boudreau acknowledged.

It was a night for fourth-line heroism and the last line of defense. It was a night for Washington media to witness first-hand that special evenings in hockey take place in the regular season as well. And it was a night for visiting royalty to reckon with an upstart outfit now capable of winning even when it shouldn’t.

It is no surprise that Detroit has taken a dip in the standings, as they lost more than 100 of last year’s goals in the form of departed players. Even though it was expected, no one thought Detroit would be one point out of a playoff spot at the season’s halfway mark. To say they were bitten by the injury bug is an understatement. At one point this year Detroit was without  Johan Franzen, Jonathan Ericsson, Jason Williams, Niklas Kronwall, Tomas Holmstrom, Brad Stuart, and Valtteri Filppula, and they have been without Andreas Lilja all season due to post-concussion symptoms. You know you are in trouble when the call-ups who are replacing the injured players are getting hurt.

Some may say, well, the Caps went through the same kind of thing last year. But the Caps’ maladies of a year ago were nowhere close to as devastating as what the Wings have had to endure this season. At one point the Wings lost their three top scorers, three of their best defensemen, and a solid member of the checking line. Not to mention they have serious salary cap problems and therefore little room to address the injury challenges. Any franchise in sports, no matter how good the front office is, will struggle with that many injuries.

Despite the injuries the Wings have stayed in contention. Detroit has done a nice job staying in contention with a few surprise players stepping up. Todd Bertuzzi, not a widely acclaimed offseason acquisition, has put together a solid 27-point season. Meanwhile, an under-the-radar signing I loved, Patrick Eaves, has seemed to get goals at just the right time. He has only six goals and seven assists, but he has a knack for scoring at just the right times. Of all the players who have stepped up Detroit is most excited about Darren Helm. The speedy center has 14 points on the season and is a player the Detroit media has jokingly dubbed, “the most dangerous man in hockey,” because of his speed. While the title is half joke, he is a guy that needs to be accounted for at all times since he can easily slip by the defense.

Speaking of the Detroit media, and most specifically radio, they are in love with the Washington Capitals. First off the Caps are Pittsburgh’s arch-enemy, and as the old saying goes, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” It is not just simply a matter of sharing the same hate of the Penguins. Jimmy Howard has been talked about for the Calder Trophy because of his steller rookie season, but when he is talked about on the airwaves they are also quick to mention another young netminder by the name of Semyon Varlamov. Detroit is a hockey town, and it is never afraid to give props to another franchise. As far as the Eastern Conference goes, let’s just say the fans in red and white do like the red, white and blue.

With all this in mind, despite their struggles, the emergence out of nowhere of a promising young goalie, and their 10-9-5 road record, Detroit should be a tough challenge for the Capitals tonight. The Wings tend to get fired up for these kinds of games, but Washington is clearly the better hockey club. And think about this for a moment: when was the last time a Washington Capitals’ club went into a game against the Detroit Red Wings as something approaching a prohibitive favorite? The answer: many of our readers weren’t alive then. I think you have to go back decades!

Even with their stingy defense and strong goaltending it will be hard for the Red Wings to contain the high flying Caps offense, especially in the Verizon Center. Fans should expect Jimmy Howard to start in net and they should also anticipate a Capitals’ ‘W.’

All of this said, however, you don’t become a powerhouse franchise overnight, and in addressing the media at Kettler yesterday, Bruce Boudreau made what I thought were a couple of key observations about his Tuesday opponent. He noted that players seem to put on a Wings’ sweater and become better players. That’s what used to happen with hockey players who donned Bruins’ and Habs’ sweaters, he added. He was referencing what’s become nearly a two-decades’-long legacy of winning in Detroit. That has an impact on players. Call it a culture of winning. Washington is establishing it; Detroit’s had in place for years, and the Wings won’t relinquish it without a fight.

Tuesday marks the opening of what the Caps’ coach termed “a great test week.” He called the Wings “this year’s Anaheim” — a club that will likely qualify for the postseason and one no one will want to face there. The thinking here is that he’s right, and that Tuesday night will reveal less a changing of the proverbial guard and more just a heck of a game between two elite franchises.

Andrew: It certainly has been a tough semester filled with long days, late classes and late nights. That isn’t even the tough stuff; while other students were struggling with papers and projects I had to cope with a bad Red Wings team and a schedule that all but cut hockey out of my life.

The days of checking NHL.com highlights, watching little dots move around my phone screen and attempting to get accurate play by play via Twitter are over. Starting tomorrow it’s smooth sailing — well, except for Tuesdays next semester, as my schedule has been planned around the hockey season. Christmas break is the most exciting part of the year for me because it is the true start of my hockey season.

His Delta name: Ed Belfour

This is the time of the year when I can finally sit and analyze every statistic, blog about every team trend, and of course take the “Blades of Steel,” a struggling fantasy hockey team, on a monumental run from last place to regular season champions. The end of the semester is a little hockey Christmas present to myself.

While many are looking forward to the Winter Classic on January 1, I have to say what I am most excited for are those nights with the wind blowing outside and the radio on and tuned to either the Red Wings or the Caps. Being from Detroit, winter is my favorite season, and I remember every winter of my youth being devoted to listening to hockey games.

Sure, watching on a giant HD television, (providing CSN doesn’t show the Wizards) is great; but to me the radio symbolizes what hockey is. It is a highly personal experience where complete concentration is required and where imagining makes it even more exciting. Takes me back to what it must have been like for the early hockey pioneers. We are really lucky, I believe, to have the impassioned voices of Steve Kolbe and John Walton calling games in our organization.

Welcome to winter and the start of my hockey season. It is the most wonderful time of the year, the start of my hockey coma.

* * * * *

Alexander: This winter, my last as a college student, will surely be the last fun one I’ll have for a long, long time. It’s a scary thought actually, because this 21-year old has to make some major decisions over this frigid winter in DC. I’ve no doubt that the ones who pay the bills will have no trouble finding a way to bug me about applying for jobs and to masters programs.

While I find time to do that, the five-week span of my break will also include working for my father and for the best Capitals’ blog, hang out with the friends and family I haven’t seen since August, and get my hands on a now hard-to-get Caps’ ticket. I also must play some North American hockey (English hockey is rubbish), something I’ve longed for since August 24^th.

But just as equally, I’ll long for that Caps game. There are only six home tilts during these five weeks, thanks to the NHL’s awesome holiday season scheduling. March 8 was the last time I headed to Verizon Center, and those painful nine months without a live contest has rotted me. I simply must go this winter break.

It’s so special to see your team play live. Until it is unavailable one doesn’t really understand how invigorating it is to see a live game. Season ticketholders are awesome, because I believe they are true fans; but I also suspect they are not nearly as emotional as I am when I go to a game and may for obvious reasons take a few contests for granted. Because I know I’ll only go to three or four a season, I live it up. Always.

It’s also nice to be a little more awake and energized at 7p.m. here instead my midnight laptop cuddle at midnight in London. It’s also nice to be able to catch a hockey game at a bar like Bugsy’s in Old Town. In fact, I’ll try spending most of my time out of the house just to avoid the conversation with my parents about my future. When they bring it up, maybe I’ll just feign a need to get on Metro to get downtown for a game (hopefully my parents won’t be familiar with all of the Caps’ road play late this year). I’m motivated, but man, do I hate being pushed to do something I know I’ll eventually do.

Then there’s my brother, who may be the coolest or most annoying person on the planet at any given time. This Christmas, I suspect he’ll be the latter. He’s getting a second shoulder surgery for a nagging rotator cuff injury he sustained two years ago. I also had the same injury and I took full advantage of being handicapped and having my left arm out of service for three weeks. “Mom, can you get me this? Patrick, can you get the remote? Dad, can you get tickets to the next game ?”

But now that I have to take care of Patrick again, I have a feeling all those things I want to do will have an asterisk.

*if Patrick doesn’t need my help.

But Patrick has consistently been the only person in my family who has any sense when it comes to applying for jobs or masters programs, which makes him less bothersome than my parents in that regard. So, perhaps it’s not such a terrible thing that I’ll be forced to spend time with him. He might be an encouraging presence instead of a pestering nuisance. If I get a job, I might just reward him with the best seat in town.

Maybe I’ll make that a Christmas present. Two brothers taking in a hockey game together isn’t a bad way to spend a portion of winter break.