A few quick thoughts:

• Is the Beast back? In a modest 18 minutes of ice time last night the Gr8 pumped 7 shots on the Senators’ cage, and they were all of the quality variety. It was vintage Ovi. Since the coaching change he has certainly been more an impactful performer, but last night he seemed to put it all together at last, and that dazzling, game-changing tally — and I think it belongs among his 10 best tallies ever as a Cap — may represent his personal crossing of the rubicon this season.

• Can someone please get Brooks Laich a stick that actually stays in one piece on the penalty kill?

• Props to Dale Hunter for trying out that Halpern/Johannson/Brouwer combination. That was, to my knowledge, one of the few combinations we hadn’t seen yet in Washington, but it was a nice mix of veteran experience and younger spark.

• Karl Alzner’s paycheck should get a bonus; there was one moment (I think it was on the penalty kill) where he threw his body on the right half of the goal line because Vokoun left it exposed while there was significant traffic and a battle for the puck going on in front of the net.

• More thoughts Ovi: I haven’t seen him play quite like that since before John Wall joined the Wizards. He’s actually getting to the net again on occasion when he charges into the offensive zone by himself, from out wide, where he generates lethal speed on a bull-rush, and his goal was a beautiful mix of skill, will, cunning, and flair. Ovechkin flair — which of course is unlike anyone else’s in hockey. He’ll probably be a stronger player for going through this protracted slump.

• 44 shots on goal. Not bad. A power play goal. Not bad. Still lots of work to do on the PK (bad). Allowing Ottawa to score on the power play to make it 4-3 late, needlessly injecting drama into the evening, falls (again) at the stick of the undisciplined and unpredictable Alexander Semin, but a crazy shot from John Carlson in his own zone that hit an empty net was a pretty fun way to get insurance.

• On Semin: Just as we may have witnessed Alexander Ovechkin chart a positive and productive new course with last night’s effort, I’m left wondering just how much more the new coach has to see of Ovechkin’s countryman before an ultimate verdict is rendered. At 4-2 deep in the third on the road, the game needs to go in lockdown, and that’s not a task you look to #28 to carry out.

• It’s actually difficult for me to pick a favorite goal in this game: the beauty by Ovechkin, the gorgeous pass by Laich to Backstrom as they came flying towards the net and the successful shot by Nick, and a somewhat similar goal off a pass from Johannson to Brouwer.

Perhaps a statement win for Dale Hunter. A relief win for the fanbase. Most importantly, perhaps: a night we’ll look back on and say, “That’s when Ovi got his groove back.”

• The Gr8 authored his eighth overtime game-winner. Ovechkin’s third shot of the game was the OT winner, a change-up that Pascal Leclaire would love to have back. Otherwise, Ovi only had one shot on goal through 50 minutes and was on the ice for the Sens tying goal in the third period.

• Marcus Johansson is not performing especially well in the early stages of his NHL career. He seemed generally nervous Monday night and for the second Caps’ win in a row, skated as a minus player. MoJo also lost seven of nine draws last night.

• While linemate Ovechkin has five points in the first three games this season, Nicklas Backstrom has got zilch on the 2010-11 docket. A poor defensive error at the blueline led directly to the Sens’ second goal.

• A penny for your thoughts on the play of Tyler Sloan and John Erskine last night. Specifically, do you wish they were paid in pennies? Quality defensive depth is not likely to be a hallmark of the 2010-11 Caps.

• Putrid: the Caps’ powerplay — it’s 1-for-12 on the young season. Last night it looked effortless. And we don’t mean effortlessly simple. It was pretty dismal, possibly worse than its performance against Montreal last postseason. The man-up units could barely pain entry into the offensive zone, never mind getting shots. They tried backdoor plays early on with Green and Carlson going for the tap-ins. It worked two years ago almost every time with Green, but not once last night.

• Perfection: the Caps’ penalty kill — it’s 13-for-13 on the young season.

• Both Caps’ regulation goals were backdoor garbage goals. Semin pulled a Sidney Crosby in the first period standing right outside the blue paint and Fehr was set up by a nice behind-the-net play by Hendricks and Gordo.

• Neuvy shouldn’t be faulted for either Sens’ goal. The first was a deflection off Jarko Ruutu’s stick which was never going to be saved. Ryan Shannon dangled around John Carlson to roof Ottawa’s tying goal blocker side on Neuvirth. The Czech stopper has had consecutive balanced games with no bad goals against.

Atlanta Thrashers’ goalie Ondrej Pavelec collapsed in the season opener due to a not uncommon fainting spell, but he subsequently suffered a concussion from the fall to the ice. Still, his prognosis is good.

Slovakia General Manager Peter Bondra took in his first game of the season in the Verizon Center press box last night, checking out Ottawa’s Slovakian fist line winger, Milan Michalek.

Devils’ Dilemma: New Jersey, under dire salary cap duress, dressed just 15 skaters — just nine forwards! — for its home date versus Pittsburgh last night, a 3-1 Pens’ win. Nice cap management. Mike Green skated almost 32 minutes on Monday night. Imagine if he were in a Devils’ sweater these days.

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