By Guest Blogger Rob Yunich:

The Washington Wizards are amidst a season where they twice play home games on consecutive nights. The last time that happened was the 2005-06 season, when it happened just once. The Atlanta Hawks are the only other Southeast Division team to go through this, and they’ve also got one (March 15 and 16).

Part of it may be due to the fact that nearly every Friday and Saturday night during the NBA (and NHL) seasons are booked and nearly every Saturday at Verizon Center is double-booked, with this Saturday hosting a rare afternoon Washington Capitals game followed by an evening Wizards game. Only two of the other Saturday doubleheaders at Verizon Center included hockey, and in both cases (Dec. 4 and Jan. 8), hockey had the late slot.

The Caps, meanwhile, haven’t hosted games on consecutive nights since Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, 2009 against the Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators (they won both games).

*Rob’s blog is Storming the Crease – http://www.stormingthecrease.com/, so be sure to check it out!

A Guest Blog By Fanspeak Contributing Writer Brian Murphy:

Devils Trying to Put This Season on Backburner with Their Hot Streak:

The Devils have the least amount of points (as of January 26, 2011) in the NHL.  But if you have been following the NHL the past two weeks you would find it hard to believe.  In their past 7, the Devils are 6-0-1, including wins over the Lightning (twice), Penguins, and Flyers.  I think they may have dug themselves into too far a hole to make the playoffs if they keep this up after the All-Star Break.  An interesting debate in New Jersey is if soon-to-be restricted free agent Zach Parise will return to the Devils.  Parise, one of the best LW in the game, has been out injured nearly all year.  Is seeing a happy, productive Ilya Kovalchuk and rejuvenated Brodeur enough to get Parise to sign a contract extension?  Only time, and the Devils second half, will tell!

The Eastern Conference Race is Heating Up Heading Into Break:

The Philadelphia Flyers have been playing great hockey as of late, and will head into the All-Star break at the top of the Eastern Conference standings.  The Flyers have won 10 of their last 12 and have 71 points.  Not far behind are the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning (67 points) who have won their last 5 heading into the break.  Led  by Steven Stamkos and the always-studly Martin St. Louis, the Lightning will pose a big threat to reach the Eastern Conference Finals this playoffs.  The Flyers and Lightning will play in Tampa the first game after the break on February 1st.

A team that can’t wait for the All-Star Break to get here is the Washington Capitals.  The Caps have dropped to 5th in the Eastern Conference standings and have only won 4 games in their past 11 games.  The first half of the season was a very streaky one for this squad.  In December, they lost 8 games in a row after looking like the best team in the NHL in the beginning of the season.  In order for the Caps to gain some steam heading into the playoffs, they need to make sure they are on a hot streak and not a cold one.

By Guest Blogger John Manuel:

I am happy with my Alma mater Maryland’s selection of Randy Edsall as its head coach. Edsall had success at UConn with developing decent talent, in College Park he will be able to work a better recruiting base. Coach Friedgen left him with good talent to start with and the return of defensive coordinator Don Brown is a big bonus. As for Mike Leach, I am now not shocked he wasn’t the choice. Nobody else has really looked at him and with violations just imposed on Texas tech and with his pending lawsuits, he was a risk. Plus if he won quickly at Maryland, would he have stayed long term? I am doubting that, and would guess he would have jumped to the next big time program offer he got. Best of luck to Ralph Friedgen, and thank you for bringing the program back. We sucked when I was there under Mark Duffner, as I can remember bailing at halftime every Saturday to go back to the tailgate in the parking lot.
It was great to see the caps win the 2011 winter classic at Heinz Field. Although I had to rewatch the game on NHL network since I was particularly out commission by New Year’s night. Sid the kid getting crushed was solid also. Only to top it were the Pens failing to shake hands afterwards. I do hope we get them again come playoff time.

I watched the ESPN documentary on Tim Tebow’s prep for the draft and I hope he becomes a solid NFL qb. I promise I won’t do a Thom Brennaman BCS title game speech about meeting Tim Tebow’s makes you a better man though. It was funny to see Todd Mcshay wrong throughout the show on Tebow. Mcshay blows and I hope Mike Shanahan doesn’t read any of his reports on prospects. That one was for you Kingston.
For all 8 of you who read my past blogs, I talked about my fantasy football arch rival, the Matzie. To no surprise we met in the finals.  I took a 33 point lead into Monday night, but he had Ron Mexico, Lesean McCoy and David Akers. Figured I was cooked, but my dream season culminated with a 1.8 point victory and being crowned champion of the Joe Kelly league once again. Matzie was pissed and since has disappeared on Canton.

Huge playoff battles this weekend. All four are rematches highlighted by the AFC rivalry games. Pittsburgh and Baltimore is always close as I expect a big play from a future hall of famer like Lewis, Polamalu, Reed or Ward to be the difference. I am going with Ray Ray to make it in a 17-14 ravens win helped by a big Suisham miss at some point.

I think the pats handle the jets again. I can’t see Rex Ryan winning a super bowl because I think he is a fool. It won’t be 45-3 but something like 27-13 pats. Brady is playing too well. I think he ended the MVP debate in weeks 16 and 17.

By Guest Blogger Rob Yunich:

The Caps may be known for running and gunning, but they’ve devoted themselves to the ultimate of New Year’s resolutions: defense first and — hark — something resembling a neutral-zone trap. Last summer, not too long after the Montreal Canadiens ended a potential dream season, the team vowed to go about things differently and try to play “playoff hockey” for the entire season.

That sea-change didn’t become apparent right away. The first phase was an improved penalty kill that has become downright lethal lately. The team’s recent run of success has vaulted them to a tie for fifth in the NHL (entering Monday’s games) with an 85.2 success rate — way above the 78.8 percent rate (which ranked 25th) from last season.

In 1997-98, when the team made its only appearance in the Stanley Cup finals, the Caps led the league by killing off 89.2 percent of penalties, also the franchise record.  The Caps also led the league in penalty killing in 1990-91 (86 percent) and 1983-84 (86.7 percent). In both of those seasons, the Caps advanced to the second round of the playoffs before losing to a team that made the Stanley Cup finals.

In this past weekend’s Winter Classic, the next phase of the change became evident: the implementation of a very-unsexy neutral-zone trap. In fact, during the game’s final moments, NBC’s Pierre McGuire commented that the Caps had “built a white picket fence in the neutral zone that’s difficult to permeate,” the most definitive sign of the team’s new style.

As the saying goes in other sports, offense sells tickets and defense wins championships. The Caps brass have embraced this new philosophy and most assuredly will continue to make changes before season’s end. After all, as Albert Einstein once remarked about the definition of insanity: “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

The Caps clearly realize that they don’t want to repeat last summer’s misery — or carry Einstein’s label.

*Note:  Rob Yunich is founder and editor of the hockey blog Storming the Crease.com.  You can read all of Rob’s blogs at http://www.stormingthecrease.com/.

By Guest Blogger John Manuel:

The Winter Classic is now just days away and finally the Caps are showing some life.  Winning three out of four with only the shootout loss against the rival Pens.  Saturdays upcoming game will be interesting if the weather does produce rain.  I don’t have a hockey playing background so I am not sure how this will effect the game.  Feel free to comment.  This game is huge but we all know what it will come down to is the playoffs.  Winning the Southeast Division is nice but it seems to not matter.  Visiting teams can win in the playoffs.  Its all about getting in and playing your best for those couple months.

I still think the Caps will make a major move before the trade deadline.  They have some cap room and General Manager George McPhee and Coach Bruce Boudreau could be under fire if the Caps do not produce in the playoffs.  Players like Martin Brodeur or Jerome Iginla could be available.  Most of all they will need their big guns to produce come this Spring.  Mike Green hasn’t shown up in the past two playoffs and Alex Semin had a tough past playoff run. Green is key and changes the whole team but him and his sweet scooter will be under a lot of pressure.  You have to wonder if this why he was left off Team Canada for not being a big game player.

The Caps have a few months to see if Mattheiu Perrault and Marcus Johansson are going to be immediate impact players for the playoffs.  Perrault is fun to watch and looks to be getting more confident although the Tim Gleason hit may set him back a short time.  But what we have seen from the 24/7 show is that hockey players are crazy tough and have the scars to show.  Thank you HBO for the facial closeups on the interview.  The show is great and I won’t even make comments on cursing.  It was great to see a vet like Mike Knuble step up.  This what makes the show great.  Could you imagine if they had done 24/7 or Hard Knocks on the Skins this season?

On the Wizards front, the Rashard Lewis is off and running to more road losses.   Lewis has made it to the starting lineup but more talk is about his contract.  There is doubt that someone will take on his current deal so we are probably stuck with hoping he can bridge the gap until the Wizards are real players.  The trade was simple, get rid of Gilbert no matter what they could get.  Good to see Nick Young get major minutes.  I think he can still be a viable option at shooting guard for the future.  And watch out for JaVale and Andray at the bars now.  It seems like these two find themselves into Flip Saunders doghouse way too much.  Could see them both gone at some point.  McGee has a lot of potential to be something but we said the same about Brendan Haywood and he was a marginal NBA center we kept waiting to take the next step.  He kinda did and then we traded him.

The recent loss to the Heat was brutal.  Had the game in hand until the final minutes and blew it.  Its going to be a tough season but just hang on until they open the lottery cards in Seacacus.  Winning again is not out of the realm of possibilities.  Adding a Perry Jones, Harrison Barnes and hopefully Jared Sullinger to run with Wall is a start.  I have watched more Wizards basketball this season than I would have expected even with Wall missing games with injuries.  They have come to play against good teams many nights and have energy.  Then again I haven’t been racing down 95 to get to the Verizon Center either.

I wanted to add that it was great to see the Yankees miss out on Cliff Lee.  Finally someone turned down their money.  My favorite part was when Sportscenter played some Yankee radio callers after the news broke crying about Lee’s decision to return to Philly.  Still think the Yankees will make something happen before the season since the Red Sox made major additions.  I hope both teams blow next season but that probably won’t happen.

And finally thanks to the San Diego Chargers loss to two win Cincy, my 40-1 bet on them winning the Super Bowl is done.  Didn’t count on it but thought they would at least make the playoffs.  The Chiefs deserve to go and San Diego has to endure another season of Norv Turner.

Red Sox Look To Counter Yankees Potential Cliff Lee Signing: The Red Sox seem to be working hard at trying to acquire a big named free agent to balance the Yankees likely signing of Cliff Lee. They are targeting the next two free agents on the market, OF’s Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth. The Red Sox outfield is their weakest unit and it will only get weaker when J.D. Drew leaves next year as a free agent. If the Red Sox can land either Crawford or Werth it will give them another impact bat for their lineup, and help offset the loss of Victor Martinez and Adrian Beltre. Both Crawford and Werth are going to draw significant interest on the market, with Crawford the top prize (and price tag). I think the likelihood the Sox land one of the two free agent outfielders is pretty high, and would help keep the balance of power between the Yanks and Red Sox in check.

Caps Have No Trouble This Time Against Halak: Jaroslav Halak was on a hot streak last postseason and he stopped the Capitals Stanley Cup dreams cold. But last night with his new team, the St. Louis Blues, Washington got the best of him. The Caps won 4-1, to improve to a league best 18-6-2, and they got a little revenge against their nemesis. The Capitals are on a 4 game winning streak since their goalie Semyon Varlamov recovered from and injury and look to be headed in the right direction again. Prior to his return, the Caps were not only losing games, but they were getting blownout in them as well. While Washington showed that they can overcome Halak, the best news is the fact that now they won’t have to face him in the postseason unless the Blues make the Stanley Cup Finals (not too likely).

By Fanspeak Contributing Writer Geoff Nelowet

ESPN the magazine released an article ranking the 122 franchises in major American sports (NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL). These rankings are based on the following criteria: bang for the buck, fan relations, ownership, affordability, stadium experience, players, coaching and title track. You can read more here: http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/teamrankings.

Prior to reading this article, I had always felt that DC area teams were constantly overlooked in conversations discussing the worst professional sports teams in one area. Many Philadelphia sports fans believe that they have it bad – that their teams are cursed. Wrong. Washington DC is safe haven to putrid sports teams, and this can now be quantified. DC area teams ranked as following:

11. Washington Capitals

94. Washington Nationals

102. Baltimore Orioles

105. Washington Redskins

120. Washington Wizards

I’ve included the Orioles because many people that root for DC teams also root for the Orioles as they were the only baseball team in the area prior to the Nats’ arrival.

As this list points out, aside from the Caps, Washington DC area sports rank near the bottom of the league in every major professional sport. The Washington Wizards are regarded literally as the third worst franchise in professional sports.

What’s most appalling is the Redskins’ embarrassing placement on this list. The ‘Skins are a rich and storied franchise with a fan base that sweeps across the Carolinas, yet they are easily one of the worst franchises in all of sports. It is clear that this is testament to Dan Snyder’s failures as owner of a once proud and distinguished franchise.

The only person in the DC area that may appreciate this list would be Ted Leonsis. He is the owner of the Washington Capitals, and he recently purchased the lifeless Washington Wizards. It will speak volumes of Leonsis, if the Wizards become a respectable franchise in the near future.

Finally, the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals may deserve a flier on their rankings. The Orioles have been mediocre or worse for over a decade now, which is unacceptable, but at the same time, they play in the AL East with the Yankees and Red Sox in a league that is uncapped. The Orioles do not work within an even playing field – but at the same time, the Tampa Bay Rays have clawed their way to respectability. The Nationals, on the other hand, do not face as much of an uphill battle, but they are still a new franchise. With Stephen Strasburg emerging in the league, the Nats’ future looks much brighter.

In any regard, this list is invaluable as it quantifies just how miserable the DC sports teams are, and it should be a surprise for many people to see.

The Washington Capitals showed last night why they are the top team in the Eastern Conference, and the favorites to win the Stanley Cup. They did so in a 4-3 shootout win over the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Capitals improved their record to 49-14-10 and have an amazing 17 point lead in the Eastern Conference. Despite their advantage in the East, Washington is still playing their best hockey and last night showed why this could be their year in a big way.

The Capitals tallied first last night, just a minute into the 2nd period. Their lead was short lived though, as the Penguins tied the score just over a minute later. Pittsburgh then took the lead late in the 2nd period with a power play goal by winger Bill Guerin, and it looked as though Pittsburgh might get their first win against the Capitals this season. But Washington wasn’t about to disappoint their fans, by laying down against their biggest rivals at home.

As the third period began, Pittsburgh was still in control with a 2-1 lead. With about 5 minutes gone by the Pens were on a power play and threatening to score again, when Alexander Semin literally took the game over single-handedly. Semin stole the puck deep in the defensive zone, and staked the length of the ice before putting his wrister in the back on the net, past Pens goalie Marc-Andre Fluery. With the exception of the fact that there were about 14 minutes left in the game, Semin’s play could have been something out of a movie. He went through the Pens power play unit, like a hot knife through butter, and you just knew when he took that shot that it would find net. Semin’s Hollywood goal would get upstaged later, but it brought the Caps back to life.

The momentum factor began to swing the Caps way. And Washington took full advantage two minutes later when Eric Fehr knocked in a Mike Green shot to put the Capitals up. Pittsburgh came back to tie it in the final minutes of regulation, sending the game into overtime. Neither team was able to score in the overtime period, leaving the game decided the High Noon, old fashion way, a shootout. What could be more appropriate to decide the winner, then a shootout between the teams with the best offensive stars in the game? Luckily for the Caps they still had some ‘Hollywood’ magic left in the tank.

The Penguins first two shooters both scored, and the Caps first shooter (Backstrom) was stopped cold. Any goal or save by Pittsburgh, and the Penguins would win, but it was Alex Ovechkin’s turn and he made up for his quite night in a big way. Fluery didn’t have a chance on Ovechkin’s goal, and still was probably looking for his puck when he had to face Semin a few minutes later. With the shootout score favoring Pittsburgh 2-1, Semin had to find the net if the Caps were to win. Again it seemed like destiny (and great for television ratings) for Semin to be the hero and keep the game alive. After Jose Theodore stopped Chris Kunitz, the Capitals turned to the veteran Mike Knuble to bring them home the win. The only problem with that is that Mike Knuble had never scored a shootout goal, much less a game winner. There is apparently a first time for everything, as his shot sailed past Fluery to give the Caps perhaps their biggest win all season.

Washington has now answered all questions about their team, and whether or not they can beat the other top teams in the league. While this series usually gets broken down into a match-up between the stars, Washington showed they have too many weapons for another team to focus solely on Ovechkin.

As for Pittsburgh, this loss raises serious questions about their ability to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions. They are now 0 for the season against both the Devils and Capitals. The two other teams with Stanley Cup caliber teams in the East. Although last night’s game can be somewhat forgiven since they were without two of their top players, Malkin and Gonchar, they still haven’t won when those two were in the lineup. Yes they were able to take Washington to overtime in their two losses in DC, but they still didn’t come away with a W. There are no bonus points for losing in overtime when the playoffs start. Once again the Capitals proved that the road to the Stanley Cup goes through our nation’s capital, and they will defend their home ice from anyone. I think we will likely see a playoff match-up between these two teams again, but this year looks to be Washington’s year.

If I told you that the score of last night’s Panthers-Capitals game was 4-1, that the Capitals had to start their 3rd string goalie, Ovechkin and Semin were held without a goal, and Mike Green left the game in the middle of the 2nd period, you’d probably conclude Washington’s win streak was snapped. But, that was not the case last night. Even with all the odds stacked against them, not only did the Capitals win, but they dominated the Florida Panthers to take their their 9th game in a row. Washington has a 6 point lead in the Eastern Conference, and has been playing their best hockey of the season, despite having to get starts in 3 of the last 4 games from rookie net-minder Michal Neuvirth.

Neuvirth, who was called up because the Caps ‘other’ young goaltender Seymon Varlamov is injured, has made the most of his time with the team going 8-4. Neuvirth actually has a better Goals Against Average (GAA) and save percentage, than the Caps top line veteran goalie Jose Theodore (though both are well behind Varlamov in both categories). While Neuvirth’s time with the team may be coming to an end, with both Varlamov and Theodore on the mend, one can not overstate his importance to the Capitals (especially during this streak).

Washington will go for their 10th win on Sunday against the Lightning. While it might seem like there is so much of the season left, and that it doesn’t matter as much that the Caps have a big lead in the Eastern Conference, but this season isn’t a normal one. With the Olympic break coming up in just over 2 weeks, there is extra incentive for the Capitals to jump out to a big lead in the Conference.

There is so much uncertainty when it comes to the Olympics, with the chance that star players could get injured, or that the rest of the team is rusty because they haven’t played meaningful hockey in two weeks. Also there is the very real possibility that the team’s chemistry is off given the players coming back from being on different teams. If the Capitals can maintain this big lead into the break, then I think that will help take some of the pressure off when the season starts up again in March. Right now Washington is the team to beat in the Eastern Conference, and with the way they’ve dominated their opponents during this 9 game stretch, no one from either Conference should want to play them in a 7-game series.

Just two weeks in to the hockey season and we have seen some teams play as expected, surprise us, and come out of the gate as major disappointments. Hockey is a long season so not much can be taken out of 5 or 6 games played, but there are some trends to keep an eye on.

Play as Expected: Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers, and the Chicago Blackhawks

All three of these teams were playoff teams last season, and were Stanley Cup contenders entering the year. A Penguins-Blackhawks matchup was predicted by a number of sources given the all around talent they possess. While the World Champion Pens sit atop the Atlantic division the New York Rangers are right behind them. The Rangers have the best goal differential in the NHL right now, scoring 10 more goals than they have given up.

Surprises: Los Angeles Kings and the Colorado Avalanche

Now the Kings were going to finish better than what they did last season, last in the Pacific division and second to last in the Western Conference, but no one thought they would be turning it around so fast. Given the strong offseason and the young core they had, the playoffs were a possibility, but leading the Pacific seemed like a pipe dream. One reason to think they may begin to fall in the standings is their penalty killing units have been awful so far this season. If their defense overall doesn’t improve they have no shot at winning the division. The Avalanche were the only team worse in the Western Conference last season than the Kings, but so far this season they are off to a 4-1-1 start and leading the Northwest Division. The big difference between them and the Kings is, while the Kings were expected to get better and maybe challenge for the 7th or 8th playoff spot, the Avalanche were once again expected to be cellar dwellers. It will be interesting to watch to see if their resurgence is real or just a hot streak.

Major Disappointments: Detroit Red Wings, Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, Carolina Panthers, and the Anaheim Ducks

All five of these teams were top contenders last season, entered the year with Stanley Cup hopes, and have some of the top players in the league filling out their rosters. So far this year they have all been major busts. None of them have a winning record, and all have shown major defensive issues so far this season. Of these five powerhouses, only the Capitals have a positive goal differential, (but that is only by one goal). If you don’t play defense you can only get so far in the postseason, no matter how good your forwards are. If the season ended today, only the Caps would squeak into the playoffs with the 8th and final spot in the East. These five teams will be ones to watch over the next few months, and they can’t get too far behind in the playoff hunt now. Whether its making a trade, benching a player, or calling up a top prospect something needs to change on these teams to right the ship. In the end, I think at least three of these teams will figure it out and make the postseason. But just making the playoffs for teams that had Stanley Cup expectations isn’t good enough for these teams. And none of these teams are playing at the level needed to get the Cup.