ROOKIE GOALIE PLAYED EVERY MINUTE IN FIRST ROUND

Plenty has been written -- at least in the D.C. market -- about Washington Capitals goalie Michal Neuvirth after his fairly spectacular performance in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals win over the New York Rangers.  But the young goaltender himself isn't paying attention to any of that right now. 

"It's pretty nice, you know, but I'm just focusing on my game and trying to play my best for this team," Neuvirth said after Tuesday morning's spirited practice at Kettler Capitals Iceplex.  "I'm not trying to look back.  [I'm] just looking forward and just want to be focused and play my best for this team right now."

Neuvirth leads all NHL goalies that have played the majority of minutes for their team in goals against average and save percentage in the first round, allowing just eight goals in five games, and is one of a handful of goalies to play every minute for his team in the cage in the first round.

For example, the Philadelphia Flyers are starting their third different goalie in Game Seven tonight against the Buffalo Sabres.

Neuvirth is now 15-0 in playoff series in North America, including his stints with OHL Plymouth and AHL Hershey, backing the Bears to consecutive Calder Cups in 2008-09 and 2009-10.  And while those minor leagues don't compare talent-wise to the NHL, it's still excelling at the highest competition level for those leagues.

Neuvirth, for one, believes that experience is helping him focus now that he's competing in the playoffs with the big club. 

"Oh yeah, for sure.  Every playoffs is still playoffs so there is a lot of pressure," Neuvirth remarked. "Those weren't easy [games] when we were in Hershey. It was a tough circumstance.  It gave me a lot of experience. [Round two is] not going to be easy but I think I can handle it and I can't wait for next game."

Since the Caps were able to close things out against the Rangers in five games, and with all the other Eastern Conference matchups going past that, Washington has a few days to rest, practice, and get ready for the next opponent.  Neuvirth isn't concerning himself with the games still going on, though he is anxious to get back in the net and get going again.

"We had a tough practice today and had a fun practice yesterday, but obviously we're pretty excited about our next round and it's gonna be another great opportunity for our team.  We're pretty excited to play and I think a lot of the guys can't wait until the games start [again]."

With the extra time, does the clear No. 1 goalie dwell on who the next opponent might be?  Does he care?

"Not thinking about it right now," Neuvy said.  "Just gonna wait to see what happens and we'll find out tonight or tomorrow night who we're gonna face and obviously we're gonna get ready.  It's not gonna be easy, all the teams are very good and it's not going to be easy."

GREEN PRACTICES, WANTS TO TALK ABOUT HOCKEY

Defenseman Mike Green, who was felled by a Matt Gilroy slap shot in the first period of Game Five against the Rangers, participated fully in this morning's practice and afterward reported no ill effects. "I'm fine, other than a bruise,” said Green.

When asked if he was worried about another concussion, after he missed 26 games at the end of the season, he replied, "No, not at all. The first one was a lot different than this one. Right away I knew with the first one; this one I got up right away. Other than it stinging a little bit, I was fine.”

“They make good helmets, and this time it hit me in the helmet. I’m okay, so that’s all that matters,” Green said. “I think that time, it happened so quick that it’s pretty tender and sore when it did happen. But like I said, thank god for those helmets and I’m very fortunate.”

 

He then requested that the reporters change the subject to talk about hockey.  "I feel great," Green said. "I had a good skate today. We worked hard. I feel good."

 

KNUBLE AND WIDEMAN SKATE (POTI TOO)

 

All three injured Capitals skated before the team came out for practice in full pads, but only Knuble stayed out for the regular practice, and even then did not participate fully in line rushes.  Wideman left practice after before most of his teammates were out of the dressing room, suffering from some light-headedness.

 

“His legs are feeling fine,” coach Bruce Boudreau said of his Wideman, recovering from a hematoma to his leg and compartment syndrome. “He was a little dizzy today so we [said] get off -- or lightheaded, not dizzy -- and so just to make sure he’s fine.”

 

Wideman looked to be skating pretty free and easy, but did not do any full out sprints or hard stops during the time he was skating.

 

Knuble said he's feeling good, but does not have a timetable for return.  “I’ve been skating every day, just trying to keep my legs up and stuff,” Knuble said. “I’m encouraged by the way things are going and you just do your best to stay with the group and keep up with the pace of play so when you do come back it’s not a huge adjustment."

 

The veteran forward reitereated that he would indeed play in the second round, though that has not been confirmed -- or refuted -- by the team.

 

SEMIN MISSES PRACTICE WITH FLU-LIKE SYMPTOMS

 

Boudreau said winger Alexander Semin was feeling a little under the weather and told him to stay home from practice today, considering the team has several more practice days available this week. 

 

“He’s fine. He had a little bit of the flu so we just said ‘listen, stay at home,’” Boudreau said. “We still got Wednesday, Thursday, minimum -- practices probably Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. We don’t know when we’re starting yet.”

 

Semin had three goals and an assist in the first round against New York.

Jason Chimera, right, taps in game-winner for the Caps (C.Nichols/Caps News Network)

“Sometimes when we get a lead so early we kind of settle in instead of keep pushing the pace and that was a classic example of what we did tonight."  John Carlson

You got the sense, after a first period where the Washington Capitals took a 1-0 lead and outshot the out-of-the-playoffs Columbus Blue Jackets 15-4, that if the Caps could score the next goal, the Jackets would roll over and the Caps could finally have a game where they could put away an opponent, rather than put things in jeopardy and have to squeak out another one-goal game.

You would have been wrong.

Only a fantastic play from a trio of Caps in overtime kept this game from following Tuesday's script, where the Caps got a lead, coughed it up, and ended up on the losing end via shootout.

Instead, Jason Chimera tapped in a rebound from Brooks Laich, who was fed a tasty pass from John Carlson, exactly halfway through overtime to give the Capitals a 4-3 win. 

“It went to the net soft," Chimera said.  "It kind of went off their defenseman and it kind of ended up right on my tape so it’s hard to miss those ones but those are nice. Especially nice against your old team. It was a good night.”

The two points drew the Caps to within one point of Eastern Conference leading Philadelphia, 1-0 losers to Atlanta at home Thursday night.  The Flyers have one game in hand over the Caps, but at 4-2-4 in their last ten games, Philly is not playing their best hockey of the year.

It also give the Capitals 101 points, marking the third straight year the Caps have eclipsed the century mark. 

A late first period fight between John Erskine and Jared Boll -- one that would end Erskine's night early -- got both teams going in a game that had gotten a little stale, but Columbus seized the momentum better. 

The second division squad found themselves in the second period, and when Antoine Vermette banged home a loose puck in the crease, with Matt Bradley and Boyd Gordon watching, Columbus decided they would put up a fight.

The game went back and forth from that point, with both teams scoring twice in the middle frame.  The Caps were matching Columbus on the scoresheet, and a lucky bounce behind the Columbus goal led to Marco Sturm hitting a wide open Jason Arnott for the go-ahead goal.

At that point, the Caps went into their "New Jersey Devils" mode, clogging the neutral zone and falling into a defensive shell.  It didn't help that for the second game in a row the Caps found themselves with just five defensemen, as Erskine took just one shift in the second period after the fight. 

But there's a big difference between playing defensive hockey and passive hockey, and last night the Caps fell into the latter.  You got the feeling that if Columbus got a lucky bounce, the game would end up tied.

They did.  It did.

The Capitals failed to clear a puck that was bouncing around between the circles, and Michal Neuvirth (23 saves) might have relaxed a little bit.  Scottie Upshall beat the young Czech glove side, and the Caps were in a dogfight.  The teams traded scoring chances down the stretch but needed the extra frame, where the Caps -- finally -- were able to find the game-winner.

"Tonight we had a lot to learn," Boudreau said after the game.  "We talked about it before the game, that it was an important thing, playing away from the puck.  And I thought that we weren't that good at it.  Hopefully it will be a learning session tomorrow looking at the video."

WIDEMAN HOSPITALIZED

A report surfaced during the game from TSN.ca's Bob MacKenzie that D Dennis Wideman, injured in Tuesday's loss, was hospitalized for a hematoma in his leg. After the game, the Capitals indeed confirmed that was the case. 

Mike Knuble went even further, as he told reporters that Wideman had emailed him pictures of the injury, which he termed "grotesque."  Knuble described how Wideman's leg had been cut to drain blood and relieve pressure from a condition called "compartment syndrome", where blood and pressure collect and could lead to tissue damage.

Wideman's injury is not thought to be quite that severe, however, he appears to be out indefinitely.  The offical team information has Wideman listed "week-to-week".

ERSKINE DOESN'T RETURN

John Erskine, by all accounts, won his title bout with Columbus' Jared Boll, but the Caps might end up the biggest losers of the tilt. 

Erskine skated just one shift after the fight and did not return after that.  Boudreau confirmed after the game that the rugged defenseman did not injure his hands in the fight, but would not elaborate further, except to say Erskine was day-to-day and was held out in the second and third periods as a precaution.

If Erskine can't return for Saturday's game with Buffalo the Caps will have to recall at least one blue-liner from Hershey, since Wideman, Mike Green and Tom Poti are all still on the shelf and the team is down to five healthy defensemen.

CARLSON'S BIG NIGHT

John Carlson played his 100th NHL game and had himself a big night.  He played almost 26 minutes, scored the game's first goal and assisted on Chimera's game winner. 

Carlson now has 35 points (seven goals, 28 assists) on the season and is two points shy of matching the club record for most points in a season from a rookie defenseman, currently co-held by Robert Picard (37 points in 1977-78) and Greg Theberge (37 points in 1981-82).

CAPS NEWS NETWORK'S THREE STARS

3. Brooks Laich.  Two helpers, two hits, three takeaways.  Really insinuated himself in the action.

2. Marcus Johansson.  Didn't figure into the scoring, but man, this kid is playing well right now.

1. John Carlson.  Goal, assist, PP, PK, whatever.  Great game from young stud defenseman.

PHOTOS (Click photo to enlarge.  All photos (c) C.Nichols/Caps News Network)

John Carlson's Goal

After Chimera's game winning goal!

Erskine's fight

Neuvy first off the ice for warmups

"You know, our fans deserve a better effort than what we've been giving them lately. Tonight we had some rough patches, but I think we played pretty well" -- Matt Bradley 

The Washington Capitals did not play particularly well last night, but they did play well enough to defeat an offensively challenged St. Louis Blues team 3-2, before another sold out crowd at Verizon Center.  Coupled with the last minute heroics against the Islanders Tuesday, it's the first time the Caps have won back-to-back home games since their last two in November.

As Bruce Boudreau said, "They're all important." But these four points, heading into a statement weekend in Florida were especially big.  The Panthers are absolutely reeling on the heels of their latest fire-sale, and with Tampa Bay's loss to Boston Thursday night, the Caps are behind Tampa and Pittsburgh by a single point for third and fourth place in the conference.

If the Caps can take care of business Sunday against the Panthers, it will set up a battle for first place in the division Monday night in Tampa.

But the Caps had to take care of home ice first, and for a while things looked pretty sketchy.  Of course, nothing has come easy for these Capitals in this campaign.

A sluggish first period saw both teams fight with bad passing and little cohesion.  Midway through though, St. Louis counter-attacked and Alex Steen beat a lagging Nick Backstrom through the Caps zone to tap in a very nice pass from Chris Stewart and take a 1-0 lead.

With just a minute to go in the period, Matt Bradley decided to take matters into his own hands, and went right after defenseman Tyson Strachan.  Strachan did not back down, but perhaps he wishes he would have, as Bradley pounded him with three right hands, the final an uppercut that sent Strachan to the ice. 

Bradley's effort at least brought some energy to the arena, which was almost as dead as the team on the ice at that point.

"We got down a goal there and I just tried to get the guys going a bit," Bradley stated rather nonchalantly in the locker room after the game.

His teammates took notice though, as he was awarded the Hard Hat for the night.

For the remainder of the game, the Caps played hard at least, if not well the entire time.

The teams traded second period goals, by defensman Scott Hannan and the Blues B.J. Crombeen, before the Caps took control of the game in the third.  Nick Backstrom knocked in a puck out of mid-air baseball style to tie the game at two, and Jason Arnott scored the game-winner with just over five minutes left off a beautiful feed from Alex Semin, on The Enigma's 27th birthday.

It's the type of play we really haven't seen out of Semin for quite some time.  Coming into the game, he'd scored in just four of his ten games since returning from injury, with just two assists in that time frame.  But breaking in on a two-on-one, he settled the puck and put it right on Arnott's tape.  All Arnott had to do was finish.

Boudreau was particularly impressed with the way Arnott swung out a little wide anticipating Semin's feed.  "When Semin gave him a really good pass, [Arnott] didn't have to make a play, he just had to shoot the puck because he was already in a shooting position, which I thought was really good to see."

"We're talking a lot on the bench, even with Sash -- we're talking to him and he's talking to us," Arnott explained about the chemistry he's quickly developing with his new linemates.  "It's important to communicate to find out where and how guys are when they play around the rink.  We keep that up hopefully our chemistry will keep going."

The importance of winning these two games and gaining four points heading into a showdown weekend, especially since this is also the annual "father's trip", was not lost on the room. 

"Seems that every game we play is a big game," Bradley said.  "Obviously we're chasing Tampa right now and we have a good chance, first with Florida then Tampa.  Bruce and the coaches talked about it -- a snowball effect -- getting on a little bit of a roll going into the weekend.  We have our fathers coming for the father's trip, so it makes for a good mood starting the weekend out."

"We want to get back to making this a tough place to play," Scott Hannan said, reveling in his first goal as a Washington Capital.

"It's good for our confidence," said Nicklas Backstrom.  "We haven't been winning a lot at home lately, so hopefully we gave our fans something good tonight.  Hopefully we can continue working on this and get more Ws."

Arnott spoke about that elusive confidence as well.  "It's always nice to get confidence going, get on a roll before you go on the road.  You can't take Florida lightly and Tampa's got a fantastic team.  It's going to be another battle again."

Boudreau was a little more big-picture. 

"They're all important.  So how important is it?  Boy, I was thinking all day 'I'd like to win'.  But in the whole scheme of things we won't know how important it is until the end of the season.  It's so important to get to that 80-point level and with the teams above you, now you can see [them].  It's not like you're a big distance away, so it was good to get to there."

With two wins, the Caps have set the table.  Now let's see if they can clear the plates this weekend.

Every win, every game, every shift is important from here on out.

CAPS NEWS NETWORK THREE STARS

3. Michal Neuvirth.  Kept his team in the game until the offense clicked.  He could do nothing with either goal, and he turned away all four shots he saw on the penalty kill.

2. Karl Alzner.  Blocked four shots and I'll say this as politely as possible: He carried his partner tonight.

1. Dennis Wideman.  I know he didn't figure into the story, but he was all over the ice tonight, clearly the Caps best player.  He led the team in ice time for the second consecutive game and finished with five hits and two blocks.  He also led an effective power play -- for the first time in weeks -- though they still did not score.

CAPS NOTES:  Matt Hendricks dished out five hits and won the puck in the corner, leading to Hannan's goal.

Alex Ovechkin registered just one shot on goal but had two assists.

The Capitals improved to 18-16-4 when allowing the first goal of the game.

Arnott's goal puts him at 899 points in his career.

The Caps are 30-0-3 when the score three or more goals.

"We're really happy with what we've acquired.  We've addressed specific needs that we had and they're all good, experienced veteran players." -GM George McPhee.

The Washington Capitals -- as expected -- were busy at the trade deadline, acquiring center Jason Arnott from the New Jersey Devils and defenseman Dennis Wideman from their division-rival Florida Panthers.  Both moves address positions of need for the Caps that have plagued this team all season.

Arnott, 36, waived a no-trade clause to join the Caps for the stretch run and his contract expires at the end of the season.  Arnott told the Newark Star-Ledger:

"I'm at the end of my career. I want a chance at another Stanley Cup. I think Washington has a good potential to be a Cup team."

In exchange for Arnott, the Capitals had to move fan favorite David Steckel and a second round pick in 2012.  The Caps 2011 second rounder belongs to Carolina in last season's Joe Corvo deal.

Arnott has 13 goals and 11 assists in 62 games, playing to a minus-9 rating with the Devils this season.  He had not scored in the Devils last eight games, a strange coincidence with their 7-1 run during that time frame.

Wideman, 27, is a puck-moving defenseman who had 33 points (nine goals, 24 assists) with Florida this year.  He still has another year on his deal and complicates the salary structure, but brings a solid two-way game to D.C.

GM George McPhee surrendered his third round pick in the 2011 draft and ECHL forward Jake Hauswirth to acquire Wideman.

In addition to the waiver wire claim Saturday of winger Marco Sturm (32), the Capitals have added a strong veteran presence to an extremely young NHL locker room.  The Caps have been playing with six full-time rookies in positions where playoff teams usually have veteran leaders, and the mixed results have shown why these deals needed to take place.

Centers Marcus Johansson and Mathieu Perreault are both very talented young players, but they've barely combined for as many assists this season than the veteran Arnott brings at the tail end of his lengthy playing career.

Defensemen John Carlson and Karl Alzner are both extremely talented rookies -- but they are still rookies.  Neither one have played a season this long, logging this many minutes, in this type of spotlight.  Wideman takes some of the heat off these players, especially with Mike Green and Tom Poti's injury status clouding the blue line situation.

All three players acquired bring "two-way" reputations, with Sturm and Wideman expected to provide a boost to the moribund power play which has struggled all season long.

Bottom line: the Caps bring in Arnott, Sturm and Wideman for Steckel, an ECHL forward, and second and third round draft picks in two different years.

"I thought we did really well in that regard," McPhee said.  "We did not give away a first round pick, we did not give away any of our "A" prospects."

It's a significant change to this Washington Capitals roster.

No, none of these three players are all-star caliber talent.  But they are dependable, NHL veterans in positions where they were relying on rookies. 

McPhee explained:  "We've got a young group as we all know, and we [acquired] guys that have been around a long time.  Especially with Arnott, who's been a captain of an NHL team, he's won a cup, and those kinds of intangibles I think are something that we wanted in the room."

The Caps rolled the dice last off-season not acquiring a legitimate second line center, hoping that Tomas Fleischmann would seize the opportunity.  When Flash was dealt to Colorado for Scott Hannan, ending that experiment, the Caps had no other place to turn but 20-year old rookie Johansson and tweener Perreault.

Johansson has had flashes of brilliance, but he is still learning the North American game.  Perreault is just too small to play 2C in the NHL.  The Caps have -- at least temporarily -- addressed their biggest concern heading into the playoffs.

So no blockbuster at the trade deadline, but McPhee identified and addressed three positions of need for the Capitals without decimating either his NHL roster, nor surrendering any of his top prospects.  Whether it's enough to vault the Caps into legitimate contenders will be determined in the weeks to come.

But no one can say McPhee didn't try.

___________________

CAPS NOTES:  McPhee confirmed that Jay Beagle and D.J. King will remain with the Caps for the rest of the season and will not be reassigned to AHL Hershey this season.

McPhee also noted that Tom Poti and Eric Fehr were placed on Long Term Injured List, retroactive to their last games, and both would be eligible to return when they were healthy.  The moves were necessary to make the Capitals compliant with the NHL salary cap with the additions to the team.

Also, McPhee expects the Caps to be very cautious working Mike Green back into the lineup, expecting Green to be out a  "couple weeks" after he returns from his grandmother's funeral in Calgary.  Green is out of the lineup with a head injury, and McPhee confirmed Green has been suffering headaches since being elbowed in the head by Rangers forward Derek Stepan last week.

The Washington Capitals earlier today traded for puck-moving defenseman Dennis Wideman, formerly of the Florida Panthers, in exchange for minor league forward Jake Hauswirth and their 2011 third round pick.

Wideman, 27, has 33 points (9 goals, 24 assists) this year for the Panthers in 61 games.  He will wear No. 6 for the Caps.

The veteran defender gives the Caps another two-way defenseman and shores up a depleted blue line, with Tom Poti still unavailable for play and Mike Green out at least another week with his head/ear injury and now back home in Calgary attending his grandmother's funeral.

Asked if Wideman was acquired because of those circumstances, Coach Bruce Boudreau replied, "It means we don't know and this is the last day [for trades]," Boudreau said. "Even if we have both of those guys, [General Manager] George [McPhee] makes a great pick in getting Dennis."

_________________

PRACTICE UPDATES:  D.J. King has cleared waivers, but his status is still unknown.  Boudreau said the team had "no plans" at the time to send him to AHL Hershey should he clear waivers, but with the team over the cap limit for now with the addition of Wideman, there still has to be some moving parts as we quickly approach the 3:00 pm trade deadline.

F Eric Fehr participated fully in today's practice, testing out his injured shoulder.  He is taking things "practice to practice", and still does not have a timetable for his return.

C David Steckel left practice early triggering speculation, but team sources said he "tweaked" something and his status is uncertain.