At the Break

It's hard to believe how far this team has come since Thanksgiving. The playoffs seemed like an impossibility and yet now at the All Star break the Caps sit one point out of first place in the Southeast Division with two games in hand on Carolina. They are also only three points out of the eighth spot in the conference standings. I must give the team and Bruce Boudreau a lot of credit.

Although the Caps have been on a roll, the break comes at a good time. The team seemed to be getting a little tired and a four day rest should do them some good. Hopefully, a few of the banged up players will be able to get back in the lineup soon as well.

It's a shame that only Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom will represent the team at the All Star festivities. Mike Green deserved to be there but clearly was overlooked. Hopefully, he'll be there next year.

I must say I was happy to see Brent Johnson in net last night. He played great. Perhaps I was a little too critical in my assessment of Olaf Kolzig's play the night before with respect to Mats Sundin's game winning goal. I read some other accounts of the play and Boudreau said he did not like the gap that Steve Eminger gave up at the blue line or Alexander Semin's coverage of Sundin. The gap did not look too large to me and I did mention Semin getting beat by Sundin. I stand by my assessment of the rebound. It was soft and juicy and, ultimately, an easy poke home. The bottom line in my book is the team just simply seems to play a little better with Johnson in net right now. Given their status in the standing, the Caps can not afford to give up any points at this juncture.

Let me be clear. I am not suggesting that the Caps ride Johnson for the balance of the season. Kolzig should clearly be the goalie of choice. I wonder if he might be a bit tired and fighting the puck right now since he was essentially the lone workhorse for Boudreau for quite some time when Boudreau first took over the coaching duties. Having said that, Kolzig simply needs to play better for this team to have a realistic chance of making the playoffs and doing anything in them if they get there.

Enjoy the All Star break. Let's hope the Caps can maintain the momentum after the break.