The Washington Capitals are currently ranked No. 2 in the Eastern Conference League and trail leaders Boston by just 10 points. With the season still young, there is plenty of time to get ahead and keep it.
Capitals team forwards include Nicklas Backstrom, Matt Bradley, Donald Brashear, Chris Clark, Sergei Federov, Eric Fehr, Tomas Fleischmann, Alexandre Giroux, Boyd Gordon, Viktor Kozlov, Brooks Laich, Michael Nylander, Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and David Steckel. . Defenders include Karl Alzner, John Erskine, Mike Green, Bryan Helmer, Milan Jurcina, Shaone Morrisonn, Brian Potheir, Tom Poti, Jeff Schultz, and Tyler Sloan. The goalkeepers are Brent Johnson, Jose Theodore and Simeon Varlamov. The Capitals currently do not have any of their players on injured reserve.
Capital prospects currently in the system and also off injured reserve include forwards Keith Aucoin, Francois Bouchard, Phil Desimone, Andrew Glass, Igor Ignatushkin, Andrew Joudrey, Jakub Klepis, Nick Larson, Brett Leffler, Ivan Nepriayev , Maxim Orlov, Oskar Osala. , Mathieu Perreault, Justin Taylor and Kyle Wilson. Defenders include Sean Collins, Jakub Cutta, Viktor Dovgan, Joe Finley, Josh Godfrey, Patrick McNeill, Sasha Pokulok, Keith Seabrook, Igor Shadilov, Artem Ternavsky and Sergei Zimakov. Goalkeepers include Dan Duddn, Daren Machesney and Michal Neuvirth.
No great team can make it to the top without great coaches, trainers, and support staff. Capitals are no exception. Technical support includes head coach Bruce Boudreau, assistant coach Jay Leach, assistant coach Dean Evason, goalkeeping coach Dave Prior, strength and conditioning coach Mark Nemish. Additional support comes from video coach Jonas Plumb, head athletic trainer Greg Smith, assistant coach Ben Reisz, massage therapist Shawn Reed, team physician Ben Shaffer, team internist Chris Walsh, team ophthalmologist Bill Rich, team dentist Thomas Lenz, senior team manager Brock Myles, assistant team manager Craig Leydig and team assistant Brian Metzger.
Although the Capitals went into the offseason with a loss to the Senators, there is still a lot of season left to work on to maintain the winning streak. The Capitals will close out January with games against the Bruins and Red Wings both on the road and at home respectively. In February, the capitals will host games against the Senators, Kings, Panthers, Canadiens, Avalanche, Penguins, Flyers and Thrashers. They will then hit the road where they will hit the ice on the road in games against the Devils, Rangers, Lightning, Panthers and Bruins.
Come March, the Capitals can look forward to opportunities to showcase their talents in road games against the Predators, Flyers, Thrashers, Panthers, Lightning, Hurricanes and Maple Leafs. At home in March, the Capitals will host games on their own ice against the Panthers, Hurricanes, Maple Leafs, Penguins, Hurricanes again and the Lightning.
The month of April marks the end of the season when the Capitals will play six final games during the month. Three road games against the Thrashers, Lightning and Panthers include the last game of the season for the Capitals, which will be played on Saturday, April 11. Home games in April include those the Capitals will host against the Islanders, Sabers and Thrashers.
