In the midst of their playoff push and win streak -- combined with the outstanding play of Alex Ovechkin -- the Washington Capitals have turned into the story around the NHL, as well as around town: Witness the front pages of both daily sports pages today, as well as the packed press box at Verizon Center last night.
The purpose of this post: To point you in the direction of a number of good stories and posts out there about the Caps, Ovechkin and the playoffs.
Starting with our own package today:
- Corey -- and our headline writers -- describe another MVP-quality performance from Alex Ovechkin in last night's win over Tampa Bay, in which he scored two goals.
It was his 11th game-winner, which gives him the outright NHL lead to go along with his comfortable cushion in goals (13 more than Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk) and points (six more than Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin).
- Columnist Dan Daly dubbed D.C. "Comeback City" while delving into the Caps playoff chances:
But make no mistake: The Capitals are more than just a team on a mission, a team possessed, and to describe them as such is to do them a disservice. Since Bruce Boudreau was hustled in from Hershey to stop the bleeding, the Caps have been transformed into one of the best clubs in the NHL.
- Tim Lemke has a note on his Sports Biz blog about ratings for Thursday's game, which were the best in Comcast history for the Caps.
Elsewhere. ...
- The owner want you to "bring your lungs" to the game on Saturday
- Brian Biggane of the Palm Beach Post doubts the Panthers will be able to "win one for Jacques Martin"
- Down in Raliegh, the talk is "Win, or else," as described by the N&O's Luke DeCock
- The prescient minds over at DCist think "this is a team built to go deep" if the Caps indeed make the playoffs.
Meanwhile, toss a few more votes for MVP in Alex Ovechkin's basket:
- Rick Sadowski of the Rocky Mountain News says the vote is going down to the wire
- And, our very own Corey Masisak called it a no-brainer in his "On Hockey" piece in today's Times.
- And, Japers agrees
