Time CAPSule - Ovechkin Strikes Twice in Caps' Sixth Straight Win

Earlier this season, we posted Alex Ovechkin's early years in DC](https://www.nhl.com/capitals/news/early-times-of-the-great-eight/c-311761890) and another Nicklas Backstrom's five-year contract extension](https://www.nhl.com/capitals/news/backstrom-takes-center-stage/c-313921356). In the process of crafting those stories and talking to the subjects themselves and many others, we were reminded of how exciting and thrilling the 2007-08 NHL season was in these parts.
It stands as Ovechkin's career year, it was Backstrom's rookie year, Bruce Boudreau took over behind the Washington bench on Thanksgiving Day, and the Caps made the playoffs for the first time in five years, winning 15 of 19, 11 of 12 and seven straight at season's end to come back from a dismal 6-14-1 start to win the Southeast Division title.
That season and that run into the playoffs augured in the "Rock The Red" era of hockey in DC, the beginning of 11 playoff appearances in a span of a dozen seasons. At this time a dozen years ago, the Caps were in the midst of that wild run. With the NHL's 2019-20 season "paused" for the foreseeable future, we're going to spend the next month looking back at the day-to-day of that remarkable late-season run, revisiting some of our coverage at the time with some fresh hindsight mixed in. On the off days between games, we will revisit some events from earlier in that landmark season. Enjoy!

Friday, April 4, 2008
It's the morning after the Caps' sixth straight win, a 4-1 victory over Tampa Bay that brought Washington into a virtual tie for first with Carolina for the top spot in the Southeast Division going into the final weekend of the regular season. Here's how the standings looked on that Friday morning:
\Pittsburgh 102
\Montreal 102
New Jersey 97
NY Rangers 95
Ottawa 94
\Carolina 92
Washington 92
Boston 92
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Philadelphia 91
For the first time since October, Washington found itself in a playoff spot. But the Caps still did not control their own destiny. Both Philadelphia and Boston held a game in hand on Washington, so even if the Caps were able to win their season finale on Saturday against Florida, they would need help to get into the playoffs for the first time in five seasons.
Here's our postgame notebook from the win over Tampa Bay, along with a pair of brief blog entries; one on the upcoming Florida-Carolina game that Friday night - the Hurricanes' season finale - and one on the Caps' growing local TV ratings in the midst of their longest winning streak in more than eight years.
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Postgame Notebook
65 With One to Go - With two goals on Thursday against the Lightning, Caps left wing Alex Ovechkin now has 65 on the season, the most ever for a left wing in the NHL. He eclipsed a 15-year-old mark one held by Luc Robitaille. Robitaille netted 63 goals for the Los Angeles Kings in 1992-93.
"I am very happy that Alex has achieved this accomplishment," said Robitaille, upon learning of Ovechkin's achievement. "I love watching him play because he plays not only with heart and passion but with a true love for the game."
Ovechkin's second goal was the game-winner, his league-leading 11th game-winner of the season. Only Peter Bondra (13 in 1997-98) has ever had more game-winning goals in a season for the Capitals.
He now has 112 points on the season and is six points ahead of Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, who is second in the league in scoring. Ovechkin has a good chance to become the first player in NHL history to win the Rocket Richard, Hart, Art Ross and Lester Pearson Trophies all in the same season. If he does so, he would also become the first player in NHL history to win the Calder and Hart Trophies in a three-year span.
Six-Pack - With Thursday's win over the Lightning, the Capitals have now won six straight games for the first time since Jan. 8-19, 2000. Washington's last winning streak of more than six games in duration was a seven-game run from Feb. 9-23, 1993. The Capitals also had another seven-game winning streak earlier in that campaign.
The longest winning streak in franchise history was a 10-game run from Jan. 27-Feb. 18, 1984.
The Capitals have now won five straight at home for the second time this season, and they've outscored the opposition by a combined 16-6 in the process. Washington also won five consecutive home contests from Jan. 15-31.
Another Notch for Nick - Caps rookie center Nicklas Backstrom recorded his 54th assist and 68th point of the season on Ovechkin's third-period game-winner. The assist ties Ovechkin's single-season record for assists by a Caps rookie, and the 68 points puts him ahead of Bobby Carpenter and Chris Valentine and gives him the second most points ever by a Caps rookie. Both Carpenter and Valentine recorded 67 points in 1981-82.
Hooray, Huet - Caps goaltender Cristobal Huet won his eighth consecutive game, two shy of the franchise record Pat Riggin established when he was the starting goaltender of record in each of Washington's wins during its aforementioned franchise-record winning streak of 10 games from Jan. 27-Feb. 18, 1984.
Huet has allowed just 10 even-strength goals in his 12 games with Washington. He is now 10-2 with a 1.69 goals against average and a .934 save pct.
Green Means Go - Caps defenseman Mike Green added a pair of assists on Thursday to run his point total to 55 on the season. Entering Thursday's game, Green ranked high among defensemen in several offensive categories around the league.
Green is second among NHL defensemen in goals and is also second with nine go-ahead goals, trailing only Anaheim's Mathieu Schneider (10). Green is tied for second among NHL defensemen with 10 even-strength goals. He is third in the league with 225 shots on goal. He is tied with Schneider with five first goals of the game. Green leads the league with 11 lead-changing goals. He is second in the league with 32 even-strength points, trailing only Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom. Green leads all NHL defensemen with three multiple-goal games and is fifth among NHL defensemen with 52 takeaways.
Positive Touch -Ovechkin and Viktor Kozlov are both plus-28 on the season now, the best plus/minusmark by any Capital since defenseman Sylvain Cote registered a plus-30 in 1993-94.
Move On Up - With Thursday's win, the Capitals are now 11 games over what passes for .500 in the "modern" NHL at 42-31-8. The last time the Capitals were as many as 11 games to the good was at the end of the 2000-01 season when they finished up with a 41-27-10-4 record.
Goaltending Riches - In Huet, Olie Kolzig and Brent Johnson, the Capitals have three goaltenders who have recorded 30-win seasons in the NHL. In young Russian netminder Simeon Varlamov, the team's first-round (23rd overall) Entry Draft selection in 2006, the Caps hope to have a future goaltending star.
Varlamov is currently playing for Lokomotiv in the Russian Super League. Earlier today, he recorded a 3-0 shutout win over favored Salavat Ulaev in the first game of the league playoff finals.
Fallen Star - Lightning center and leading scorer Vincent Lecavalier left the game after he was shouldered by Capitals winger Matt Cooke in the third period. Lecavalier landed awkwardly, and was later seen leaving the building with his arm in a sling.
Lecavalier will have an MRI on Friday and almost certainly won't play in Tampa Bay's final game of the season on Saturday in Atlanta. He will finish the campaign with 40 goals and 92 points. He totaled four goals and 11 points in eight games against the Caps this season.
Lecavalier played in each of Tampa Bay's first 81 games this season. If he is unable to play in the season finale against Atlanta, it will be just the sixth game he has missed over the last five seasons.
The Chase - The New York Rangers put themselves beyond Washington's reach with a 3-0 win over the New York Islanders. Ottawa woke up and steamrolled the Maple Leafs, 8-2. The Caps moved into eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings with their win over the Lightning on Thursday, jumping a point ahead of idle Philadelphia.
With a win in their final regular season game against Florida on Saturday, the Caps can earn a playoff berth if any of the following events occurs:
\ Friday's game between Ottawa and Boston ends in regulation
* Philadelphia finishes 1-0-1 or worse in its last two games
* Carolina loses to Florida on Friday
* Boston gets two or fewer points in its last two games
That's Not Going To Help - Entering Thursday night's game, three Tampa Bay players ranked among the league's worst in third-period defensive ratings. Lightning winger Martin St. Louis began the game at minus-20 in the third period this season, defenseman Dan Boyle was at minus-17 and Lecavalier was at minus-16.
St. Louis was minus-1 and Boyle minus-2 in the third period on Thursday.
Tampa Bay netminder Karri Ramo's third period save pct. of .873 was fifth worst in the NHL going into Thursday's game. His 3.92 GAA in the third period was third worst. Surrendering two third period tallies on 10 shots won't help those numbers.
A Year to Forget -Boyle will be finishing up a tough season on Saturday in Atlanta. He suffered a preseason wrist injury when a skate fell from his locker stall and sliced open his wrist, requiring surgery to repair. The injury has limited him to just 36 games this season, and he has managed to roll up a minus-27 in that time. On the bright side, Boyle did sign a lucrative multi-year deal to remain with the Lightning.
Happy Birthday - To Hockey Hall of Famer Bernie Parent, born on this day in 1945.
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Spell To Be Broken
The Florida Panthers are 0-14-1 in their last 15 visits to RBC Center. Carolina is 18-4-1 in the last 23 meetings between the two teams, and the Hurricanes have won 12 of 15 over the last two seasons.
So you're saying there's a chance.
Florida's last win at the RBC Center came on Dec. 6, 2002. Roberto Luongo blanked Carolina that night in the back end of a home-and-home set between the Cats and Canes. Mike Keenan was coaching the Panthers and Paul Maurice the Hurricanes in those days. Valeri Bure netted the game-winner, and Olli Jokinen added a late empty-netter. Caps center Viktor Kozlov was a plus-2 for the Cats that night.
Jokinen, Stephen Weiss and Jay Bouwmeester are the only Panthers from that game who are still with the team. The only members of the Hurricanes from that game who will suit up tonight at RBC are Erik Cole, Bret Hedican, Glen Wesley and Niclas Wallin.
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Noteworthy Notes
Last night's Comcast SportsNet telecast of the game between the Capitals and the Lightning drew a 2.2 rating overall and a 2.7 rating in the coveted 18-49 male demographic.
A 2.2 rating translates to about 50,000 households and is the highest regular-season rating since at least 1996-97, which is as far back as CSN has ratings data (it was HTS at that time).
Back in 2003, playoff games reached a 3.0 and games in 2001 reached a 3.3.
So that's good, very good. Combine that with the upsurge in attendance, the sea of red and the loud decibel level in the building and the last few weeks have produced a helluva fun ride. But the reality is still that Washington could finish third, sixth, seventh, eighth or ninth.
The mood in the room was extremely upbeat today as players discussed scenarios and possibilities and plans for watching or following the important games around the league tonight. By about 10 p.m. tonight, the picture should be a bit clearer.
A Washington win tomorrow over Florida will be a must. If the Caps can deliver, it would represent a 24-point increase in the standings over last season, the fourth biggest bump the Caps have ever had from one season to the next. Washington went from 68 points in 1998-99 to 102 and a division title in 1999-00. That 34-point jump is the biggest in franchise history.
The Caps had 32 points in 1975-76 and went to 62 in 1976-77, a 30-point increase. And Washington went from 65 points in 1981-82 to 94 and its first-ever playoff appearance in 1982-83. The team's improvement that season was 29 points.