Rinne in goal, Forsberg, Neal, Josi, Weber, they traded for Johansen. They've lost 5 of 6 since trading Jones for Johansen. Johansen has two goals and 5 assists in that span, though. Nashville absolutely belongs on the list. Huge disappointment. 20 wins, 26 losses, -10 goal differential. 6th in the central. Last year they were 47-35, +24 goal differential, second in the Central, and a top contender in the West. They had the misfortune of facing Chicago in the first round, that's all (and being extremely unlucky. Half of Chicago's wins came in a 2OT game and a 3OT game. Nashville's wins were in regulation). By any account, they were a top team. If Nashville isn't on the list, there shouldn't be a list.
Nashville/Chicago series last year: Nashville outscored Chicago in regulation, 21-17, yet lost the series. Outscoring Chicago by that margin in a series? Only a top team can do that.
I haven't been paying terribly close attention to them but has the loss of Seth Jones made a difference?
Not much. The trade made a lot of sense for Nashville. They needed better production from their forwards and Jones was not at all a key defenseman for them. He was playing less than 20 minutes a game, and was -5 on the season. This is his third season, and in each season he played under 20 minutes a game, and overall he was -25. Jones was still highly regarded (4th overall choice in 2013), so they capitalized on that.
Basically they needed a center badly. Fisher, Ribeiro, and Jarnkrok were not getting the job done. They got nothing from their centers this season.
it's just hard to explain why they're struggling even the betting market keeps making Nashville the favorite in their games, but they keep losing (often as significant home favorites).
I think a familiar Metro rival has the best chance of knocking the Caps out of the playoffs. People keep mentioning Montreal, but the Caps dominate them usually. At home and on the road. I could see a Rangers or Islanders knocking them out. They played both last year, both went 7 games.
Montreal? Who keeps mentioning them in that context? They've been absolutely putrid since the hot start. Price coming back can't save them, the way they're playing. No player can save them. They have a far better chance of missing the playoffs altogether than they do of beating Washington in a series.
Montreal started the season 18-6 (one of the losses was in OT and another in a shootout). They not only were winning, they were steamrolling their opponents: http://espn.go.com/nhl/team/schedule/_/name/mtl/montreal-canadiens Just look at the margins they were putting up in October and November. Absurd. They are now 23-24.
Aaron Portzline@Aportzline 1h1 hour ago #CBJ Tortorella: "We've been up and down like a toilet seat here."
Well, it is still January. I would assume they would be a formidable opponent by April. I would not take them lightly. Even in all the match-ups thus far you can see they can compete with the Caps. I have seen a few people say that. I see they have lost 5 in a row now. Florida, Detroit, Tampa, Boston, New York (x2), New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Ottawa, Philadelphia, etc. If you look up and down the East, no one is that great or can be considered a solid #2 to Washington's #1. Still, once the playoffs roll around, the Caps have to play the games. If Trotz continues to play the style he did last year, the Caps could easily be eliminated.
Florida looked like the clear #2 with Luongo's incredible run, but now they've come back to earth. Yeah, I don't know which team is the biggest threat to Washington.
Since Ekblad left the lineup they have unraveled. I thought Barkov/Jagr was the anchor but it seems Ekblad was the guy. He should return Friday against the Hawks but it probably won't matter with how Chicago is playing
Chicago set a franchise record last night. 12 wins in a row. In 46 games this season, Chicago has scored first in 34 of them.
Ducks-Caps moved to 5:00 tomorrow. I doubt the Pens-Caps game on Sunday gets played, but you never know.
they finally postponed it lots of DC-area events this weekend postponed heard subways closed also here's Ovechkin: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-p...o-004532387.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw
