No Road Weariness Here

Now that the Caps have returned to the "safety" of DC, let's look at what they accomplished:

- A potentially monstrous, heartbreaking end of the season road trip ends up going the Caps' way, with only one loss in six games away from Verizon Center. That's 10 - count 'em, 10 - points out of a possible 12.

- Last night's win gives the Caps 40 on the year. The last time that happened was the 2000-2001 season.

- The Caps finish with 20 road wins. The last time that happened was the 1992-93 season, when they had 21.

- Alex Ovechkin gets 60th goal of the season...and 61st...and 62nd. And oh yeah, with every goal and assist he scores from here on out he's setting new career and franchise records. Not bad for a 22 year old kid with a missing front tooth.

- Brooks Laich hits the 20-goal mark for the first time, up from a previous career high of 7.

- Nicklas Backstrom earns his first two-goal game of his career; his point total now stands at 66, first among all NHL rookies.

- Huet runs his winning streak to six games and now has two shutouts since coming to the Caps - half of his total for the season.

- All five wins resulted in the opposition scoring three or fewer goals, including one shutout.

- 7 different players had at least one multi-point game; Backstrom and Ovechkin each had more than one.

- The Caps outshot their opponents 179-135 in their five wins and twice cracked the 40-shot mark.

Other meaningless stats:
Ovechkin - 5G, 5A, +9, 33 SOG
Backstrom - 3G, 3A, +6, 53% FO
Kozlov - 1G, 4A, +8, shootout winner
Semin - 3G
Fedorov - 3A, 41% FO
Poti - 4A, +6, 5 hits, 7 blocked shots
Green - 1G, 4A, +5, 5 hits, 8 blocked shots
Laich - 1G, 4A, 8 hits, 46% FO
Bradley - 2G, +2, 10 hits
Gordon - 1G, +3, 6 blocked shots, 62% FO
Morrisonn - +5, 7 hits
Jurcina - 12 hits, even +/-

Plus there's this little nugget of trivia - in the last ten games only one team has been hotter than the Caps, who are 8-2-0 in that stretch. That team? The San Jose Sharks, who are 8-0-2. That's right, folks, the Caps are officially THE hottest team in the Eastern Conference.

But more important than bragging rights is the fact that the Caps are still sitting just two points out of eighth, three points out of seventh, and two points out of the Southeast division lead heading into their final three games - with only Boston holding a game in hand.

Welcome home, boys!