In the wake of Alex Ovechkin's injury, the Caps found themselves looking for answers. People began questioning their heart and work ethic (myself included in some of those cases), and some even said that they aren't even a GOOD team without #8 suiting up night-in and night-out. We don't want to heap TOO much praise on the Caps for last night's 4-1 victory against Florida, but it's sure as heck a step in the right direction. As much as playing without Ovi can be painful to watch at times, it's a great opportunity for the rest of the team to find it within themselves to work their way to a victory, and they did that on the road last night.

From Brendan Morrison to Tyler Sloan, the team found itself working for position, fighting for open space, and ultimately scoring on some very nice plays overall. I'd say it was about as good of a team effort as you can get, and that's even more impressive considering that Mike Green and Jeff Schultz both went down with injuries. Sloan is appearing more and more valuable right about now, huh? Here are my thoughts on the game:

• First of all, if you feel like skipping to the highlights at the bottom, what the heck is with these announcers calling #2 Brian Poh-thier? Dude's played six of his nine seasons in the Southeast, so you'd think the announcers for the Panthers (or whoever's calling those highlights) could say his name right. Bonus for the ESPN anchor screwing it up on their online highlights too.
• Not only was Pothier's goal refreshing to see, but it was nice to see Fleischmann battling like crazy in front of the net. We'll try to ignore the fact that he was losing that battle, but he tried!
• Speaking of Flash, he led all forwards in ice time (19:43) and went +1 with an assist. Dude just keeps chugging along.
• Perreault was quieter last night, but he still played well with a +1, a takeaway (no giveaways), and a hit in 13:17 of ice time. If he remains steady, Boudreau will probably trust him with more minutes. Keep up the good work Ocho Cinco.
• .996 save percentage and one goal against for Jose? Keep it going Theo. Guess who's behind him in save percentage: Marc-Andre Fleury, Miikka Kiprusoff, Niklas Backstrom, Cam Ward, Roberto Luongo, and wait for it...Semyon Varlamov. He's doing everything he can to put his team in a position to win.

Tonight's game will be a big test. How will the banged-up Caps handle the second half of a true home-and-home? If they can come out like they did last night for a full sixty minutes, they should be feeling pretty good about themselves when they wake up Sunday morning.

Kudos Go To:

Pothier. A three point night, two hits and second on the team in TOI, along with a +3 earns the first star some extra praise.

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