head coach: Ron Wilson

roster: C - Adam Oates, Michael Pivonka, Dale Hunter, Jan Bulis, Ryan Mulhern. LW- Steve Konowalchuk, Kelly Miller, Richard Zednik, Andrew Brunette, Dwayne Hay, Todd Krygier, Mike Eagles. RW - Peter Bondra, Richard Zednik. D - Phil Housley, Calle Johansson, Sergei Gonchar, Joe Reekie, Brendan Witt, Ken Klee. G - Olaf Kolzig, Bill Ranford.

injuries: Andrei Nikolishin, lw (torn knee ligaments, 8-12 weeks); Pat Peake, rw (illnesses, one to two weeks); Craig Berube, rw (hip flexor strain, day-to-day); Yogi Svejkovsky, lw (sprained ankle, week to 10 days); Michal Pivonka, c (sprained wrist, day-to-day); Chris Simon, lw (bruised shoulder, week to 10 days); Joe Juneau, lw (strained groin, week to 10 days); Mark Tinordi, d (sprained knee, week to 10 days); Sylvain Cote, d (ankle contusion, day-to-day).

transactions: Assigned Martin Brochu, g, and Jan Benda, lw, to Portland (AHL). Recalled Ryan Mulhern, c; Todd Krygier, lw; Andrew Brunette, lw; and Dwayne Hay, lw; from Portland (AHL). Placed Chris Simon, lw; Michal Pivonka, c; and Yogi Svejkovsky, lw; on Injured Reserve. Bill Ranford, g, taken off IR.

standings:

Eastern Conference - Atlantic Division   
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA     
Philadelphia 16   8   5   3    19   48   40
New Jersey   12   8   4   0    16   41   23
Washington   14   7   5   2    16   44   36
NY Islanders 13   6   5   2    14   40   33
NY Rangers   15   3   6   6    12   36   41
Florida      13   3   7   3     9   28   42
Tampa Bay    13   2   9   2     6   23   43

game results:

10/22 at Colorado   L 4-3
10/23 at Phoenix    T 3-3
10/25 at St. Louis  L 5-2
10/29 Dallas        L 4-3
10/31 Philadelphia  T 2-2
11/01 at New Jersey L 3-1

team news:

by Jason Sheehan, Washington Correspondent

Strains, sprains, bruises, contusions, torn ligaments and an indescribable illness are wreaking havoc inside the Washington Capitals' locker room. And scarily enough, it has nothing to do with Halloween.

All these injuries, which have become all too familiar for the Capitals, have taken nine players out of the lineup and continue to mount almost every game. (Look above for detailed information on the Capitals' injury situation.)

As a result, the Capitals body count is beginning to resemble last year's club, which lost 361 man-games to injury. Eventually, this mind-boggling injury count was the cause for the Capitals missing the playoffs for the first time in 15 years.

Like the amount of healthy bodies in the lineup, The Capitals glorious, and surprising, 7-1-0 start has turned sour. They are now winless in their last six games (0-4-2), and have seen their overall record drop to 7-5-2.

At least one player was injured in four straight games -- from Oct. 23 in Phoenix to Nov. 1 at home against Philadelphia. That streak, however, was snapped Nov. 1 in New Jersey when the Capitals escaped the Garden State with no injuries, but lost the game 3-1. It marked the first time this season that Washington failed to score more than one goal in a game.

"It seems like we're dropping like flies," said defenseman Brendan Witt after suffering yet another loss in New Jersey. "But we have to keep our heads up and concentrate on playing like we did [last night against Philadelphia]. The last couple of games, we got the lead and then let them back in it."

As Witt eluded to, blowing leads has been a problem for the Capitals. They carried a 3-1 lead into the third period Oct. 22 at Colorado, but broke down early in the final stanza and lost the game, 4-3. The Capitals also held a 3-2 advantage the next night in Phoenix before allowing the Coyotes to sneak back into the game for a 3-3 tie. When the Capitals returned home to USAirways Arena Oct. 29, they had a two-goal lead midway through the second period against Dallas, but ended up on the losing side, 4-3.

Calle Johansson by Meredith Martini

"We talked tonight, believe me," said defenseman Calle Johansson after coughing up a 3-2 third-period lead in Phoenix. "Maybe we shouldn't talk. Maybe that's the key. We talked in Colorado. We talked today. We should keep quiet. Everybody should sit there like church mouses and not say nothing."

As a result of the injuries, Washington has been forced to rely on a few youngsters from its minor league affiliate in Portland, Maine. During the past two weeks, the Capitals have recalled wingers Ryan Mulhern, Todd Krygier, Andrew Brunette and Dwayne Hay.

All these new faces have forced Wilson to mesh his lines together in all kinds of odd ways. He even experimented by placing his top three players -- Joe Juneau-Adam Oates-Peter Bondra -- on the same line. But the experiment never left the launching pad. Juneau strained his groin in the first game with his new linemates, and has been replaced on the top line by Krygier.

With all these new faces unsuccessfully trying to mesh into a collective unit, the Capitals have had trouble communicating on the ice. Besides the injuries, defensive lapses and sluggish play have been detrimental for the Capitals.

"We want to be a little more aware defensively," Wilson said. "But at the same time, even though we don't have guys who might finish as easily, we still want to create a puck pursuit game and forecheck aggressively.

"We're not going to just sit back and wait to defend. We managed to score a lot of goals with a lot of these same guys in training camp, so there's no reason we shouldn't be doing it now."

Wilson also thinks his team is passing the puck too much instead of shooting. Washington has been outshot in each of its last eight games.

"At times we pass up shooting opportunities," Wilson told The Washington Post. "I don't know why we're always looking for a prettier play. We're a little thin in terms of finishing plays up front, so we have to work a little harder to create opportunities.

"But when you have chances and you don't shoot, that's not good enough. We have to put more shots toward the net."

Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur thinks injuries and fatigue played major factors in the Capitals loss at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford.

"They were missing some guys and they looked a little tired in the last two periods," Brodeur said. "They had some chances at the end, but they are struggling a little right now."

Langway in the Rafters

The Capitals will honor longtime defenseman Rod Langway by retiring his number before the Capitals last home game at USAirways Arena on Nov. 26.

Langway joined a franchise that had never played in the postseason when he was acquired from the Montreal Canadians in a blockbuster trade in 1982. Upon his arrival, the Capitals clinched their first playoff birth and never failed to make the postseason in the 11 years he spent with the club.

While with Washington, Langway won the Norris Trophy two times and played in five All-Star games. Langway's number 5 will hang in the rafters with Yvon Labre's number 7 as the only two numbers retired in franchise history.

"Rod Langway is one of the greatest competitors to have ever been associated with this franchise," said Capitals owner Abe Pollin. "He valiantly led the Capitals for so many years, taking this franchise to the playoffs every year he played. I'm very proud that his number will forever hang from the rafters of our new home."

The Capitals begin play at MCI Center in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 5 against the Florida Panthers. Langway's banner will be moved into the new arena.

Caps Move to New Division Next Season

Life will be easier for the Capitals next season when they get realigned to the new Southeast Division. Their schedule will no longer be jam-packed with games against Philadelphia, New Jersey or the New York Rangers.

Instead, the Capitals will be moving into possibly the weakest division in the NHL. Listed below are the teams that will be competing in the Southeast Division.

Washington
Carolina
Florida
Tampa Bay
Nashville (1999)

Schoeneyville

The trip to the Land of the Rising Sun carried extra meeting for the Capitals this year. Although the game ended in a tie, it was the first time Washington faced its former head coach Jim Schoenfeld since he was fired and hired by the Coyotes in May.

When the Capitals bolted out of the gates like a Stealth Bomber, Juneau spoke about his dissatisfaction of Schoenfeld. He felt that his creativity was stymied by Schoenfeld's defensive philosophy, and that he was often forced to think about not making mistakes in the defensive zone instead of being able to create offensively.

His teammates, however, think the press has blown Juneau's comments way out of proportion and hold no grudges toward their former coach.

"I don't think we talked too much about Schoeney," said Johansson. "To tell you the truth, I think it's more you guys (the media) that build that up than we do. That's the past."

Left wing Chris Simon also compliments Schoenfeld.

"I think more of the offensive guys [were upset with Schoenfeld's system]," said Simon. "The way Schoeney had his style was more defensive. I try to contribute offensively as much as I can, but he was really good to me.

"I got to play on the power play, I got to play with Peter Bondra and [Michal] Pivonka. So, I don't have anything bad to say about the guy. He was really good to me when I played for him."

Upcoming Games

11/04 Vancouver (ESPN2)
11/06 at Boston
11/08 Edmonton
11/09 at Florida
11/12 at Pittsburgh
11/13 at Buffalo
11/15 at Montreal (CBC)

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