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head coach: Ron Wilson

roster: C - Adam Oates, Dale Hunter, Andrei Nikolishin, Mike Eagles. LW - Steve Konowalchuk, Esa Tikkanen, Jeff Toms, Joe Juneau, Todd Krygier. RW - Peter Bondra, Brian Bellows, Craig Berube, Kelly Miller. D - Calle Johansson, Phil Housley, Jeff Brown, Sergei Gonchar, Joe Reekie, Stewart Malgunas. G - Olaf Kolzig, Bill Ranford.

injuries: Pat Peake, rw (torn ankle tendon, out for season); Chris Simon, lw (shoulder surgery, out for regular season and first round of playoffs); Mark Tinordi, d (stomach/groin, indefinite); Michal Pivonka, c (groin strain, indefinite); Ken Klee, d (fractured cheek, day-to-day); Joe Reekie, d (hip strain, day-to-day); Brendan Witt, d (sprained wrist, indefinite); Richard Zednik, rw (abdomen, 1 week).

transactions: Claimed Brian Bellows, rw, off waivers. Traded Sylvain Cote, d, to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Jeff Brown, d. Recalled Stewart Malgunas, d, from Portland (AHL). Assigned Andrew Brunette, lw, Yogi Svejkovsky, lw, and David Harlock, d, to Portland.

standings:

Eastern Conference - Atlantic Division   
Team           GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA     
x-New Jersey   76  46  21   9   101  208  149  
x-Philadelphia 75  39  25  11    89  220  177  
Washington     75  36  28  11    83  202  189  
NY Rangers     77  23  36  18    64  186  217  
NY Islanders   74  26  38  10    62  194  209  
Florida        75  23  40  12    58  184  231  
Tampa Bay      75  17  49   9    43  144  241  
x - Clinched playoff spot

game results:

3/25 at Edmonton      L 4-2
3/26 at Calgary       L 3-2
3/28 at Vancouver     W 3-2
3/31 NY Islanders     W 5-2
4/02 Tampa Bay        W 4-1
4/04 Los Angeles      W 3-2
4/06 Montreal         T 2-2

team news:

by Jason Sheehan, Washington Correspondent

Caps Stake Claim to Home-Ice for Now

Home-ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Playoffs gains more importance for the Washington Capitals as each sun rises and sets over the MCI Center. Why? Because the Capitals have been unstoppable of late at home, going unbeaten in nine games and winning eight in a row - the longest streak in the NHL this season - before tying Montreal on April 6.

The playoffs are near. Oh baby, the playoffs are near. The team that missed the playoffs for the first time in 15-years, and blamed 361-man games lost to injury for falling short, have rebounded in a season where they have lost over 400-man games. Take a peak at the injury list up top. It isn't pretty.

Ron Wilson by Meredith Martini

More amazingly, the Capitals aren't just fighting for the eighth and final playoff spot like they have in so many years gone by. They're in the thick of things fighting for fourth place and home-ice advantage, with a not-so-mediocre record of 36-28-12 - one point ahead of Montreal and Boston and three points ahead of Dominik Hasek's Buffalo Sabres. It's a fight and the Capitals are coming on strong in the late rounds.

Coach Ron Wilson and general manager George McPhee have done what former general manager David Poile couldn't do last season; they've tinkered with the same players and have created a winning formula.

Even when the Capitals haven't played particularly well, they've found a way to steal a point, which was the case when the Montreal Canadiens came to town April 6. The Capitals were so bad, in fact, that they were out-shot 36-18, and were riddled by injuries on the blue line that left them with only two defenseman in overtime.

Brendan Witt, who sprained his wrist in the first period, and newly acquired defenseman Jeff Brown, who came at the trading deadline from Toronto in a deal involving Sylvain Cote, both left the game with injuries, and Sergei Gonchar and Calle Johansson were called for coincidental penalties early in the overtime period.

That left only recent call-up Stewart Malgunas and Phil Housley to defend goaltender Olaf Kolzig. Both defenders did an admirable job, limiting the Canadiens to only one shot in overtime.

"We were down to two defensemen at the end, so I was kind of thrown into the fire," said Malgunas. "It got the blood pumping.

"It takes a couple of nights to adjust. You do the best you can, suck it up and keep going. At first you have to be careful to not over-exert yourself, but I'm used to playing 35-40 minutes a game in Portland, so it's not too bad."

Enforcer Craig Berube, meanwhile, is looking forward to playing the NHL's elite teams, which will happen sooner rather than later when the Capitals travel to face Dallas April 8 and Philadelphia April 11.

"We have to forecheck hard and play tough 'D,'" said Berube, who is nicknamed "Chief" for his gutsy play and Native American heritage. "We're looking forward to playing some of the better teams in the NHL, but we have to wear the teams down. We want to get our playoff game down pat."

McPhee Makes Huge Impact After Trading Deadline

Wilson, who was miked by CBC Sports at Vancouver on March 28, wasn't far off when he said, "That McPhee's a genius." He continued to voice his approval by saying that McPhee could have gone to Harvard but instead opted for Bowling Green, which also is the university Wilson attended.

McPhee became a clone of Albert Einstein in Wilson's eyes when he acquired right wing Brian Bellows off waivers after the trading deadline.

Bellows, who played under Wilson last season in Anaheim and skated with Berlin of the German league this season, responded immediately in his first game at Vancouver, giving life to a sputtering Washington power play by scoring two goals with the man-advantage. The Capitals won the game, 3-2, and snapped a bad streak of eight consecutive games without scoring more than two goals.

Not only has Bellows helped the Capitals immensely on the power play, he was also the subject of a great April Fool's joke orchestrated by McPhee. The Capitals general manager placed a telephone call to Wilson on the famous holiday of wacky high jinks and told him that the NHL had declared Bellows ineligible to play because of his ties to the German league.

Wilson was steaming mad. He asked McPhee what they could do to save the player who had scored three power-play goals in two games. Then, as Wilson's anger hit the boiling point, McPhee asked Wilson if he knew what day it was. The incoherent coach was at a loss for words for probably the first time in his life and responded with "Wednesday."

McPhee knew he had to be clearer, so he asked Wilson for the day of the month. Wilson, seemingly hit over the head with an anvil, then knew he was the subject of a great yarn and realized it was April Fool's Day. At the very least, he got to keep Bellows.

Bondra Wins Player of the Week

Right wing Peter Bondra became the second Capital to win player of the week honors in three weeks when he was rewarded for his stellar play, recording five goals and three assists in three games, for the week of March 30 to April 5.

Bondra, who has 48 goals this season and trails Anaheim's Teemu Selanne by only three goals in the race for goal-scoring champion, joins Kolzig as the only Capital to win the award this season. Kolzig won his for the period ending March 22.

The speedy winger has become the first Capital to ever record three consecutive 40-goal seasons. He also leads the league with 11 game-winning goals and has a franchise-record 18 career short- handed goals. More impressive, he has outscored every player in the league since 1994-95, registering 180 goals over that span. Yet, not many fans know his name outside the beltway.

"I guess they gave it to me because they couldn't give it to all three of us," said Bondra, who plays on a line with center Andrei Nikolishin and resurgent left wing Steve Konowalchuk. The threesome totaled 19 points in the three games.

"This is a good time of year for me and for the whole team to be playing well," he continued. "You have to treat each game like you are already in the playoffs."

And the playoffs are coming soon, real soon. Catch playoff fever in the next issue of LCS: Guide To Hockey when we wrap up the season in style and give a preview of the Capitals' first-round opponent.

At this point, one needs a crystal ball to project whom Washington will play. There's only one thing for sure: playoff fever will hit the Nations Capitol for the first time in the club's 24-year existence. It's definitely a new era in Washington Capitals hockey.

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