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WEDNESDAYFEBRUARY 9, 2011

ADVERTISING FEATURE

See Today’s Examiner Inside

CAPS STARE DOWN STRETCH RUN

INSIDE:� With Under 30 Games to Play, STAKES ARE HIGHER

� MIKE GREEN Talks All-Star and More

� FLASHBACK: Khristich’s First Caps Hat Trick

� WESTERN FOES Await in Week Ahead

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Friday, Feb. 4at Tampa Bay Lightning

7:30 P.M., ST. PETE TIMES FORUMCSN+ (HD), CAPS RADIO 1500, 820 AM

By Josh Land

HATS OFF TO KHRISTICHFlashback: Flashback: Flashback: Feb. 11, 1993Feb. 11, 1993Feb. 11, 1993

After skidding into the All-Star break on a five-game winless streak, Dmitri Khristich and the Washington Capitals got their offense rolling on this night in St. Louis.

Khristich scored three goals for his first of two hat tricks as a Capital to lead the team to a wild 10-6 win over the Blues for their second straight victory after the break.

But Khristich credited the team’s play on the other end.

“We changed a tactic before the break, and it seems to be working much better now,” Khristich told the Baltimore Sun that night. “We’re try-ing to be more patient on defense, and try not to rush anything. It seems to be working.”

Khristich started the scoring just 40 seconds into the contest, sparking a 4-0 first period for Washington. The Caps extended their lead to 5-0 before St. Louis came charging back with three consecutive goals. Wash-ington went on to lead 7-4 after two periods and pushed the margin to 9-4 in the third.

The Blues made one more push, cutting the Caps’ lead to 9-6 before Khristich capped the scoring.

It was the second victory during a season-high tying seven-game win-ning streak out of the All-Star break which helped turn a so-so 25-22-6 record into a more impressive 32-22-6 mark in the final week of February.

Offense was perhaps the biggest

difference, as the win in St. Louis was the first of back-to-back 10-goal efforts. Washington scored 43 goals during its seven-game streak after be-ing held to 15 during the five-game rut before the All-Star Game.

When is Mike Ridley night?– @CapsOutsider on Feb. 1 when the

team honored Hall of Fame-bound former Caps forward Dino Ciccarelli in a

pre-game ceremony.

Karl Alzner and the Caps hope to benefit from the intensity

of the stretch run

CAPS FOCUS ON THE STRETCH RUN WITH LESS THAN 30 GAMES TO PLAY

Caps WeekCaps WeekCaps WeekIN TWEETS, QUOTES AND NUMBERSIN TWEETS, QUOTES AND NUMBERSIN TWEETS, QUOTES AND NUMBERS

“I’m kind of jealous of these guys because they go to Miami, Mexico, good weather, swimming, bikini girls, and we’re still in hockey.” – Caps captain Alex Ovechkin said of his teammates getting some time off while he was still on the ice for All-Star weekend.

“We know that they are going to come out hard. They come out hard every game and they are one of the best teams in the league for a reason. We’ve got ourselves in that debate this season for a reason, as well.” – Lightning center Steven Stamkos told TBO.com leading up to his team’s Feb. 4 game against the Caps.

5 The length of the Capitals’ season-long road trip, which begins Monday

in Phoenix and also takes them to Anaheim,

San Jose, Buffalo and Pittsburgh.

3-3-6 Alex Ovechkin’s goals, assists and points total in four career games against the Phoenix Coyotes, who the Capitals visit Monday.

Believe it or not, the Caps – despite attention to defense – have taken more shots on goal in last 26 games (828) than first 26 (822). – @VogsCaps after Washington’s 2-1 shootout loss to Montreal on Feb. 1.

Dmitri Khristich had three seasons with at least 29 goals for the Capitals.

UPCOMING UPCOMING UPCOMING GAMESGAMESGAMESGAMESGAMESGAMES

Wednesday, Feb. 16at Anaheim Ducks

10 P.M., HONDA CENTERCSN (HD), CAPS RADIO 1500, 820 AM

Saturday, Feb. 12vs. Los Angeles Kings

12:30 P.M., VERIZON CENTERCSN (HD), CAPS RADIO 1500, 820 AMWASHINGTONCAPS.COM FOR TICKETS

Monday, Feb. 14at Phoenix Coyotes

8 P.M., JOBING.COM ARENAVERSUS (HD), CAPS RADIO 1500, 820 AM

� � �

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UPCOMING UPCOMING UPCOMING

Brent Johnson’s wallop of Rick DiPietro reminds us to never ever let Michal Neuvirth fight.– @russianmachine after the former Caps goalie, now with the Penguins, punched out the Islanders goalie on Feb. 2.

no mtv in this hotel... = (– @JohnCarlson74 after the Caps arrived in Florida on Feb. 3, one night before playing Tampa Bay.

2.12, .920 Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick’s goals-against average and save percentage through his first 39 games this season. The Caps host the Kings Saturday.

The Washington Capitals have come out of the All-Star break in a far different position from a year ago.

Last season, they had a padded perch atop the Southeast Division. They had enough margin for error that they could afford to drop a game here or there during the stretch run before the playoffs.

This time, there’s little leeway.The Caps stand in the middle of the

Eastern Conference playoff race, sec-ond in the Southeast Division and less than 10 points out of ninth place, one spot outside the playoff field.

Washington has 27 games remain-ing, 18 of which are against Eastern foes including six against Southeast opponents.

So almost every game from here on out is a meaningful one.

“You can’t take a night off,” defenseman John Erskine said. “If you lose a point here or there, coming to the final game, it could be the dif-ference. It’s already pretty much like playoff hockey.”

Defenseman Karl Alzner said the extra pressure could be a good thing after the Caps ran away with the reg-ular-season division and conference titles in 2009-10 only to be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

Washington clinched the top seed in the East in the final week of March and the team’s playoff position wouldn’t have been at all affected by losing its last seven games.

“The way things went last year, it was almost on cruise control into the playoffs and it’s totally different when you get to the playoffs. It kind of shocks the system a little bit,” Alzner said. “Every game is do or die pretty much, so it’s nice. Everyone’s close, it’s a tight race and we’ve got to win every single game.”

Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said there are several reasons his squad isn’t in as comfortable a place as it was a year ago.

One is that the other teams in the di-vision and conference have improved. Another has to do with Washington’s string of successful regular seasons, resulting in lower first-round draft picks.

“That’s what salary cap and not drafting first, second, third or fourth does to you,” Boudreau said. “We’re in a battle. We know it and we’ll see how it works out. We’re doing some things an awful lot better than we were last year, other things not as well. So now we’ve just got to equalize it out the last [27] games and hope it works out.”

Even though the Caps are facing more pressure to win, forward Brooks Laich said the goals remain the same.

“Regardless of how you’re playing, our focus is to win the Stanley Cup,” he said. “Last year at this point, we had that same goal and I don’t think that’s changed to this year.”

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

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Q: How did your All-Star experience rate compared to your expectations going in?MG: Yeah, it was exactly what I expected and more. I really enjoyed myself. I took it all in dur-ing the draft and the skills and the game. Unfor-tunately, my family couldn’t be down there, but I took a lot of pictures and had some fun.Q: What was your favorite part, hav-ing a hand in selecting Eric Staal’s team in the fantasy draft?MG: Yeah, that was cool. We had a lot of decisions to make obviously up there, but we enjoyed it. I enjoyed it.

Q: Was there pressure up there to not disrespect anybody or were you just having fun with it?MG: I just had to make sure I took Ovie and I’m sure Staalsie had to take his boys, and then at least [Vancouver forward Ryan] Kesler got one of his guys.Q: How about the actual game?MG: I thought it was great. I thought it was awesome. I wish the goals came that easy for us, but it got a little bit competitive there at the end when the score got close, so that was good to see.

Q: Did you enjoy skating with talented guys who you’re not normally friendly with as opponents?MG: Yeah, it’s great. They’re all good guys. It’s just they’re all very competitive. So you might not like them on the ice playing against them, but when you play on the same team, every-body’s real nice.Q: For you, how much did it mean just to be there considering it was your fi rst time and you hadn’t been selected dur-ing a couple of your best seasons?MG: I’m 25 and very honored to be named to an All-Star team at that age. I can’t look at it like that. I have to look it as I’m just honored to be there. A lot of guys would die to be in that position. I don’t feel like I’ve been snubbed. I’m just honored to be there.

Capitals defenseman Mike Green’s fi rst trip to NHL All-Star weekend wasn’t like that of most players. He had the opportunity to take part in the selecting of teams in the league’s fi rst fantasy draft as an alternate captain with Team Staal. Green has twice been a postseason fi rst-team All-Star, but he had never been selected to the midseason contest until this year. By Josh Land

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Q&A with Q&A with Q&A with Mike GreenMike GreenMike Green

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