The Washington Capitals have been busy since late June, adding four players (Tomas Vokoun, Roman Hamrlik, Joel Ward and Jeff Halpern) via free agency and re-signing forwards Troy Brouwer (acquired at the draft from Chicago) and Brooks Laich to multi-year extensions.

Those moves, however, pushed the Capitals above the $64.3 million salary cap for next season by more than $1.8 million.

Teams are allowed to go above the cap during the off-season by up to 10 percent, but must be below when the new season begins.

The Capitals also have to re-sign defenseman Karl Alzner and while they do have sufficient space to do so and remain under that 10 percent, they’ll still need to free up cap space before October.

If defenseman Tom Poti (groin) and right wing Eric Fehr (shoulder) remain sidelined by lingering injuries to start the season, the club could place them on long-term injury reserve. That would provide some cap relief, though they’d have to be prepared to clear cap space should either player return.

Another solution is a trade, which team owner Ted Leonsis recently suggested on his blog is a possibility.

No word as to who could be a potential trade candidate, but the names of left winger Alexander Semin ($6.7 million) or defenseman Mike Green ($5.25 million) will once again pop up in the rumor mill.

The pair were mentioned as possible trade bait by pundits and bloggers following Washington’s early playoff exit this spring. The longer the Capitals remain above the salary cap, the more trade speculation will grow.

The games started off with the Bruins piling up shots on goal right from the start. The game was exciting, as time went on and they scored in the middle part of the period to get into the lead. The Bruins scored once again in the very next minute to double their lead. The Bruins scored once again at the start of the second period with the Rangers also taking the initiative and scoring two goals. The Rangers were the dominating force in the final period and they scored three times to win the game 5-3 in the end. Vinny Prospal, centre of the Rangers was named the Star of the Game, as he scored twice during the game.

The Rangers piled a couple of shots on goal at the start of the game and displayed some excellent play-making. However, the passing and shooting was short-lived, as the Bruins defence dominated the game. With the help of some exquisite pin point passing, the Bruins managed to score in the 16th minute through Daniel Paille from a simple tip-in shot to get into the lead.

The Bruins scored once again in the next minute to double their lead with the goal scored by Nathan Hornton from a well placed flick-shot. The period ended with the Bruins leading 2-0 as they made 19 shots on goal while the Rangers made five attempts.

The second period started with the Bruins making a strong start once again and they managed to score through Chris Kelly from a quick fired shot to extent their lead. The Rangers also scored through Vinny Prospal from a powerful strike to open their account.

The Rangers cut the lead with another goal in the 19th minute, scored by Prospal once again from a decent shot. The period ended with the Bruins leading 3-2, as they made four shots on goal while the Rangers made nine attempts.

Both teams got a good start in the final period, but it was the Rangers who got stronger as the end of the period approached. They scored through Brandon Dubinsky in the 17th minute from a back-hand shot to level the score.

Continuing on the attack, the Rangers scored in the 18th and 20th minutes to seal the game. The goals were scored by Michael Sauer and Derek Stephan respectively with the later coming in power-play. The game ended with the Rangers winning 5-3.

texas holdem online

Now is the time to be searching the wire for the players that can do the little things that lead you to a league championship. Most of the significant scorers in the league worth owning should be long gone, so now is the time to shore up team needs such as penalty minutes, plus/minus and other stats that will win you some games here and there. Some leagues count hits, faceoffs and shorthanded points, so you should know what your settings are.

The plus/minus leaders that could be available (and worth adding) in your league are short, but can do more for you then you think. There are some good defensemen to look at that can help you in multiple categories. Adam McQuaid of the Bruins and Steve Montador of the Sabres provide you with a very healthy plus/minus and an equally nice amount of penalty minutes, while providing limited offense. Matt Carle and Anton Babchuk also play plus hockey and provide some offense if you’re in need. At forward, you can go after Brad Marchand and Mark Recchi of Boston or James van Riemsdyk of Philadelphia. The trio plays for very good defensive clubs that can also put the puck in the net.

Penalty minutes aren’t tough to find but most of these players are one-dimensional such as Islanders tough guy Zenon Konopka. He ices plenty of minutes which only helps him to get more time in the box (he is far-and-away the PIMs leader). Other forwards are Sean Avery and Brandon Prust of the Rangers and Steve Ott of the Stars. All three will also provide you with some offense and special-teams points, whether it be shorthanded or on the man advantage. On defense, once again you can go with McQuaid or Montador and benefit in two categories.

Basically, while you won’t be able to find the elite player unless it’s in a trade, you can find the supporting cast that can get you into and through the playoffs via the waiver wire. Go find that grinder that can help you put your team over the edge.

Top pick-ups (owned in less than 50 percent of Yahoo! Leagues)

1. Jarret Stoll, C, Kings (33 percent): Stoll has had a very good year for a young Kings team. As the No. 2 center, he has put up 37 points, 34 penalty minutes, 10 points on the power play and 156 shots. He is a plus player on a team that has had very little continuity on the wings. With the addition of Dustin Penner to flank All-Star center Anze Kopitar, Stoll should see a combination of very good wings on his second line. He has 3 points in his last four games playing with Ryan Smyth and Dustin Brown.

2. Sean Avery, LW, Rangers (33 percent): Coach John Tortorella loves Avery’s play. He is a spark plug for a hard-working Rangers team. He scored a goal in Thursday’s game against the Wild and while he hasn’t found a steady line to play with, he has found a way to get playing time as he has 23 points and 127 shots. His biggest asset is the time he spends in the sin bin. With 158 penalty minutes, he can lead your fantasy team down the stretch and add some other stats that might help you win your league.

Brad Boyes
Right Wing – BUF
GOALS: 14 | ASST: 29 | PTS: 43
SOG: 137 | +/-: 12
3. Brad Boyes, RW, Sabres (28 percent): The Sabres acquired Boyes on Monday to help them boost their power-play numbers, and the right wing can do just that with 10 points on the man advantage. In his first game with the team, he netted a power-play goal and skated on a line with Tim Connolly and Tyler Ennis. In a loss to the Canes, he also had a goal and was a plus player. He has 14 goals, 29 assists, is a plus-12, has 30 penalty minutes and 137 shots on goal on the season, and should see steady numbers down the stretch.

4. Anton Babchuk, D, Flames (35 percent): Babchuk was acquired in November along with Tom Kostopoulos from Carolina, and has helped solidify the Flames defense. He is a plus-14 since the acquisition and has 23 points, 10 on the power play. He has 107 shots from the point and 9 points in his last 11 games. Add the blueliner for the playoff run.

5. Ben Bishop, G, Blues (6 percent): With starter Jaroslav Halak out with a cracked bone in his hand and backup Ty Conklin’s mediocre play, expect the big goalie to get a shot to start some more games. With a 2-3-0 record, a .913 save percentage, and a 2.60 goals-against average, Bishop has been a good fill-in. Despite 2 losses where he allowed 10 goals on 47 shots, he has shown the ability to shut down an offense, as he did to the Oilers in a 5-0 shutout. Add him if you are in need of some netminding.

As the Stars get their long-awaited boost, so too can fantasy owners with their rosters. Inserted back into your lineup will be 24 goals, 39 assists, 63 points and 215 shots through just 56 games. Although Richards has missed as much time as he has, he is still the 19th-ranked fantasy player, which only speaks to the center’s effectiveness throughout the 2010-11 campaign.

While recovery is hard to measure when it comes to concussions, durability hasn’t been an issue with the elite center. In his 10 years in the League, Richards has played in at least 80 games seven times. Moreover, during his absence, Richards’ ownership dipped from 99 to 94 percent among Yahoo! Fantasy owners.

Over in the Eastern Conference, gifted New York Rangers sniper Marian Gaborik has returned to the ice after also missing time with concussion-like symptoms. After leaving the ice against the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 20, Gaborik returned Sunday afternoon against the same team and looked ready for the final stretch of the season.

Injuries have affected the performance of the Rangers’ right wing, but even still, Gaborik is on pace for 20-plus goals and 200-plus shots. When healthy, Gaborik is one of the League’s most dangerous players.

Sticking with the Atlantic Division, Pittsburgh Penguins’ left wing Chris Kunitz was back in action Tuesday night against the Buffalo Sabres after missing a month with a lower-body injury. While not at the same level as the aforementioned players, fantasy owners know what they’ll get from the gritty winger.

Through 53 games, Kunitz has collected himself 18 goals and 18 assists, while posting 100-plus shots on net. He is having his most productive season since joining the Penguins in 2008-09 and now joins a newly-constructed roster which includes James Neal and Alex Kovalev.

However, we’re dealing with real people here with varying degrees of mental toughness. Team history and personal history (and personal demons) can creep into one’s psyche, causing doubt. We’ve seen it all too many times — when a player or team’s confidence drops, everything falls apart, but one good break and that belief comes back. The legs pump harder, the shots seem crisper, the timing gets better.

Thus, when you’re looking at the last ten games of the season, there are two schools of thought. The first is that you want to be playing at your best with the highest levels of confidence so that successful play is instinctive rather than a work-in-progress. On the other hand, some people think that the playoffs are truly a second season and whatever happened prior is inconsequential.

I tend to believe more of the former than the latter. Of course there’s no absolute in pro sports, that’s why the games are played. But I’m a big believer in habits on the ice, both good and bad. During losing streaks, teams get into bad habits — defensemen chase the puck, forwards try to stick-handle through everyone and goalies get overwhelmed. Even though those are all correctable issues, it all comes from individuals trying too hard and not sticking with the team concept.

To test this belief, I looked at the last three years of Stanley Cup playoff action. More specifically, I broke down winners and losers in the first round and divided it into teams that streaked and slumped into the playoffs.

The dividing line for that was 12 points; 13 or more counted as a streaking team while 12 and under counted as a slumping team. (Of course, 12 out of 20 points isn’t exactly a slump, but consider the high level of play it takes to make the playoffs and this seemed like a reasonable cut-off point.)

Here are the results:

2007-08
10 teams over, 6 wins
6 teams under, 2 wins

2008-09
8 teams over, 7 wins
8 teams under, 1 win

2009-10
8 teams over, 4 wins
8 teams under, 4 wins

Total:
26 teams over, 17 wins (65.4%)
22 teams under, 7 wins (31.8%)

When a team is playing better during the last ten games of the season, this data shows they win about 2/3 of the time, while you get the inverse for the 22 teams that didn’t play as well. Here is the data broken down by season (tables have both Western and Eastern teams in there broken down by conference rank).

The Penguins center, who had been regularly skating on his own of late, has officially been cleared by doctors to skate with his teammates and will join the squad for their trip to Florida.

If you were one of the many fantasy owners holding out hope for the return of one of the most elite players in the League, Shero confirmed that it won’t happen during the regular season. “I have no expectations of him coming back in the regular season,” Shero said. “I don’t believe that’s going to happen.”

Crosby hasn’t played in a game since Jan. 5 because of a concussion, but has been working out on his own and skating since March 14. Despite missing nearly half the season, Sid the Kid is still 20th in the NHL in scoring with 66 points in just 41 contests.

Two forwards who haven’t quite lived up to their reputations this season are Marian Gaborik of the New York Rangers and Ilya Kovalchuk of the New Jersey Devils. Last season, Gaborik had 42 goals to lead all right wings; Kovalchuk had 41. This season though, their numbers are down across the board.

Gaborik has just 44 points after scoring 86 last season, and he’s taken almost 100 fewer shots. Kovalchuk has better numbers than Gaborik, but is a far cry from his stats of seasons past, with only 54 points, 61 fewer shots and a minus-22 rating. His numbers would be even lower had it not been for a torrid February, when he had 14 points.

Sergei Gonchar
Defense – OTT
GOALS: 7 | ASST: 20 | PTS: 27
SOG: 107 | +/-: -15
Sergei Gonchar was brought to Ottawa to boost the Senators’ power-play production, and although he has tallied 20 points on the man-advantage, his defensive-zone and 5-on-5 play have hurt the team. He had 50 points with the Penguins last season but only 27 this season. Gonchar is a plus player during his career, yet is a minus-15 for the Sens. He also has shot the puck less, and has just 20 penalty minutes.

Many goalies have had seasons they would like to forget, but one fantasy owners drafted hoping for a return to past success is Marty Turco of the Chicago Blackhawks. Turco was signed to fill the void left by Antti Niemi. He started the season relatively well, but with a bad November and the stellar play of rookie Corey Crawford, Turco lost his starting job and has not been able to get it back. His numbers aren’t where he would want them to be: 11-11-3, .897 save percentage, 3.02 goals-against average.

Top Pickups (owned in less than 50 percent of Yahoo! Leagues)

1. David Legwand, C, Predators (18 percent) — Legwand averaged a point per game over 22 games from Feb. 9 to March 26, and has 6 goals and 3 assists in the last seven games. Playing with Joel Ward and Martin Erat, Legwand has produced 41 points and is a plus-15. Add the center for your championship run.

2. Sergei Kostitsyn, LW, Predators (12 percent) — Legwand’s teammate also has been red-hot. Kostitsyn, along with Mike Fisher and Patric Hornqvist, have been the Predators’ top line as they search for a playoff spot. Kostitsyn is riding a seven-game point-scoring streak (3 goals, 6 assists), and is tied for the team lead with Hornqvist with 19 goals.

Devin Setoguchi
Right Wing – SJS
GOALS: 20 | ASST: 17 | PTS: 37
SOG: 191 | +/-: -5
3. Devin Setoguchi, RW, Sharks (34 percent) — Teaming with Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, Setoguchi has 5 points in five games, with 4 points on the power play and 18 shots. He is becoming a frequent visitor on the box score for the Sharks and would look good on your championship roster.

4. Cam Fowler, D, Ducks (21 percent) — Fowler made it into the Ducks’ record book Monday by breaking the rookie record for assists with 27. He since has added another assist and has 9 goals and 28 assists on the season. Over the last nine games, he has 2 goals, 6 assists, 4 power-play points and 17 shots. His plus/minus might hurt, but you can’t overlook the offensive numbers he is putting up.

5. Ray Emery, G, Ducks (26 percent) — Emery has been a major boost for the Ducks with the injury to Jonas Hiller. Since becoming the starter, Emery is 6-0-0, with a 1.90 GAA and a .935 save percentage. If you need help in net, he’s definitely worth picking up.