Brian McNally

Published: Mon, May 20, 2013

There aren’t a ton of internal decisions for Capitals general manager George McPhee to make this summer. He has four unrestricted free agents pending July 5. Defenseman Tom Poti and forward Wojtek Wolski won’t be back for sure. We’re unclear on the status of forwards Matt Hendricks and...

Brian McNally

Published: Mon, May 20, 2013

Capitals free agent forward Wojtek Wolski has signed a contract with Kontinental Hockey League club Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, the team announced on Monday. Wolski, 27, was not expected back in Washington, which took a flyer on the former first-round draft pick last summer for $600,000. But it...

Brian McNally

Published: Wed, May 15, 2013

The other prominent unrestricted free agent for the Capitals this summer is Matt Hendricks. The veteran winger has set himself up for the one big contract in his NHL career. Hendricks, 31, was plucked from the Colorado Avalanche organization before the 2010 season and quickly generated a...

Brian McNally

Published: Wed, May 15, 2013

The Capitals don’t have many decisions to make this summer. When NHL free agency opens on July 5 the two key players they have headed to the open market are center Mike Ribeiro and winger Matt Hendricks. Ribeiro was acquired at the trade deadline last June to be the second-line center...

Brian McNally

Published: Tue, May 14, 2013

The scene is all too familiar now. The long and tortured Stanley Cup playoff history of the Capitals means little to the current generation of players. None of them were born or raised here, after all. But the stinging defeats of recent years are taking an obvious toll. In the Alex Ovechkin...

Brian McNally

Published: Mon, May 13, 2013

The Capitals were upset with a lot of calls on Sunday in a 1-0 loss to the New York Rangers. Maybe a better way to say it – they were upset about non-calls. New York, the most disciplined team in the NHL this season, wasn’t whistled for a single penalty. Washington took five – two of them...

Brian McNally

Published: Mon, May 13, 2013

1. And so for the seventh time in their last nine Stanley Cup playoff series the Caps will play a Game 7. The Rangers assured that with a 1-0 victory at Madison Square Garden on Sunday evening. Washington’s checkered history in those games will leave its fans gasping for air for the next 24...

Brian McNally

Published: Sun, May 12, 2013

1. So here we are again. Last year the Capitals and the New York Rangers were tied 2-2 in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup playoff series and Washington was moments away from securing Game 5. Instead, a late Joel Ward penalty led to a game-tying goal by Brad Richards with just seconds remaining....

Brian McNally

Published: Fri, May 10, 2013

It is not a dream anymore. Capitals rookie forward Tom Wilson, in the OHL playing junior hockey two weeks ago and in the AHL as recently as Wednesday, will make his NHL debut tonight in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Wilson, 19, a first-round draft pick just last June, will play tonight in Game 5...

Brian McNally

Published: Fri, May 10, 2013

Capitals right wing Alex Ovechkin has been named one of three Hart Trophy finalists for NHL most valuable player in 2013. A two-time Hart Trophy winner in 2007-08 and 2008-09 and a finalist in 2009-10, Ovechkin led the league with 32 goals in the lockout-shortened season to earn the Maurice...