Fifteen: Washington (1st Metropolitan)

The Caps no longer live and die based on Alex Ovechkin LW. He is now their prime weapon. The defense holds things tighter and Braden Holtby G is certainly benefitting. This Washington team is poised for a long run in the playoffs as they are currently playing. Evengy Kuznetsov C is a happy surprise - currently leading the team in points. The off-season grabs of T.J. Oshie RW and Justin Williams RW are helping now and will definitely help come playoff time.

Record: 19 - 6 - 2 40pts ( projected: 24 - 7 - 3 51pts)

Significant Injuries:
Brooks Orpik D

Nothing huge here - they should be better when he returns but they have been playing well without him.

Next Fifteen Days 12/12/2015 - 12/26/2015:
Saturday at Tampa Bay
Monday at Pittsburgh
Wednesday Ottawa visits
Friday Tampa Bay visits
Sunday at New York Rangers
Monday at Carolina
Saturday Montreal visits

This slate of fifteen should be a wee bit tougher than the last fifteen. But they are getting all of these at their lower performance. The problem is all six of the opponents are in a situation to only play better.

11 out of 14pts

5 - 1 - 1

Last Fifteen Days 11/27/2015 - 12/11/2015:
WIN 4 - 2 Tampa Bay
WIN 4 - 2 at Toronto
WIN 3 - 2 at Montreal
LOSS 1 - 2 (OT) at Winnipeg
WIN 3 - 2 (SO) Detroit
LOSS 1 - 4 at Florida

4 - 1 - 1

9 out of 12pts

The Caps have been one of the truly consistent teams of the season so far. Not a lot of downs. This is another fifteen days of quality play. Losing 4 - 1 to Florida isn't good. But we'll see them bounce back, I suspect.