The amazing season of Alexander Ovechkin continues.  He is on target to have his best season of his career; amazing, considering he missed 8 games.

Ovechkin now has 42 goals.  He has as many points in goals scored as the entire Edmonton Oilers have in standing points.

He leads the NHL with 42 goals.

He leads the NHL with 86 points.

He leads the NHL in Plus/Minus with a +41.

He leads the NHL in Shots on Goal with 266.

He leads the NHL in road goals scored.

He leads the NHL in goals per game, with .82.

His is 3rd in the NHL in home goals scored.

He is tied for 4th in power play goals.

He is tied for 4th in power play assists.

Ovechkin is 18 goals shy of 60 goals for the season.  There are 23 games left in the season.  He is 23 goals shy of his career high (2007/08 - 65) and he is 10 assists shy of his career high (2008/09 & 2005/06 - 54).  His 86 total points puts him 26 points shy of his career high in total points (2007/08).  He is a +41 and is currently +13 higher than his career high (2007/08 - +28).

Currently, Ovechkin has a 7 game scoring streak.  Over that streak, Ovechkin has scored 8 goals and 7 assists.

Ovechkin was suspended on DEC 1 on a knee to knee hit on Tim Gleasen.  Since that suspension, Ovechkin has played in 30 games, starting on December 7th.  In that 30 game stretch, Ovie has tallied 24 goals and added 32 assists with a +28 plus/minus rating.  He has averaged 1.87 points per game.

Ovechkin was on a complete tear in the month of January racking up 9 goals and 17 assists with a +16 rating in 15 games.  The question is, can he eclipse those monthly totals?  Well, he is off to a sensational start in February.  In 4 games, he has scored in each of the 4 games and has multiple points in 3 of the 4 games.  For February, Ovechkin has tallied 7 goals and 3 assists and is a +6.

The whispers and chants can seemingly get louder.   M    V     P.

It is one of those years, but yet, with Ovechkin, aren't they all?  What better scenario could the Caps faithful have realized yesterday?  Sidney Crosby strikes twice in the first period.  In most cases, that is completely deflating (at least Mike Milbury thought so).  Not at the Verizon Center.  Caps faithful have seen all too often how Great 8 can single handidly turn around a game that appeared to be slipping from the Sea of Red.

With two periods of hockey to play, Alexander Ovechkin took control.  Not only did the Caps faithful get to see Ovechkin pull the Caps back in from a 4-1 deficit, but they got to see the first Hat Trick of the season for the Caps, on home ice, with Sidney Corsby watching, on national TV, against the hated Pittsburgh Penguins.  How does that get any better?

Great 8 simply has Great HART!

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Lots of Mock Drafts updated this morning, over 25. We also added 6 new mocks to the database. The HUGE weekly mock munch will be posted on WED or THUR. But for now, let’s give you a sneak peak on the Top 9 based on the 21 mocks updated between 2/7 and 2/8. Whether these 21 latest mocks show movement or trends in the Top 9 picks is left to be scene in the bigger picture on WED or THUR.

But, here is the breakdown of these 21 mock drafts for Picks 1 through 9 . . .

LINK

Courtesy of Big Stein, video of Capitals GM George McPhee taking the Metro to the game at the Phone Booth yesterday.

The New Orleans Saints.

Super Bowl Champs.  First time in franchise history.  We congratulate the Saints and the City of New Orleans.

"You can tell when he's having one of his days, and when he's having one of his days. Days when I see that his recovery rate is unbelievable. He sits on the bench for 30 seconds and I know he wants to go again."

HC Bruce Boudreau on Alexander Ovechkin

Here you go, the Ovechkin hat trick via video for your enjoyment.  Enjoyment it was!

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WoooooHoooo!  Make it 14 in a row, on National TV, with an Alex Ovechkin hat trick!  And dammit, I was suppose to be there and never made it.  But, I will take this beat down over the Pens with an Ovie hat trick any day.  Folks, this game was Super Bowl worthy, period!

What a game it was, despite just awful, awful coverage from NBC.  The NHL really has to put up and grovel back to ESPN, because NBC is simply horrendous.

The game did not start out all that well for the Caps as the NBC love-fest for everything Pens and Crosby got under way quickly 2 goals in the first period from Sidney Crosby.  Even though the Caps out shot the Pens in the first period, the two Crosby marker sent the Caps to the locker room with a 2-0 deficit.

Alexander Ovechkin scored his first of three, his 40th of the year, at the 9 minute mark of the second period.  It was a beautiful breakaway engineered by none other than Jeff Schultz, finding the open and streaking Ovechkin.  Schultzie has had the knack this season of finding the breakaways and making the perfect passes.  Then things went down hill, temporarily for the Caps, as Jordan Staal scored twice within 2 minutes of each, to give the Pens a stunning 4-1 lead.  But, as we have seen many, many times this year, you can never, ever count the Capitals out of any game.

Eric Fehr scored his 14th of the year to pull the Caps to within 2 at the end of the second period, Caps trailing 4-2.

Count the third period as pure Alex Ovechkin.  Ovechkin scored his 41st goal close to the 7 minute mark to pull within 4-3.  Later in the third period, Ovechkin took hard shot and look to be shaken up.  He came back on the ice and pounded away the game tying goal on the face off to send the Verizon Center into pandemonium. It was Ovechkin's first hat trick of the year, the Caps first hat trick of the year, on National TV, and right in front of Pittsburgh's #87.  Could it get anymore perfect than that.  And to think, Crosby did not even cry to the officials to tell fans to stop throwing hats this year.  Amazing.

Then in overtime, it was Ovechkin again, this time rocketing a shot at Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fluery, who let a rebound go and Mike Knuble, in front of the net, poked it in for the game winner.

Instead of just bashing Pittsburgh, let's instead say what we should say.  This was an outstandingly impressive display of hockey, on National TV on Super Bowl day.  It was a great game from start to finish, with both Superstar shining.  It was a good day for the NHL.  It was a great day for the Washington Capitals as they extended their impressive winning streak to 14 straight wins.  BUT, even better, it was the greatest day for the Washington faithful who managed to get to the Verizon Center.  Kudos to you all, we heard the loudness, we heard the Fury!

Great game again by Jose Theodore, by far, the superior goalie in Washington right now.  Yeah he gave uyp 4 goals.  But, this was Pittsburgh.  He made some sensational saves that saved the Caps becaise of poor turnovers.  It was not the best day for the Caps defense

What a great day for these Washington Capitals.

Multi-Point Scorers:

Nicklas Backstrom, 2 assists

Mike Knuble, 1 goal, 1 assist

Alexander Ovechkin, 3 goals, 1 assist

DCPSR Player of the Game:  ALEXANDER OVECHKIN

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The Washington Capitals trailed 4-2 after two periods but mounted a furious comeback at home against the hated Pittsburgh Penguins and won 5-4 in overtime on a Mike Knuble tip-in off an Alex Ovechkin slap shot only moments into a power play. The Caps are now 2-0 this year against the Penguins, with more to come.

Sidney Crosby scored 2 goals, but the star of this snowed-in Washington day was Alex Ovechkin, who poured in 3 goals and added an assist on the game-winner. The game was filled with mistakes by the Caps and the refs, but the team stayed with it and Ovechkin's two 3rd period goals tied the game up. Playing well below their best, the Caps needed a superstar performance from the best player in the world...and that's just what they got.

Photo by Mitchell Layton/NHLI via Getty Images

TEAM STAT COMPARISON
176	Goals	225
166	Goals Against	155
38	Power Play Goals	59
39	Power Play Goals Allowed	47
6	Shorthanded Goals	3
6	Shorthanded Goals Allowed	6
793	Penalty Minutes	685
14	Average Penalty Minutes	12

SCORING SUMMARY
1ST PERIOD			PIT	WAS
6:59		Sidney Crosby  Unassisted	1	0
9:59		Sidney Crosby (Power Play)  Assists: Evgeni Malkin, Alex Goligoski	2	0
2ND PERIOD			PIT	WAS
9:01		Alex Ovechkin  Assists: Jeff Schultz	2	1
11:43		Jordan Staal  Assists: Tyler Kennedy, Matt Cooke	3	1
13:07		Jordan Staal  Assists: Evgeni Malkin	4	1
17:12		Eric Fehr  Assists: Brendan Morrison	4	2
3RD PERIOD			PIT	WAS
6:51		Alex Ovechkin  Assists: Tom Poti, Nicklas Backstrom	4	3
11:06		Alex Ovechkin  Assists: Mike Knuble, Nicklas Backstrom	4	4
OT			PIT	WAS
2:49		Mike Knuble (Power Play)  Assists: Alex Ovechkin, Mike Green	4	5

Well, the attempt to get to the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins game today last just 1/2 hour, about 35 miles.  That's it.  It is truly amazing the difference between states.

We were coming from Southcentral PA, just 40 minutes south of Harrisburg/Hershey area.  Driving on Interstate 81, the I-81 lanes in Pennsylvania were not even slushy, nothing, bone dry.  We had over 20 inches of snow, just as much as Hagerstown.   Immediately upon crossing into Maryland, at State Line, just 8 miles North of Hagerstown, Maryland, I-81 was full of ice.  Complete ice.  What I am talking about is literally 100 feet from the PA line, the pavement was covered and in rough shape to the point traffic slowed to a 20 MPH crawl.  Unbelievable the difference between Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Here is a picture taken from my iPhone as we crossed from PA into MD

My big question is --- what such a dramatic difference in snow removal competence?

So, instead of watching from the Verizon Center, we turned around and the Caps will flow into my living room via NBC.