The Cycle: Caps Still Need Second Line Center

When the Capitals entered this season without acquiring a proven center to fill a void on the second line, they were doing so with the understanding that those who might take the spot most often — particularly Marcus Johansson and Mathieu Perreault after Tomas Fleischman was traded — would have their inconsistencies [Capitals Insider] Let’s face it, we all knew the Caps would need to fill the void Fleischmann left, even if he should have never been put at center in the first place. Will the  Caps make the move? Who knows, most of what Bruce Boudreau has done this year continues to be mind boggling as he sinks what should have been a shoe-in for winning their Division.

Around the NHL

The Red Wings won their last four games, allowing eight goals over than span. However, prior to their revelation of defensive awareness, Jonathan Willis of Houses of the Hockey discusses the team’s defensive woes at length.

For those interested in what is going on in the Motherland, Sports Haze continues to get better and better with their Russian coverage. Roman Piontkovsky translates an article with young developing forward Andrei Loktionov, who discusses everything from his first NHL goal to his thoughts on Igor Larionov. Click here for the full article.

Dave Strehle of NHLhotstove.com continues to be one of the unknown gems of the hockey world, covering the team on-site and writing numerous excellent articles every week. His most recent piece focuses on Nikolay Zherdev, who may be on his way out of Philly. Considering the team recently dressed both Dan Carcillo and Jody Shelley instead of Zherdev means the writing is on the wall.

Zach Parise wants to return this season and insists the Devils still aren’t out of the playoff picture.

Ted Leonsis sees Alex Ovechkin getting his game back for the stretch – but his observations don’t bode well if there is ever a Caps-Sharks Stanley Cup Final.

Take a behind-the-scenes look at the Oklahoma City Baron’s trek up to Calgary to battle the Abbotsford Heat in a (indoor) Heritage Classic event.  Be sure to follow DailyFaceoff’s own Kevin Dupuis as he reports live from the Heritage Classic on Twitter.

Tweet of the Week

This week, we asked Leafs fans to give us their favorite memory of now-Boston Bruin Tomas Kaberle. This week’s beauty comes from Adam Halberstadt of Beating the Buzzer:

Thanks for your contribution, Adam. While we could not locate a video of this momentous goal, we did find some lovely commentary from Down Goes Brown on it.