Washington Capitals Tickets

The Washington Capitals have kept momentum built off an incredible late season run last year to become one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference this year.

The Capitals have a solid lead in the Southeast Division over the Florida Panthers and are tied with the New Jersey Devils for the second overall seed in the Eastern Conference. They are unlikely to catch the Boston Bruins, who seem assured of the top seed.

Alexander Ovechkin has become the leader of this team simply based off the fact he is one of the top players in the NHL. The Capitals have him locked up for the next decade, which will assure them of making the playoffs virtually every season.

Ovechkin isn't just the best scorer in the NHL, but the most exciting, explosive player around. He is already a star and on the verge of becoming one of the most celebrated athletes of all-time in the sport.

He leads the team with 75 points and 42 goals despite missing time earlier in the season going back to his native country to be with his ailing grandfather.

Ovechkin does have plenty of help around him. Nicholas Backstrom leads the team with 47 assists while Mike Green has been the most effective player on the power play, notching 15 goals.

Green set an NHL record earlier in the year by scoring goals in eight straight games. He leads all NHL defenseman in goals scorer with 22.

Goalie play is a bit of a question mark for the Capitals, as Jose Theodore has been very inconsistent. He has been very hot of late, so maybe that's a sign of things to come. On the other hand, maybe it means he will start to play poorly again very soon.

Backup Brent Johnson has done a solid job, but certainly not enough to overtake the veteran Theodore. The team would have done well to keep last year's goaltender, but decided to sign Theodore instead.

The Capitals should be able to take out the New Jersey Devils and assure themselves of the No. 2 overall seed in the playoffs. While there are no guarantees, it would be very surprising if they didn't meet up with the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference Finals.

In fact, many feel that the Capitals could become the next dynasty in the NHL based upon the way they were able to rebuild and construct their team in the past few seasons.