Washington's Strange Paradox

Right now, the Capitals are a markedly different squad depending on which color they're wearing, as they're red-hot in the road whites (still sounds bizarre to say that), but ice-cold in the home reds.

Washington's 2-1 win Thursday at Wachovia marks the team's fifth straight win on the road, and the Caps haven't come away from a road game empty-handed since falling to the Senators on Inauguration day 50 days ago.

But the Caps return home tomorrow night, which hasn't been the best of places for Washington, as the team is just 2-5-1 in their last nine games at Verizon Center, including a four-game losing skid that left the fans booing during the last homestand.

Of course, this is a 180 degree turn from the Capitals' first half of the season, where the team was nearly unbeatable at home, yet sub-par away from home. But over the past month, the Capitals more than doubled their home loss total, while pushing their away record over .500 for the first time all season.

So what's the cause of the turnaround?

On the surface, the Capitals have played tighter hockey on the road, as the team tends to make an extra pass to try and get on SportsCenter's Top 10 highlights while on home ice, but on the road they usually simplify their game. However, in this road trip, the Caps allowed 64 shots in two games, so the defense didn't exactly clamp down on the Predators and Flyers in the win.

It also perhaps is the fact that the hostile crowds fire up Alex Ovechkin, since of the sniper's 48 goals, only 19 have come outside of the District - although five of those are game-winning goals, the same as he has scored at Verizon. In the current five-game streak, three of the game winners were off Ovechkin's stick, including Thursday's deciding goal against Philadelphia.

Perhaps part of the reason is the heightened expectations for this club from a year ago, as with sellouts nearly every night and increased attention, the team knows a repeat of last year's first-round exit will be a big disappointment for this team. And, after pressing and looking disorganized during their four-game homestand, they found their stride away from home, scoring when they needed it to grab two wins against a pair of quality opponents.

Of course, as worrisome as the recent home woes are, the sign the team is much better away from home also is equally encouraging. The Caps are currently fighting to move up from their current spot of third in the East, and if they cannot catch the Bruins or Devils, they could only hold home-ice advantage for the first round if those two teams advance as well, so a one-sided home-road mark wouldn't bode well for an extended playoff run. And, in the last seven road games, the Caps have won in Boston, Florida, New Jersey and Philadelphia, all potential playoff opponents.

Whatever the reason, the two-game road sweep is a big boost for the club, who appeared they might let the Southeast title become a dogfight after the ugly homestand. However, Washington now stands a dozen points ahead of Carolina and 13 ahead of Florida - meaning the Capitals only need to collect 16 points over their last 13 games to secure the division.

A win Saturday over Carolina also would go a long way to knocking the 'Canes out of the race, since it would put Washington 14 points ahead with Carolina having just 11 to play, a very tough hill for any team to climb. And, with a tough five-game road swing through Atlanta, Florida, Tampa, Raleigh and Toronto following Saturday's game, the four points this week give the Caps insurance in case it doesn't go well - as well as a chance to put away both the teams chasing them in the division before the team returns back to home ice on March 27th.