A Statement Week Culminates with a Super Weekend

Some OFB readers -- a small but still spirited minority -- expressed two positions in comments last week that struck me as odd. The first was that by virtue of last Tuesday's overtime defeat in Boston, which followed another late-game undoing in Ottawa immediately before the All-Star break, which was preceded by an underwhelming victory on the Island, that the Caps were "slumping." The second odd view, I thought, was that last Thursday night's outdoor skate in Chevy Chase was somehow unbecoming a team perceived to be in a mini-collapse. How dare they skate in a light-hearted and fun-loving way when the Southeast suddenly was a bit unsettled, the sentiment seemed to be. Another perspective, one which I wager is this morning held in near unanimity among HockeyWashington: first, the defeat in Ottawa to no small degree can be traced to an extremely undisciplined penalty by Alexander Semin in the game's 58th minute. I don't regard that as a team fai...