Alex Ovechkin Emerges From Slump, Washington Capitals Enter One of Their Own

One of the biggest surprises of the 2010-11 NHL season thus far has been the absence of Alexander Ovechkin's name amongst the league leaders in goals.  

While Ovechkin endured his second nine game scoring drought in the last calendar year, the Capitals have struggled, batting just .500 over their last 10 games.  

Over the weekend, Ovechkin finally broke out of the slump with a one-timer against Dallas and followed that up with a beautiful goal against Toronto on Monday.  While it's always encouraging to see the team's best players step their games up, the team has put together a string of disappointing performances.  

Though the Capitals have built a large cushion, currently standing at six points, over the rest of the Southeast division, they can't be losing three straight games to teams that didn't qualify for the playoffs the previous season.  

On Monday, after the Capitals built a 4-1 lead in the second period, they allowed the Leafs to climb back in the third period and knot the game at four.  

After the game, Leafs coach Ron Wilson (a former Washington bench boss) said the Capitals looked "like they thought the game was over" and "got sloppy in the third period."  

Losses like these are troubling because the Capitals still face the same problem that doomed them in the playoffs, as they lacked the killer instinct, much like they did when they blew a 3-1 series lead in the first round against Montreal in last year's playoffs.  

Blowing a three-goal lead to a young, inexperienced team like Toronto suggests that the Capitals thought they had the game wrapped-up and didn't need to play as hard in the third period.  A game that captain Alexander Ovechkin dubbed "a lesson for the team" needs to serve as a reminder that no matter how talented the team is, they need to play hard for 60 minutes every night.  

One positive that the Capitals can take from the game against Toronto is the play of call-up Mathieu Perreault, who had two goal, to bring his total to four points in four games.  

Coach Bruce Boudreau was impressed with the play of the young centerman, who seems to provide a spark every time he's inserted into the lineup.

While the team is almost assuredly going to run away with the Southeast division title, they need to learn from these mistakes in the regular season, in order to ensure it isn't the same story in the postseason.