MCI Center - Washington Capitals

Trip Notes: Had a layover in Minneapolis before arriving at Reagan Intl in the afternoon. Once I made it to my hotel, I quickly unpacked and headed out to see the sites. I only had 3 hours of daylight to catch all the attractions. My hotel was only located about 4 blocks from the Mall area. I was a bit closer to the Capital so I headed that direction first. Took a few quick pictures then headed the other direction towards the rest of the sites. First was the Washington Memorial. It was sold out for the day so I was unable to go to the top today. Therefore I continued down to the World War II memorial, Korean War, Lincoln, and finally the Vietnam Memorial. My uncle’s best friend died in Vietnam, so I looked up his name and found him on the wall. An employee saw me taking a picture of his name so he offered to make a sketch of it. While he was doing that, I had a hard time holding back the tears. Even though I had never met him it was an emotional experience. The last stop of the day was the White House. Three hours later, I was in a lot of pain from walking so much. After taking pictures of all the protestors in front of the White House I headed back to the hotel where I stayed for the evening. I was beat. The next morning I headed out again to check out a couple more sites. Spent a couple hours touring through the Holocaust Museum then went to the top of the Washington Monument. Walked a couple blocks to get to the MCI center for an afternoon game. Jumped on the subway after the game to meet Eileen a few stops away for dinner. Got up at 4am the next morning to catch a 6am flight home.

Arena Notes: A short walk from my hotel...this arena is located in a decent area. There were a lot of bums begging for cash just like I expected there would be. Ordered my ticket just a few days before the game and still somehow ended up in the 3rd row behind the net. The Caps allow you to purchase tickets through them so I got to avoid going through TicketMaster. YAY! I figured since I was saving on all their crappy convenience charges I might as well put that money towards a better seat. What a great choice. :) So I splurged and sat on the lower level. Had a great seat! Arena was a little over half full. Food was very expensive. $8 for nachos...yikes! The highlight of the game....I made it on the jumbo tron for the first time ever. :)

Game Notes: Alexander Ovechkin made the Tampa Bay Lightning pay dearly for a defensive decision to double-team him.
Dainius Zubrus scored with 2:20 left in regulation and the Washington Capitals edged the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 Sunday for their third home win in four games against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Ovechkin started the decisive push by skating down the left boards and drawing two defenders to him. Ovechkin slipped a rink-wide pass through traffic to Chris Clark on the right wing, and Clark tapped the puck to Zubrus, who scored after splitting two defenders in the slot.
The pass was a daring but beautiful assist, showing that the rookie sensation is keenly aware of where his teammates are and what the defense is trying to do to slow him down.
Doubling down on Ovechkin created extra ice that made possible an otherwise risky long pass.
"If two guys are going to go to (Ovechkin), right away as soon as he's into the zone, it means there's always going to be someone open. ... After 40 games, people are starting to realize that this is the guy they have to go to," Clark said.
Ovechkin said the game-winner helped to balance out a frustrating offensive afternoon for the Capitals, who had only four first-period shots, gave the Lightning seven power plays and were outshot 35-24.
"We played not good for two periods," Ovechkin said. "The third period, I think we played pretty well."
Jeff Halpern also scored for the Capitals, who snapped a three-game losing streak.
Vincent Lacavalier had the lone goal for the Lightning, who had gone 5-0-1 in their previous six games.
"We had a chance to win," Lightning coach John Tortorella said. "We doubled them in scoring chances and we don't score. We lose a couple of battles in the neutral zone at the end there. They were bad coverages and it was in the net, game over."
The latest loss to the Capitals was Tampa Bay's final visit to Washington this season. The previous three games went to a shootout, with the Capitals winning two.
"We didn't play last year, but they're still the Stanley Cup champions," Washington defenseman Brendan Witt said. "It's a good test every time we play them."
Tampa Bay's Evegny Artyukhin almost forced overtime. With 0.5 seconds left, his shot glanced off the right post and through the crease behind goalie Olie Kolzig.
Eleven seconds after Tampa Bay's fifth power play expired, Lacavalier gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead. Lacavalier swept Vaclav Prospal's centering pass past Kolzig at 9:24 of the second for his 21st goal.
Halpern tied it with 4:40 left in the period, snapping the Lightning's shutout streak of 158 minutes, 42 seconds spread over three games. Halpern pursued his own rebound after Tampa Bay's John Grahame failed to glove the puck, poking it in after it squirted behind the goalie.
Game notesWashington won for the first time when scoring fewer than three goals. ... Forbes was recalled from AHL Hershey before the game. ... Tampa Bay D Darryl Sydor (facial lacerations) and C Martin Cibak (upper body injury) were scratched. Lightning RW Rob DiMaio played despite a broken nose sustained Saturday. ... Capitals D Jamie Heward returned after missing five games with a groin injury.
(*Game notes taken from espn.com*)

RBC Center - Carolina Hurricanes

Trip Notes: Stayed at the Comfort Inn Suites across the street from the Arena. Nice hotel. Went to Play Makers for lunch/dinner the night before the game to watch the Broncos play the Steelers in the AFC Championship. It was a different sports bar. No waiters. More like a cafe where you pick up your food at the kitchen. Food was good. The crowd was good. A mixture of fans. Left right after the game. It was getting really crowded since the Carolina game started right after it was over. Weather was cruddy. Drove around a bit to see the city....NCSU, capital, .....

Arena Notes: Nice arena. Had a college type atmosphere. Possibly due to the fact its also NCSU basketball arena. Not much for fan turnout. A little over half the arena was filled. Disappointing for a team that's playing so well right now. Was allowed to stand by the glass during warmups. Got some great pictures of Theodore. :) My seats were up in the corner on the 3rd level. Good view minus having a hard time seeing past the guy in front of me, but what's new. Another team with cheerleaders. Some crazy gray haired man is on the jumbo tron throught the game, mostly after goals saying 'wahoo'. Who is he???

Game Notes: The Carolina Hurricanes are apparently so accustomed to winning these days that even one loss is enough to get their attention.
Eric Staal and Justin Williams each had a goal and two assists to help the Hurricanes beat the Montreal Canadiens 7-3 on Monday night, giving them their eighth straight home victory and a strong bounceback effort after a loss at Washington.
Andrew Ladd and Erik Cole each added a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes, who had won a franchise-record nine straight -- their second such streak of the season -- before that 5-2 loss in Washington on Saturday night. But they followed that with a strong all-around effort that included what seemed to be an endless stream of players finding the net against a road-weary Montreal squad.
"It was important for us to snap back right away," Carolina coach Peter Laviolette said. "I think you could get a sense in the locker room that the guys were ready to play."
The Hurricanes certainly looked that way, with seven players scoring goals and nine finishing with at least one assist. Bret Hedican and Craig Adams each scored first-period goals for the early lead, and Staal and Matt Cullen scored power-play goals less than a minute apart in the second period.
Carolina never let up from there, getting goals from Ladd, Williams and Cole to turn the game into a laugher.
Cam Ward was solid in net for the Hurricanes, making 31 saves and surrendering two meaningless goals in the final four minutes. Of course, considering the way the Hurricanes kept putting pucks past Jose Theodore, Ward didn't need to do much to earn the win.
The Hurricanes haven't lost at home since falling 4-3 in overtime to Philadelphia on Dec. 29, and haven't lost in regulation in Raleigh since a 5-2 loss to Atlanta on Nov. 27. It's a big reason why the Hurricanes are tied with Ottawa with an NHL-best 70 points.
"We had everyone playing out there, every line was going," said Staal, who tallied his 31st goal and 33rd assist of the season. "That's when we're at our best and our team's playing at its best. We need to have that every game."
On the other side, it was just the latest in a growing pile of road setbacks for the Canadiens, who have lost seven straight away from home and 16 of their past 17.
Tomas Plekanec had two goals and an assist after being called up from Hamilton of the American Hockey League, while Francis Bouillon also had a goal. But the Canadiens have lost the first three games of a six-game road swing and fell to 2-3 since general manager Bob Gainey took over for fired coach Claude Julien.
Things won't get any easier, with Montreal next heading to Eastern Conference powers Philadelphia and Ottawa.
This one quickly took on a familiar feel for the Canadiens, who allowed six first-period goals in a humbling loss to Vancouver over the weekend. The Hurricanes chased Theodore from the net after scoring five goals on 18 shots in the first two periods, marking his second straight early exit.
"We had a good start and things were going well," said center Steve Begin, who assisted on Plekanec's first goal. "And suddenly we just gave up and didn't stick with the game plan. ... It's 60 minutes. If you quit after five minutes, the game's over."
Montreal pulled to 2-1 when Plekanec beat Ward on a breakaway early in the second, but Carolina answered a few minutes later on a 5-on-3 power play. Cullen redirected Staal's shot past Theodore for the 3-1 lead at 6:07, and Staal increased the lead less than a minute later with a terrific individual effort on the man advantage.
Staal brought the puck to the center with Niklas Sundstrom trailing and poking at him with his stick. Staal nearly stumbled, but gathered himself and fired the straightaway shot by Theodore at 6:56.
Once Ladd scored after Theodore fell during a scramble in the crease for the 5-1 lead, Gainey pulled the netminder in favor of Cristobal Huet about 9 minutes into the period.
Game notesCarolina left winger Cory Stillman missed his third straight game because of a torso injury and is day-to-day. ... Carolina defenseman Mike Commodore left in the third period with a lower-body injury and did not return. ... Carolina rookie Keith Aucoin earned his first NHL point with an assist on Cole's third-period goal. ... The Canadiens claimed forward Aaron Downey off waivers from St. Louis on Monday.

Philadelphia Flyers - Wachovia Center

Trip Notes: Flight was a bit delayed into Philly, but not by much. Soon after getting to my hotel, the Crowne Plaza - Center City, headed down to South Street. Went to Jim's Steak's for a famous cheese steak sandwich. Couldn't go to Philly without eating one. That was one of the best cheese steak sandwiches I've ever had. It hit the spot. The weather was pretty mild all weekend until the morning I left. It was super windy that day. Headed to the Flyers game Saturday afternoon. Watched the NFL playoff game after the, then crashed so I could get up for my 6am flight.

Arena Notes: Arena was in a pretty remote location. From what I could tell, not much for restaurants and bars in the area. Took a $20 cab ride to the rink. Could've taken the subway, but decided not to be cheap and go the easy/safer route. Flags were given out to each fan. That had to have been the coolest gift I've ever received at a game. Fans were very loud right off the bat. Probably the loudest that I've heard. Only about 10 fans were daring enough to wear an Avs jersey. I was not one of them. ;) The arena was sold out. Had a decent seat, third level in the corner. It would've been better if the guy in front of me didn't lean forward blocking most of my view. One thing I really liked about the Wachovia Center was all the air hockey and bubble boy hockey tables they had. There had to have been atleast 20 of each. That is cool! If I hadn't been by myself, I would've put them to use. Another bonus was the Flyers history area on the 1st level. I recommend checking that out to see all the old photos and the big goalie statue. Oh, and how can I forget....it was rough watching Forsberg play against the Avs. It just doesn't seem right! The Wachovia Center opened its doors in 1996 and seats 19,500 hockey fans. I don't believe they have a mascot. Retired numbers are 1 - Bernie Parent, 4 - Barry Ashbee, 7 - Bill Barber, 16 - Bobby Clarke, and 99 - Gretzky.

Game Notes: Peter Forsberg was gracious enough to pick up the bill when he dined with a group of his former Colorado teammates.
The Avalanche returned the gesture by sticking Philadelphia with a loss.
Alex Tanguay scored with 45.8 seconds left in overtime, helping Colorado spoil Forsberg's first game against his former team in the Avalanche's 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
"It was a little different, but as soon as the game started, I don't really care," said Forsberg, who spent 10 years with his old team. "I've never cared who I'm playing against. I just try and do my best to win the game for us."
Forsberg couldn't pull one out for the Flyers this time, though he sure made it interesting.
The Flyers forced overtime with a frantic final 2 minutes of regulation, getting goals from Mike Knuble and Forsberg before getting dominated in the extra period.
The Avalanche took nine of their 34 shots in OT and held the Flyers without a shot.
Colorado continued playing some of its best hockey since the days when Forsberg was winning Stanley Cups, an MVP award and solidifying his reputation as the best player in the world before he signed with the Flyers in August.
John-Michael Liles, Brett Clark and Antti Laaksonen also scored for the Avalanche, who've won seven straight games for the first time since Jan. 16-30, 2001.
Maybe the Flyers should have stayed on the road. Even with Rocky himself, Sylvester Stallone, in a Flyers "06" jersey at the game rallying the crowd, the Flyers' success couldn't carry over in their first home game since Dec. 22.
"We had a lot to overcome, including Rocky," Avs coach Joel Quenneville said.
The Flyers' loss followed their longest and most grueling road trip ever, when they won more games and had more points than any team in NHL history.
The Flyers went 8-2-1 on the road for 17 points, returning home first in the league with 62. In the 1968-69 season, the Montreal Canadiens went 6-1-1 for 13 points.
Forsberg has certainly lived up to expectations since signing a two-year, $11.5 million contract with the Flyers after helping Colorado win two Stanley Cup championships. The 2003 MVP leads the team in points, and had an assist on Knuble's goal for his 800th career point.
"I wanted to get it out of the way before we played Colorado, but I didn't mind it," he said. "It feels a little weird to play against the team you played for so long. On the other hand, you have to be professional and move on."
First, Forsberg treated some Avalanche to a meal the night before that was almost appreciated as much as the victory.
"Any free meal is a good meal, you know?" center Joe Sakic said.
Philadelphia rallied on Knuble's 21st goal with 2:36 left in the third. Then Forsberg followed 1 minute, 24 seconds later with his 15th goal of the season and the sold-out crowd erupted.
David Aebischer stopped 27 shots and won his sixth straight start for Colorado.
"We're playing well and we're playing with confidence and those two things are really important," he said.
The Avalanche went ahead 1-0 late in the first period on Liles' power-play goal, his 10th of the year.
Only 21 seconds into the second period, Clark slid one past Antero Niittymaki for his fourth goal of the year. Laaksonen knocked in a loose puck early in the third for a 3-1 lead.
Kim Johnsson made it 2-1 in the second on a slap shot from straight in front of the net. The power-play goal was his fifth, with an assist from Simon Gagne. Gagne's three assists gave him 300 career points.
The Flyers began their road trip on Dec. 23 in Pittsburgh. They started 7-0-1 before losing 3-0 to New Jersey on Monday night. After beating Chicago on Wednesday, the Flyers completed the trip with a 6-3 loss to Detroit on Thursday night.
More Game notes: The Flyers reassigned LW Ben Eager to their American Hockey League affiliate, the Philadelphia Phantoms. Eager had three goals and five assists for eight points and 18 penalty minutes in 20 games for the Flyers this season. ... The Flyers honored the 1975 Stanley Cup champs, the first team to defeat the Central Red Army hockey team on Jan. 11, 1976. ... Stallone is in town filming "Rocky Balboa." Stallone and his brother, Frank, were in the locker room.
(*Game notes taken from espn.com*)