The Washington Capitals love winning close games lately. The team's past three games, and five of their last six, have all been decided by just one goal. Two of them needed more than 60 minutes. All of them were Washington victories.
This is the kind of play that will serve the Capitals well in the playoffs. You know what else will serve the Capitals well in the playoffs? Having Alexander Semin at his best, which is exactly how he played in the 48 seconds of overtime tonight in the Capitals' victory over the Florida Panthers to retake the Southeast Division lead.
Semin started the attack with less than a minute gone in the extra period, and combined with young Marcus Johansson on a give-and-go that set up a slap shot from Semin from the bottom of the circle at a tough angle.
That was no problem for Semin though. Not tonight.
Right now, the Capitals appear to be among the top teams in the NHL. They're rounding into playoff form just at the right time. Can they keep it up? As long as they keep the games close, we sure think so.