WASHINGTON -- The captain, Alex Ovechkin, is trying http://www.authenticbruinsshop.com/authentic-carl-soderberg-jersey.html to dispose of teammate Brooks Laich's shoe with a remote-controlled bomb-disposal robot.T.J. Oshie, one of the new Washington Capitals, tries on a bomb-disposal suit, as does Laich. Evgeny Kuznetsov, the team's emerging star center, is at the controls of a shiny Huey helicopter in the sprawling hangar at Andrews Air Force Base.Nearby, another offseason addition, Mr. Game 7 himself, Justin Williams, joins his new teammates on a platform to peer inside the cockpit of an F-16 fighter jet.There are a couple of relay races, and an attack dog takes turns leaping at various Capitals players -- including Ovechkin -- sporting heavily padded training coats, much to the delight of their teammates and the mild consternation of the coaching staff. After all, who wants to make the phone call to GM Brian MacLellan telling him Ovechkin's arm's been torn open by an attack dog?Somewhere across the base is the hangar Derek Stepan Youth Jersey Air Force One calls home, and the bus driver is firmly-but-good-naturedly reminded that he's not to take the team bus off the prescribed route across the tarmac.Not quite your typical day off for an NHL team that has played nearly one-third of its schedule. Then again, these Capitals aren't your average team.Blessed with an abundance of high-end skill for most of the past decade, the Capitals have become the poster boys for playoff regrets. The team has been to one Stanley Cup final -- that in 1998 -- and since Ovechkin came into the league in 2005, the team has never been beyond the second round of the playoffs.Last season, the first under veteran head coach Barry Trotz, the team blew a 3-1 series lead against the New York Rangers in the second round and lost in overtime in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden.Same old, same old. Or so it would seem Marcus Smart Kids Jersey from a distance.However, in the short time that has passed since that Game 7, there has been a change in the Capitals that is both subtle and, at this relatively early juncture of the season, seemingly profound.Although they do not have the most points in the league -- they are third in winning percentage as of Wednesday morning as they prepare for a Thursday night clash with the league's top team, the Montreal Canadiens -- you can make the argument that the Capitals are in fact the best team in the Eastern Conference, if not the entire NHL.Consider the following:The Capitals are currently fourth in both goals scored (3.22) and goals allowed (2.22) per game; they are second in power-play efficiency (26.8 percent) and tied for ninth in penalty killing (83.3 percent); they have not lost back-to-back games all season; their six wins when opponents score first are second, and in the advanced statistics SAT (shot attempts; aka Corsi), they are eighth.Goaltender Braden Holtby was named http://www.authenticyankeesshop.com/authentic-18-johnny-damon-jersey.html the NHL's second star last week, and leads the league in goals-against average (1.95) and wins (15)."You look at this team and they're confident in everything they do," said former Capitals player Alan May, who has been a broadcast analyst since 2009, the year the Capitals won the Presidents' Trophy but were upended by the Pittsburgh Penguins in a classic seven-game, second-round playoff series.
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