The caps came out of the gate with 16 high scoring and largely winning games.  We all have some sense that the last 30 games have been tough, but even going back 40 games (all but the first fifth of the season) we look awful.  Ultimately the game is about GF vs GA.  Over the last 30 we're at 61 vs 67 (an anemic 2 goals/game).  Over the last 40, we're at 92 vs. 95.  We have been outscored over the last half season.  Hard to believe, given this skill level and relative depth and relative health.  

Note: GF/GA counting only actual goals, not the silliness of crediting SO as a GF/GA.

I'm sure others will add great moments I've missed, but here are five plays I'm sure I'll remember 10 years from now looking back on this regular season (not in order):

-Ovi b/t Rosival's legs and one-handed over Lundqvist for pt 500.

-Nick's perfect pass off the boards

-Semin's sweet-n-sour right onto Flash's tape

-BMo's between the legs goal

-Jeff Schultz: 200 foot Iafrate

Yours?

6th best skater in the NHL by GvT.  Sixth.  7th best when you don't count the SO, which would be my preferred methodology.  Guy had a top 7 year, yet is loathed by many here for a supposed "lack of effort" or playing stupid.

Semin just put up the 9th best Caps season points-wise in franchise history for adjusted points.  My guess is if they ran GvT backwards, outside of the current team, you wouldn't find more than a four caps who ever put up such a fine season (Maruk & Stevens probably, Gartner, Bondra & Jagr mabye).  But that's just a guess.  Back to the numbers.

He had this fantastic season playing as a second-liner 2/3 of the time.  Which Cap in our franchise history has done something close to this?  Which player in the top 20 in the NHL by GvT has done something similar?  At even strength, Semin got Backis only 36% of the time (about a third of that was when Ovi was out).   About 25% of the time he was "centered" by Flash (forget the lack of playmaking, the lost faceoffs alone will crush productivity in each and every shift), then he had BMo and quite a bit of Belanger in the end.  That's not only a lack of playmaker to set him up, as solid a season as Brooks had, with Semin's deft passing, he coulda had more.

Oh, yeah, 5th in the league +/-.  2nd on the team to Ovi for Takeaways (yeah, subjective, but they played roughly the same sked), and overall +3 on takeaways/giveaways... to Ovi's -10.  While Ovi was fifth in the league in PP TOI / game, Semin was 53rd.  

Finally, Alex plays shorthanded.  58 seconds of SH TOI/G (vs. 3 for Alex), and perhaps our most effective shorthanded forward: an absolutely staggering 4-on-5 +-ON/60 of 0.00 in his almost 1 min of TOI/G.  To put that in perspective, Nick is 4th on the team in basically the same ice time and rated a -6.34.  Brads and Brooks were 2nd and 3rd in 50% more and double the ice time put up -3 and -4.6.

Oh, and on the PP, he had our 2nd best +-ON/60 to only Nick, and a dead heat when you adjust for TOI.

I love me all the young guns, but I think Semin is the least appreciated Cap player -- and the least appreciated superstar -- I've seen in 20 years of Caps fandom.  Go Sasha!