Last year, it was January during which the Washington Capitals blew away the competition, surging to the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

This year, March has been the month the Caps have been nearly unstoppable. Keep it up Tuesday, and the Caps will end the night tied for the East’s top spot.

Washington heads to Philadelphia to face the Flyers in a showdown for the Eastern Conference lead. Philadelphia leads the conference with 96 points, but has gone 4-4-2 in its past 10 games.

Meanwhile, the Capitals are the hottest thing going right now. Since a 2-1 overtime victory over the Islanders on March 1, Washington is 9-1-0. The only loss in that stretch came last Wednesday, a 3-2 defeat at Detroit.

The Capitals have played two fewer games than Philadelphia, so a victory in Philly would be very helpful to the Caps’ hopes of repeating as regular-season Beasts of the East.

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The Washington Capitals sit in fifth place in the NHL’s Eastern Conference, but have their sights set on bigger and better things as winter turns to spring.

At Monday’s trading deadline the Caps landed a No. 2 center to add offensive punch, trading David Steckel and next year’s second-round pick to New Jersey for center Jason Arnott.

Arnott brings 24 points in 62 games this season to a Washington lineup looking for more offense to go with scorer Alex Ovechkin. Arnott also brings playoff experience: he scored the Stanley Cup winning goal for the Devils in the 2000 Finals.

The Caps are five points behind Tampa Bay in the Southeast Division. Last season, Washington won the President’s Trophy for most points in the regular season, but were upended in the first round of the playoffs by Montreal.

The 36-year-old Arnott is four goals away from 400 in his career, which started with Edmonton in 1993-94. He also has played with Dallas, and spent the previous four seasons with Florida. This season, Arnott has 13 goals and 11 assists.

Washington plays host to the Islanders on Tuesday.

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The Capitals tried to rally in the third period, quickly scoring a goal after Phoenix increased their lead to 3-1.

Alexander Ovechkin said he thought that the Capitals played pretty well, but just didn’t get any breaks.

The Capitals are quickly falling behind the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Southeast Division and have slipped into the middle of the Eastern Conference.

If the Capitals aren’t careful, they could soon find themselves simply battling to secure a playoff spot.

The Washington Capitals fought back from a deficit on Tuesday night, but could not start a quick Florida road trip with a victory.

The Caps did good to get a point in a 4-3 loss at Florida, considering Washington trailed 3-0 after David Booth’s goal for the Panthers at the 6:48 mark of the second period.

Washington started its comeback midway through the second period, Marcus Johansson scoring at the 10:10 mark. Just 3:20 later, Mike Knuble brought the Caps within 3-2 on a goal. The Caps tied the game in the third, Johansson’s second goal of the game knotting the score at 3-3 at the 7:12 mark.

Florida got the game-winner in overtime on Dennis Wideman’s fourth goal of the season, a power-play goal at the 2:51 mark of OT. Mike Santorelli and Marty Reasoner each scored for Florida in the first period.

Washington concludes a two-game-in-two-day swing through Florida on Wednesday at Tampa Bay. The Capitals are tied with the Lightning for first place in the Southeast Division with 55 points.

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After two easy victories at home over Tampa Bay earlier this season, the Washington Capitals finally ran out of answers and as a result, wake up out of first place.

Dwayne Roloson made 34 saves and Martin St. Louis scored in overtime as the Lightning beat the Caps for the first time this season on Tuesday, 1-0 at Verizon Center.

Caps goaltender Semyon Valamov, last week’s NHL first star, stopped 37 shots before St. Louis tucked home a rebound at the 2:54 mark of overtime.

Washington, which had beaten the Lightning at home by 6-3 and 6-0 margins earlier this season, lost for the second time in seven games.

The Capitals sit in second place in the Southeast Division, one point behind Tampa Bay and four points ahead of third-place Atlanta. The Lightning are tied with Philadelphia and Pittsburgh for first place in the Eastern Conference with 53 points.

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You can’t win them all, even if the Washington Capitals at times look like they might not lose again.

After dropping the season opener in Atlanta on Oct. 8, the Caps had won their next four in a row. But that win streak evaporated at Verizon Center on Tuesday in a 3-1 loss to Boston.

The Bruins scored twice in a 2:45 span of the first, beating Michal Neuvirth on both goals. The Washington goalie then left the game with flu-like symptoms.

Marcus Johansson scored the lone Washington goal in the second, cutting the Caps’ deficit to 2-1. But despite outshooting the Bruins 36-21, Washington couldn’t crack through again.

The Caps play Thursday at Boston, in the second half of a home-and-home with the Bruins.

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How could a team that finished with 121 points in the regular season get bounced in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs?

That’s a question that’s dogged the Washington Capitals all summer.

The Caps, if you’ll recall, grabbed the National Hockey League by storm after New Years. Washington roared to the top of the standings thanks to a 15-game winning streak, ending the regular season with the President’s Trophy and entering the playoffs as a favorite to hoist Lord Stanley’s trophy.

But it wasn’t to be. Eighth-seeded Montreal stunned the sports world by rallying from a 3-1 series deficit to upset Washington in seven games in the opening round of the playoffs.

How will the Caps respond after a summer of thinking, of wondering, of pondering what slipped away in the late days of April? Washington’s roster is as talented as any in the NHL, and the experience of such great highs and the ultimate of lows from last season should serve the Caps well as the new season begins.

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The weight of expectation is a burden every No. 1 seed carries into the NHL playoffs. Maybe that weight was too much for the Washington Capitals in their postseason opener.

The Caps, who steamrolled the Eastern Conference in the second half of the regular season, looked tight and tentative throughout Thursday night’s Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. The eighth-seeded Montreal Canadians took full advantage, upsetting the Caps 3-2 in overtime to take a surprising 1-0 series lead.

Facing a Game 2 Saturday night at the Verizon Center that isn’t a must win, but is close, the Caps seek to relax and regain their free-flowing style that saw the Caps finish the season with more points than any team in the standings.

It starts with Alexander Ovechkin, Washington’s leading scorer who was held without a goal, an assist and a shot on goal in the postseason opener. It’s the first time in 417 NHL games that Ovechkin was shut out in all three categories on the scoresheet.

Washington finished 0-for-4 on the power play and could not break through against Montreal’s defense. The Caps can ill afford a repeat performance Saturday, as the series will shift to Montreal for Game 3 on Monday and Game 4 on Wednesday.

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The Washington Capitals dominated the first season. But the second season is underway, and the President’s Trophy winners suddenly find themselves one game down in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Tomas Plekanec scored 13:19 into overtime Thursday night at the Verizon Center, sending No. 8-seed Montreal past the Caps in stunning fashion in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, 3-2.

This certainly wasn’t the type of start envisioned by the Caps, who ran away with the Eastern Conference regular-season title and top seed following a scorching second half of the regular season. But Montreal, which won a spirited battle with several teams for the final playoff spot in the East, took the fight to the heavily favored Caps all night long.

Now Washington has work to do.

Joe Corvo scored in the first for the Caps, and Nicklas Backstrom added a goal in the third period. Jose Theodore made 45 saves, but he gave up the game-winner to put Washington in a 1-0 hole.

Game 2 is Saturday night in Washington. The Caps will have to be better on special teams, after going 0-for-4 on the power play in the opener. It also would help for Alexander Ovechkin to get on track. The Caps’ superstar not only didn’t register a point in Game 1, he didn’t even get off a shot after Montreal’s defense.

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Alex Ovechkin didn’t light the lamp, but he put the Washington Capitals in position to bounce back from a rare loss on home ice.

Ovechkin, fighting Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby for the NHL scoring title, did not score but dished out two assists Wednesday, and Tomas Fleischmann netted the game-winner in overtime as the Caps knocked off Carolina 4-3 at Verizon Center.

The win gave Washington 99 points on the season, tops in the NHL and good for a 14-point lead in the Eastern Conference. The win came two days after a shootout loss to Dallas snapped a 13-game home winning streak for the Caps (45-13-9).

Against Carolina, the last team to beat the Caps at home in regulation (on Dec. 28), Alexander Semin scored on a breakaway in the first period to make it 1-0. Mike Green netted the first of his two goals to make it 2-0. Carolina fought back to tie it 2-2 before Green scored his second of the game.

The Hurricanes tied it and forced overtime, but Fleischmann – who didn’t play Monday as the Caps begin resting some of their regulars for the playoffs – came through in extra time.

Jose Theodore earned the win in goal for Washington, which plays host to Tampa Bay Friday night. The Caps have earned at least one point in 15 straight home games.

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