Washington, DC

Wednesday, November 15, 2006 - Saturday, November 18, 2006

Jill attended the annual HRPP conference in Washington, DC, held at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. Never one to miss out on tagging along, I went with her. For this trip, we stayed at the Topaz Hotel, one of the hotels in the Kimpton chain. We had dinner one night at the Melting Pot, which we had eaten at before when we were in DC. We also went to a Caps game at the Verizon Center.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- After a slow start to the season, Rod Brind'Amour and the rest of the Carolina Hurricanes are playing like, well, Stanley Cup champions.

Brind'Amour had two goals and two assists to extend his point streak to seven games, and Erik Cole also had a hand in every score for Carolina in a 4-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Friday night.

"We definitely feel better the way we've been playing of late," said Brind'Amour, who has goals in four consecutive games. "We've got to keep it up, because we're not where we want to be yet."

Carolina's captain didn't manage a single point through the season's first four games, all losses -- but he has 10 goals and 20 assists in the 17 games since to rank among the league leaders.

Brind'Amour has at least one point in every Carolina victory this season, and he and Cole scored power-play goals less than two minutes apart in the second period for a 2-0 lead that set the tone.

"It can grind teams down and wear them down a little bit, having to play in their end," Carolina coach Peter Laviolette said. "Over the course of time, we can get the results we want."

Backup goalie John Grahame made 21 saves to earn his first win since joining the defending champions in the offseason. Grahame, a member of the U.S. team at the Torino Olympics, allowed a total of 10 goals in his previous two starts this season.

Cam Ward started in Carolina's net each of the previous 11 games and 18 of the team's 20 this season entering Friday.

Grahame "wants to play. He wants to be in there," Laviolette said. "It's easy just to accept a role or a situation, and I know that he was mad, and he wanted to get in there and he wanted to contribute."

Brind'Amour assisted on Cole's opening goal, scored himself 1:46 later to make it 2-0, assisted on Ray Whitney's goal early in the third period and ended the scoring with 1:47 remaining off a pass from Cole, who finished with three assists.

Brind'Amour and Cole each scored in the second period exactly 43 seconds after a Capitals player was sent to the penalty box. There was a smattering of boos from the crowd of 12,683 at the end of the period.

"They've got some guys up front who know how to finish," Capitals goalie Olie Kolzig said. "Tough to say about a Stanley Cup champion, but they're a much more improved team than (at) the beginning of the season."

Whitney made it 3-0 for Carolina 5:33 into the third period, off assists by Brind'Amour and Cole. Richard Zednik, who missed Washington's previous six games with an injury, scored the hosts' goal on a power play with 10:32 left.

Capitals star Alex Ovechkin, the reigning rookie of the year, didn't have a particularly good showing in his 100th NHL game. Not only didn't he have a point -- he didn't even register a shot through two periods, finishing with three.

"It's the second year of their system and ... it's fairly robotic. There's not a lot of defensive breakdowns there," Capitals coach Glen Hanlon said. "They're the champs, and until somebody beats them, they're the best team in the league."

Game notes
Washington LW Alexander Semin didn't play in the third period because he was hurt and might miss the team's game at Boston on Saturday -- although the Capitals wouldn't say what his injury is. "Somewhere on the body," general manager George McPhee said. ... Four of Cole's seven goals this season have come against Washington. He had a hat trick in a 5-0 victory Nov. 9. ... Capitals captain Chris Clark missed the game after having three teeth knocked out when a puck hit him in the face Wednesday against Boston. He won't play Saturday, either.

Game Information
Arena: Verizon Center Location: Washington, DC	Referees: Greg Kimmerly, Chris Lee Linesmen: Steve Barton, Jean Morin
Attendance: 12,683 (67.9% full)

TEAM STATISTICAL COMPARISON
Key:  Carolina    Washington
Total Shots  29    22	PIM  10    12	Hits    16  24	Giveaways  15    26	Takeaways    8    8	Faceoffs Won  32    26

1st Period Summary
TIME	TEAM	SCORING DETAIL	SCORE
No scoring this period
TIME	TEAM	PENALTY DETAIL
9:08		Eric Staal: 2 Minutes for Hooking Kris Beech
12:49		Anton Babchuk: 2 Minutes for Interference of Steve Eminger
15:34		Matt Bradley: 2 Minutes for Tripping Erik Cole

2nd Period Summary
TIME	TEAM	SCORING DETAIL	SCORE
14:49		Erik Cole (7) (Power Play) Assists: Andrew Hutchinson, Rod Brind'Amour	Carolina 1-0
16:35		Rod Brind'Amour (9) (Power Play) Assists: Erik Cole, Ray Whitney	Carolina 2-0
TIME	TEAM	PENALTY DETAIL
1:42		Mike Commodore: 2 Minutes for Holding Richard Zednik
4:28		Bryan Muir: 2 Minutes for Hooking Justin Williams
9:01		Alexander Semin: 2 Minutes for High-sticking Anton Babchuk
14:06		Shaone Morrisonn: 2 Minutes for Holding the Stick Ray Whitney
15:52		Donald Brashear: 2 Minutes for Holding Anton Babchuk

3rd Period Summary
TIME	TEAM	SCORING DETAIL	SCORE
5:33		Ray Whitney (8) Assists: Rod Brind'Amour, Erik Cole	Carolina 3-0
9:28		Richard Zednik (3) (Power Play) Assists: Ben Clymer, Kris Beech	Carolina 3-1
18:13		Rod Brind'Amour (10) Assists: Erik Cole, Ray Whitney	Carolina 4-1
TIME	TEAM	PENALTY DETAIL
0:11		Dainius Zubrus: 2 Minutes for Delay of Game - Puck Over Glass
7:47		Trevor Letowski: 2 Minutes for Holding the Stick
12:20		Andrew Ladd: 2 Minutes for Delay of Game - Puck Over Glass

Player Summary

Carolina Hurricanes Time On Ice Faceoffs PLAYER G A +/- SOG MS BS PN PIM HT TK GV SHF TOT PP SH EV FW FL % C. Adams RW 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 15 10:29 0:00 1:40 8:49 0 0 00.0 K. Adams C 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 17 12:50 0:00 2:27 10:23 4 7 36.4 E. Belanger C 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 19 13:37 1:04 2:11 10:22 6 5 54.5 R. Brind'Amour C 2 2 2 2 1 0 0 0 1 1 2 29 23:06 5:27 5:08 12:31 19 10 65.5 B. Hedican D 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 31 26:09 5:07 4:35 16:27 0 0 00.0 T. Letowski RW 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 14 8:44 0:00 0:00 8:44 0 0 00.0 D. Tanabe D 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 21 13:04 2:43 1:31 8:50 0 0 00.0 S. Walker RW 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 14 15:24 5:32 0:00 9:52 0 0 00.0 G. Wesley D 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 2 27 20:08 0:00 5:06 15:02 0 0 00.0 R. Whitney LW 1 2 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 16:24 5:24 0:00 11:00 0 0 00.0 J. Williams RW 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 19 16:03 4:02 2:43 9:18 0 0 00.0 M. Commodore D 0 0 1 1 1 3 1 2 3 1 1 32 24:28 0:03 4:29 19:56 0 0 00.0 E. Cole RW 1 3 2 2 3 1 0 0 1 0 2 21 17:26 5:49 0:00 11:37 0 0 00.0 A. Babchuk D 0 0 1 1 0 2 1 2 2 1 0 30 22:12 0:00 3:41 18:31 0 0 00.0 A. Hutchinson D 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 12 7:04 3:54 0:00 3:10 0 0 00.0 C. LaRose LW 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 17 15:26 0:00 5:13 10:13 0 0 00.0 E. Staal C 0 0 0 3 1 0 1 2 0 0 1 19 14:26 5:32 0:00 8:54 3 4 42.9 A. Ladd LW 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 2 1 0 0 17 13:26 2:33 0:00 10:53 0 0 00.0 Washington Capitals Time On Ice Faceoffs PLAYER G A +/- SOG MS BS PN PIM HT TK GV SHF TOT PP SH EV FW FL % K. Beech C 0 1 0 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 5 22 14:52 3:27 0:07 11:00 8 9 47.1 M. Bradley RW 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 2 0 0 2 21 14:50 0:18 2:27 12:05 1 0 100.0 D. Brashear LW 0 0 -1 2 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 16 11:24 2:54 0:00 8:30 0 0 00.0 B. Clymer D 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 19 14:25 1:48 0:00 12:37 0 0 00.0 B. Muir D 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 2 1 0 2 23 15:17 3:02 0:00 12:15 0 0 00.0 M. Pettinger LW 0 0 -1 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 1 23 17:54 3:56 4:12 9:28 1 1 50.0 R. Zednik LW 1 0 -1 4 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 23 19:51 5:27 1:33 12:51 0 0 00.0 D. Zubrus C 0 0 -1 3 0 0 1 2 2 0 3 20 16:32 5:56 0:00 10:36 3 8 27.3 B. Pothier D 0 0 -1 2 0 3 0 0 1 1 5 29 26:43 5:07 5:05 16:31 0 0 00.0 B. Sutherby C 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 23 14:11 0:18 3:02 10:51 7 8 46.7 J. Erskine D 0 0 -1 0 1 3 0 0 3 0 1 24 14:54 0:00 3:54 10:42 0 0 00.0 S. Morrisonn D 0 0 -1 0 0 3 1 2 2 1 0 26 22:21 0:00 5:32 16:49 0 0 00.0 B. Gordon C 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 2 1 18 12:42 0:00 5:21 7:21 5 5 50.0 S. Eminger D 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 2 0 1 23 14:25 0:12 4:21 9:52 0 0 00.0 A. Semin LW 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 2 0 1 1 12 11:08 4:32 0:07 6:29 0 0 00.0 B. Laich C 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 16 9:50 0:00 2:03 7:29 1 1 50.0 A. Ovechkin LW 0 0 -1 3 2 0 0 0 3 0 2 22 18:48 6:29 0:00 12:19 0 0 00.0 M. Green D 0 0 -1 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 1 24 20:25 4:59 0:00 15:08 0 0 00.0

Goaltending Summary
Carolina Hurricanes Goaltending PLAYER SA GA SAVES SV% TOI PIM J. Grahame 22 1 21 .955 59:53 0	Washington Capitals Goaltending PLAYER SA GA SAVES SV% TOI PIM O. Kolzig 29 4 25 .862 60:00 0

Shots On Goal	1st	2nd	3rd	T
Carolina	9	13	7	29
Washington	7	6	9	22

* - A player receives a "plus" if he is on the ice when his Club scores an even-strength or shorthand goal. He receives a "minus" if he is on the ice for an even-strength or shorthand goal scored by the opposing Club. The difference in these numbers is considered the player's plus-minus statistic.

Total Mileage: 612 Miles

Total Miles Travelled:
139,891 Miles!