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Bizarre game in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon, as the Capitals fired 48 shots at Flyers goaltender Antero Niittymaki -- including 25 in the first period -- only to get their lunches handed to them on the scoreboard in the form of a 7-1 dismantling at the hands of Philadelphia.

The Capitals went into the third period with a 39-13 edge in the shots department, yet trailed on the scoreboard 3-0. Perhaps their spirit was crushed, or something, because they allowed the Flyers to strike four more times in the final frame.

Scott Hartnell recorded a hat trick for Philadelphia in the win, which was its sixth victory in the past seven games. Jeff Carter added two goals, giving him 24 on the season, while Simon Gagne and Joffrey Lupul also joined in the goal-scoring fun, tormenting the Washington goaltending duo of Brent Johnson and Jose Theodore.

Brooks Laich scored the only goal for Washington, as Niittymaki made 47 saves for the Flyers.

It was hard not to feel more than a twinge of disappointment a couple of minutes ago, when I learned that Washington Capitals goaltender Simeon Varlamov had just been re-assigned to the Hershey Bears of the AHL in order to make room for veteran netminder Jose Theodore to return to the roster.

Why is that? Well, for one thing, Theodore has been his inconsistent self all season long, posting a lackluster record of 8-6, a goals against average of 3.08 and a save percentage of .888. Safe to say, those aren't the sort of numbers that leave you convinced that Theodore, who is in the first year of a two-year $9 million contract, can lead the team into the playoffs. Certainly, it seems clear that Caps head coach Bruce Boudreau isn't convinced either, which is why the rest of the league has been seeing so much of career journeyman Brent Johnson in the Washington net thus far this season.

But with Theodore going down with a hip flexor last week, the Washington faithful got a great look at the future in Varlamov. All he did was win his first NHL start last Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens on Hockey Night in Canada, yielding just one goal on 33 shots in a 2-1 win.

Last night, he followed up his successful debut with another victory, stopping 31 shots in a 4-2 win over the St. Louis Blues in Washington at Verizon Center. The highlight: stopping Blues veteran Keith Tkachuk on a breakaway.

One thing seems clear to me: If this were an NHL with a different financial structure, I'm pretty convinced that the team would have found a way to keep Varlamov up with the big club for the remainder of the season. Then again, with the salary cap being what it is, I'm sure that every day that Varlamov stays with the Caps had been burning way too much salary cap room for comfort. If so, that's a shame, as it's clear to me that there's only one place Varlamov belongs, and that's in the NHL.

Thanks to a series of injuries to goalies Jose Theodore and Brent Johnson, the Washington Capitals have had some rather unfamiliar faces suiting up the past two nights. On Friday, Ted Starkey told you the story of Brett Leonhardt, the Capitals web producer who had the opportunity to sit on the bench and serve as the backup goalie until Simeon Varlamov could make it to the arena, fresh off his callup from the minors.

On Saturday, it was Varlamov's moment to shine, as the 20-year old rookie turned aside 32 shots in his first NHL start, helping lead the Capitals to a 2-1 win in Montreal. The Canadiens peppered the former first-round pick with 27 shots over the final two periods, but he was up to the challenge, keeping the game tied at one until Michael Nylander scored his third goal of the season at the 17:28 mark of the third period, giving Washington the lead.

Nicklas Backstrom also scored for the Capitals, while Patrice Brisebois tallied the lone goal for Montreal. Jaroslav Halak picked up the start filling in for Carey Price, stopping 24 shots.

On Monday, we told you about former Lightning head coach Barry Melrose who openly admitted that he is taking great delight in the struggles of the organization that fired him, not to mention the fact he's openly rooting for them to lose every game they play. Well, Melrose has to be loving this current nine-game losing streak Tampa Bay is on, as it dropped another one on Wednesday night in Buffalo, 4-2.

The Lightning actually jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first period, thanks to goals by Mark Recchi and Martin St. Louis.

With less than a minute to play in the opening period, Buffalo's Drew Stafford picked up a power play goal, which set the stage for Thomas Vanek to tie the game and, ultimately, give the Sabres the lead in the second period with a pair of goals, giving him a league-best 22 on the season. Vanek has four goals in his past three games, all Buffalo victories.

Jason Pominville picked up an empty net goal late in the third, while Ryan Miller stopped 26 shots in the win.