AP Photo Courtesy Getty Images by Karl B. DeBlaker 

There stood a loose puck in the left slot 35-40 feet away. A streaking Alexander Ovechkin got to it with the back of his No.8 jersey facing Carolina netminder Cam Ward and in one motion fired a turnaround slapper which blew past the stunned former Conn Smythe winner’s glover into the top right portion of the net.

Caps 4 Canes 1 with 3:36 left at a packed loud Verizon Center the other night.

Ovechkin’s league leading 63rd goal and point No.110 was the icing on the cake of another huge win for Bruce Boudreau’s surging club which got a step closer to its first postseason in five years. Their fifth consecutive win was the longest streak since 2001.

The Capitals have won nine of 10 entering tonight’s crucial home tilt against Vincent Lecavalier and the last place Lightning. They know what’s at stake. Win and they move past the idle Flyers into eighth in the conference. Lose and suddenly, their outstanding play down the stretch could mean little.

These Caps aren’t just about Ovechkin, who should be a virtual lock for the league’s MVP unlike what the Devil homeristic Dumb and Dumber tandem of Ken Daneyko and Stan Fischler think. Could these two clowns wave the Marty Brodeur pom poms anymore? Chico Resch just protested.

Truth be told, Ovechkin’s closest competition in the Hart race will come from Russian comrade Evgeni Malkin, who has carried the Penguins to an Atlantic Division crown and possibly the East’s top seed depending on what happens between the Canadiens and Sabres later tonight north of the border.

Malkin should get a lot of votes considering that he elevated his level a few notches when last year’s Hart wihinner/ Sidney Crosby went down. So too should Calgary’s Jarome Iginla, who has done everything possible to help the Flames get within an eyelash of a playoff berth.

There are plenty of other worthy candidates who deserve mention such as Brodeur, Nick Lidstrom, Eric Staal, Joe Thornton, Alex Kovalev, Ryan Getzlaf and Mike Richards. It’s just that the three best ones have already been listed above and should each get the nod in what’s been a topsy turvy season.

Since inking that record extension back in mid-January, the exciting 22 year-old Ovechkin has been the game’s most dominant player doing what great players do by carrying his team back into playoff contention. At one point, the Caps looked like a dead team forcing a change behind the bench. Little did anyone know at the time that Boudreau could make such a difference.

The 53 year-old Toronto native had previously coached with AHL affiliate Hershey helping guide them to the Calder Cup two years ago and finishing runner-up a year ago.

The former NHLer who played for Original Six clubs Toronto and Chicago took over behind the Capital bench on Nov.22, 2007. At the time, the Caps were a pitiful 6-14-1 looking like they were headed for the NHL Lottery again.

It took Boudreau only a month to straighten out his team, being named pemanent coach on Dec.26. Suddenly, the style of the Caps changed. Instead of sitting back, they became much more aggressive utilizing their team speed. Along with Ovechkin was an underrated crop of forwards which included Calder hopeful Nicklas Backstrom, the overlooked Alexander Semin and Brooks Laich. Heck. Even Devil failure Viktor Kozlov flourished in Boudreau’s system.

If you have good speed, you can use it to your advantage to get the puck in and cycle the puck. It didn’t hurt that former No.1 pick Mike Green developed into a dangerous offensive defenseman. It also doesn’t hurt to have Tom Poti on the blueline. Wonder how Ranger fans feel about that. Remember when Poti for Mike York was a bad trade? Maybe Glen Sather really knew. It’s like admitting that former coach John Muckler was right about Manny Malhotra, who’s a much better fourth line center than most in today’s NHL. Actually, he’s a third who gets big minutes in Columbus.

The deadline deal for Cristobal Huet didn’t hurt the Caps nor did the key acquisition of the very experienced Sergei Fedorov, who knows what it takes to win at this time of year. The 38 year-old future Hall of Famer might not be as offensively gifted as before but that kind of intangible stuff can be invaluable to a young team trying to get back into the second season.

They host Tampa tonight and finish with Florida Saturday night. Win both and they’ll get to 94 points, which should be enough to get them in.

Under Boudreau, their current record is 35-17-7. That should be plenty good enough to get the first-year NHL coach a lot of votes for the Jack Adams. Though he might not win it probably going up against Wayne Gretzky, Boudreau’s done an outstanding job turning things around in the nation’s cap.

It was after the Capital camera zoomed in on an “O-V-I-E 63″ sign held up by a pumped up fan that the arena camera went to the serious proud man still coaching his players behind the bench. Where the fans knew that for that moment, they were tied for the Southeast lead with Carolina, who would respond with a blowout win over the Lightning Wednesday night.

And there you had it. A loud standing ovation for Boudreau. One which lasted a good minute even leaving Lepore’s favorite announcer Joe Beninati speechless.

Well deserved. It was extremely nice to see the Caps fans recognizing the work done by the man behind the bench. This was a welcome sight.

Their mission isn’t complete just yet.