The Caps are simply thankful he did. The 23-year-old Green has taken his game to a new level this season. He recently ended an NHL-record eight-game goal-scoring streak, the most consecutive games with a goal by a defenseman in league history.

That run has turned him into a star — maybe not on the level of teammate Alex Ovechkin, but certainly enough to put him in the running for a spot on Team Canada at next year’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Not that Green is thinking that far ahead. The 23-man Canadian roster will be finalized sometime next fall after another chance to impress Hockey Canada officials at a summer training camp.

“I have a goal in mind and that’s with this team right now,” Green said. “If it came about next year of course I’d be honored to play. I want to play really bad, obviously. But I just can’t think about it right now.”

That’s OK, though, because Green’s play is speaking for itself. He had 22 goals and 28 assists entering last night’s game against Montreal at Verizon Center. That’s a remarkable total considering Green has missed 13 games after suffering a minor shoulder injury Nov. 19 against Anaheim. He is just six points shy of his point total of 56 for all of last year — in 38 fewer games.

“Every game, everything Mike is touching is turning to gold,” Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said last week. “He’s got a ton of confidence right now. He can play for 30 minutes and never look tired. His shot is so accurate. He’s a gamebreaker.”

Green actually entered last night with more power-play goals than Ovechkin and is tied for the overall NHL lead with Buffalo’s Thomas Vanek. They each had 15. He set the consecutive goal record in a 5-1 win over Tampa Bay on Saturday, his teammates pouring off the bench to celebrate with him.

“Because it was being asked about, maybe [there was pressure] a little bit,” said Green, whose father, Dave, was on the record-setting road trip and is in town this week. “But if it happened it happened and if not it wasn’t the end of the world. But then I was pretty excited when it did.”

Caps news & notes

Trade talk

Caps general manager George McPhee made three critical trades last February to jumpstart his sagging team. Picking up F Sergei Fedorov, G Cristobal Huet and F Matt Cooke for the stretch run was exactly what the Caps needed on their way to a Southeast Division title. Are any deals on the horizon as the March 4 deadline looms?

» F Michael Nylander has been rumored on the trading block all season. Would a team like Chicago make another play for a veteran center as the playoffs approach? Dallas also could use a playmaker after losing star center Brad Richards to a broken wrist. The Caps would lose depth up the middle. But they would also shed the remaining two years and $8.5 million dollars on Nylander’s contract. That would serve as valuable salary-cap relief for a team that could use it.

» The Caps are sticking with 20-year-old rookie Michal Neuvirth as the backup to starting G Jose Theodore. But they could still make a deal for a veteran — especially since it looks like regular backup Brent Johnson won’t be back after hip surgery. But do the Caps want to give up an asset — a prospect, a draft pick — for a goalie who would play just a handful of games down the stretch? Theodore has been solid for two months now.

» Every team in the league could use an extra physical defenseman as the playoffs loom. But there aren’t many left on the shelf, either. The Caps could add to the blueline in house if D Brian Pothier is cleared. He hasn’t played a game in 13 months after a serious concussion but has been skating at practices since December. The smooth-skating Pothier is a puck-mover, not a banger. But a veteran presence and some depth can’t hurt.

On the farm

Hershey F Jay Beagle made an impression during training camp. That hard work finally paid off last week when he made his NHL debut at Madison Square Garden — one of eight Caps’ players to do so this season.

Beagle, 23, is in his second season with the Bears. He missed 26 games earlier in the year with post-concussion symptoms, returning Jan. 14. The University of Alaska-Anchorage product got a second NHL game in Sunday before returning to Hershey on Tuesday. The 6-foot-3, 208-pound Beagle is a physical force who also scored 19 goals for the Bears in 2007-08. He has two goals in the AHL this year in just 25 games, thanks in large part to the concussion.

Beagle was undrafted out of college — primarily because of suspect skating ability — but has improved in that area. The Caps invited Beagle to their summer development camp in 2008, where he made a good first impression, and then signed him as a free agent.

“It was all I thought it was going to be,” Beagle said of his first NHL game. He almost made the night even more memorable, but an open shot from the slot was — barely — shrugged off by Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist.