Brendan Morrison News

There were a bunch of players available to the media in the Washington Capitals dressing room following Saturday night's 2-1 shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre.

Not only were the Washington Capitals short seven skaters, but playing on a second consecutive night for the third straight Saturday, they also were short on energy.

Carey Price made 32 saves to help the Montreal Canadiens take down the Washington Capitals, 3-2, at Verizon Center.

Despite losing their last game, the Washington Capitals own the NHL's best home record.

Capitals forward David Steckel is forced into Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price by Canadiens Josh Gorges in Washington on Friday night.

Read up on the latest tidbits and trends as Hockey Night in Canadaa s play-by-play voice Jim Hughson takes you behind the scenes and into the game.

Brendan Morrison has benefited from increased playing time after injuries in Washington.

When the season began, Brendan Morrison was slotted as the Washington Capitals' No.

On Tuesday night, the Washington Capitals will play on national television and in "The World's Most Famous Arena." The Capitals ' meeting with the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden has one more thing going for it: the return from injury of the two-time defending league MVP.

Alex Ovechkin and Bruce Boudreau were under no obligation to say No. 8 was going to return to Washington's lineup Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers, but both strongly hinted that was the case after Monday's practice.

Washington's Mike Green takes the net off its moorings as he goes by Devils goalie Martin Brodeur on Saturday in Newark, N.J. Zach Parise's breakaway highlighted a three-goal second period and the New Jersey Devils won their eighth straight game with a 5-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.

The Washington Capitals knew they were going to need scoring from everywhere in order to withstand a week or two without Alex Ovechkin, and on Friday night they got more of it.

Defensemen Mike Green and Brian Pothier scored the first two goals, and goaltender Semyon Varlamov bounced back from a bad goal to lift the Capitals to a 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild at Verizon Center.

The win was the Capitals' fourth in a row and gave them a two-point lead in the Eastern Conference over the New Jersey Devils, their opponent Saturday. But the win came with a high cost: First-line right wing Mike Knuble broke a finger and will require surgery. The injury appeared to be to his left hand. A team official said Knuble is expected to miss three to four weeks.

While Alex Ovechkin still can't say exactly when he'll return to the Washington Capitals' lineup, this much is no longer up for debate: The franchise winger will be back soon.

Ovechkin practiced with his teammates Thursday for the first time since suffering a left shoulder strain on Nov. 1 and did not look encumbered at all by the injury.

He raced up and down the ice, swinging his arms comfortably and carrying his stick in his left hand. He effortlessly zipped passes across the ice to teammates in drills. And, most important, Ovechkin fully wound up on slap shots, sending pucks pinging off goal posts and crackling off the glass behind the net.

Chris Clark #17 of the Washington Capitals is congratulated by teammates after scoring the game-winning goal in the shootout against the New York Islanders at the Verizon Center on November 11, 2009 in Washington, D.C. Chris Clark tallied the deciding goal in the 11th round of the shootout as Washington rallied from an early two-goal deficit to ...

Mike Knuble and Brendan Morrison were the two significant offseason additions for the Washington Capitals, and to this point their offensive production has met - and maybe even exceeded - expectations.

A shot to prove Wednesday's third-period meltdown in New Jersey was an aberration is probably a good thing.

It didn't take long for Devils goalie Martin Brodeur's to notice the difference not having Alex Ovechkin on the ice made.

SUNRISE, FLA. -- Just when it seemed Washington's injury woes couldn't get any worse, they did.

With the team already missing two-time MVP Alex Ovechkin, defensemen Mike Green and Jeff Schultz both went down with injuries Friday night at BankAtlantic Center, where the short-handed Capitals gutted out a 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers.

Brendan Morrison scored twice, Tyler Sloan and Brian Pothier each tallied once and goaltender Jose Theodore was occasionally spectacular in making 28 saves to snap Washington's three-game losing streak. But the Capitals' collective health was their biggest concern as the players and coaches headed back home for Saturday night's rematch against Florida at Verizon Center.

SUNRISE, FLA. -- Alex Ovechkin was one of the first Washington Capitals on the ice for practice at BankAtlantic Center and was wearing his full complement of equipment and carrying his stick.

It took only a few minutes for the two-time MVP to realize that he's not quite ready to return to the lineup.

After tapping a teammate's pass into an empty net, Ovechkin, who was practicing for the first time since suffering a strain near his left shoulder Sunday, jokingly began to celebrate. But he couldn't raise his arms much above his chest, and moments later, he put his stick on the bench.

The Washington Capitals, looking for someone to provide a spark in the absenceA of two-time defending Hart Trophy winner Alex Ovechkin, got the complete opposite last night in a 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils .