Brooks Laich News

The Washington Capitals will try to end a two-game slide without the services of superstar Alex Ovechkin when they visit the New Jersey Devils for tonight's battle at Prudential Center.

For the second game in a row, the Washington Capitals fell in overtime at home to an opponent they should have dominated.A On Sunday afternoon, in a strange 5:00 p.m. start, the Caps fell to the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 when R.J. Umberger scored a power play goal, his second of the game,A 1:45 into the overtime period.

Eds: APNewsNow. Blue Jackets 5, Capitals 4. AP Photo VZN102, VZN101 WASHINGTON R.J. Umberger scored his second goal of the game on a power play 1:45 into overtime to give the Columbus Blue Jackets a 5-4 win against the Washington Capitals on Sunday.

In nine games this season, the New York Islanders have only won one game. But even more than that, five of those nine have gone into overtime, with three of those going to shootouts While the Islanders do get a point for making it to overtime even with their opponent, it is hurting the team because in many cases they had leads going into the third ...

Alex Ovechkin scored twice and added an assist, as the Washington Capitals claimed a 4-3 win over the Atlanta Thrashers at Philips Arena.

After missing two games because of illness and injury, Washington Capitals winger Alexander Semin returned to practice Monday and was promptly put back in the place where he feels most comfortable: on the top line with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

Coach Bruce Boudreau wouldn't say which line Semin will end up on when the Capitals host the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, but he didn't rule out reuniting his top offensive forwards for the first time since the fifth game of the season. Semin scored five of his six goals in Washington's first four games.

It was another pulsating Saturday in the NHL, as all 30 teams were in action on a night that saw five games go past regulation.

Mike Green scored in the third period and set up Brooks Laich's overtime winner to give the Washington Capitals a stirring 3-2 comeback victory over the lowly New York Islanders on Saturday night.

"Why shouldn't I be?" Fleischmann said, laughing. "I'm happy I'm on the ice with guys." It was a return to normalcy for the Washington Capitals forward.

Tomas Fleischmann didn't pick a great day to make his long-awaited return to the ice. But after missing two months with a blood clot in his left leg, the Washington Capitals winger was simply happy to be skating with his teammates, even if it meant suffering through the most grueling practice since training camp.

'I felt really good on the ice,' Fleischmann said. 'That's a good sign.'

Fleischmann received medical clearance Monday and completed the skating portion of Tuesday's session, which left many players doubled over.

All things considered, Karl Alzner's decision to record his thoughts last season for the "Hockey Diaries" audio documentary series that ran on National Public Radio turned out terrific.

On Tuesday Capitals' coach Bruce Boudreau announced he was breaking up the team's top line and placing Nicklas Backstrom on a second line with Brooks Laich and Alexander Semin.

By Michael Hoffman of WMAL and the Washington Capitals Examiner . For more sports check out the WMAL Redskins Blog .

First it was letting up because of a five-goal lead. Then it was a parade to the penalty box.

After three games this season we know one thing for sure, the Washington Capitals can certainly score goals.

Alex Ovechkin raced out of the gates with five goals and nine points in Washington's first three games.

New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist gifted a goal to Nicklas Backstrom early in the third period, and the center scored again a few minutes later to put the Washington Capitals ahead.

It should have been enough. It wasn't.

Rangers sniper Marian Gaborik scored two goals of questionable quality on Jose Theodore in the span of 2 minutes 33 seconds to send the Capitals to their second consecutive loss, 4-3 at Verizon Center.

'Any time you have the lead [late] in the game, you have to [hold on] if you're going to be a good team,' a furious Capitals Coach Bruce Boudreau said. 'We've blown two leads like that and almost a third in four games. It's a really upsetting trend that better stop in a hurry.'

Having played nearly 12 minutes in Saturday's win over the TorontoMaple Leafs, the work had just begun for Washington Capitals captainChris Clark.

Washington Capitals' Brooks Laich scores on Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Vesa Toskala as Leafs' Francois Beauchemin look on during the first period of their NHL hockey game in Washington, October ... Less than a week into the regular season, the Toronto Maple Leafs' defence finds itself on the defensive.

After a long summer of bad headlines in Phoenix, a quest for 50 goals in 50 games from a certain Washington Capitals forward sounds like the perfect tonic.