Chris Clark News

JUST FIVE YEARS ago, it would have been nonsensical to call the Washington Capitals D.C.'s best team: They finished the 2005-06 season at the bottom of their division and were in the first year of rebuilding the team with rookie Alex Ovechkin at its core.

Tomas Fleischmann scored twice during a five-goal third period, and the short-handed Washington Capitals beat the Florida Panthers 7-4 Saturday night for a sweep of their home-and-home series.

Brendan Morrison scored a pair of goals and Brian Pothier had a goal and two assists Friday in the Washington Capitals' 4-1 win over the Florida Panthers.

Nicklas Bergfors scored two power-play goals 3:13 apart in the third period to break open a tie game and send the New Jersey Devils to a 3-2 victory over the Alex Ovechkin-less Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.

First, Alex Ovechkin was day-to-day. Then he was week-to-week. Now the latest, courtesy coach Bruce Boudreau: "Hopefully it's no more than two weeks." The league's two-time reigning MVP has the most serious injury of his NHL career, a "upper-body strain" that could test just how good the Washington Capitals can be this season.

Washington Capitals left wing Quintin Laing has received a diagnosis of H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu, a team official confirmed Wednesday.

Laing, who was sent home upon arriving at the team's Arlington practice facility Tuesday morning and missed his first game of the season that night, is taking anti-virus drug Tamiflu and resting, a team spokesman said. He is being kept isolated from his wife and two infant sons and won't return to the team until he is symptom-free in an effort to prevent the spread of the flu, which has become a concern nationally for sports leagues in both the amateur and professional ranks.

There is no doubt about the Washington Capitals ' ultimate goal this season: It begins and ends with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman handing the Stanley Cup to captain Chris Clark.

Mark Streit scored 53 seconds into overtime to give the New York Islanders a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals on Friday night.

The surging Washington Capitals will aim for a sixth consecutive victory when they host the sliding Atlanta Thrashers in tonight's Southeast Division battle at Philips Arena.

By Michael Hoffman for Washington Capitals Examiner and WMAL. For a photo gallery and more from this game, click here .

New York goalie Dwayne Roloson shields the net from Washington's Chris Clark in the first period of Saturday's game.

The Washington Capitals will shoot for a fourth consecutive victory when they visit the lowly New York Islanders for tonight's contest at Nassau Coliseum.

Afforded a rare opportunity Thursday night to skate together in the NHL with the Washington Capitals , the duo displayed some of their artistic ability against the Atlanta Thrashers .

Jeff Schultz tallied three points and scored the go-ahead goal on an odd bounce, and the Washington Capitals used three scores in an 88-second span during the second period to defeat the Atlanta Thrashers, 5-4, at Philips Arena.

Considering how many times the Washington Capitals dropped games to clearly inferior opponents last season, the adage of "two points is two points" came to mind Saturday night.

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.

"One bad shift in the third period" was how Washington Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau described his team's effort in a 3-2 shootout loss to the New Jersey Devils, who were completing a three-game road trip Monday night at a sold-out Verizon Center.

The woes of the Capitals continue as they were defeated tonight in a shootout against the New Jersey Devils.

Two years ago, the Washington Capitals were so far down the standings that it was easy to rally around a "nobody believes in us" attitude.