Shaone Morrisonn News

Thanks to a three-point night from , 28 saves by Jose Theodore and some excellent late work on the penalty kill, the short-handed Caps ended a three-game skid with a 4-1 victory against the Florida Panthers at BankAtlantic Center.

With Alex Ovechkin and Mike Green wearing suits instead of skates, it figured the Washington Capitals might struggle offensively.

Nothing could have been further from reality Saturday night at Verizon Center.

Sparked by Mathieu Perreault's first career NHL tally and a pair of late strikes from Tomas Fleischmann, the Capitals erupted for five goals in the third period and routed the Florida Panthers, 7-4, before a capacity crowd .

'We can say their goalie struggled and [Jose Theodore] maybe let in a couple of softer ones than he normally has, but I thought we showed great determination in the third period,' Coach Bruce Boudreau said. 'It was really neat to see Mathieu Perreault start it all.'

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.

Brian Pothier scored a power-play goal and collected two assists, as the Washington Capitals defeated the Florida Panthers, 4-1, in the front end of a home-and-home series at BankAtlantic Center.

Completely unprovoked, Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau spent Tuesday morning lobbying for defenseman Mike Green to make the Canadian Olympic team.

Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said Monday he thought the Blue Jackets were targeting the Capitals Alex Ovechkin in Sunday's game.

Alex Ovechkin scored twice to add to his NHL-leading total, Semyon Varlamov stopped a penalty shot and the first-place Washington Capitals held on at the end to hand the Atlanta Thrashers their fourth straight loss, 4-3 on Thursday night.

It's no surprise that the Capitals are the early front- runners in the Southeast Division.

Actress and United Nations Fund for Women Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman was on Capitol Hill Wednesday testifying and lobbying for the International Violence Against Women Act.

Bruce Boudreau is happy with the performance of his new assistant coach, Bob Woods.

With six of their first eight games against teams that made the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring, Washington Capitals Coach Bruce Boudreau often spoke of the two-week stretch as a litmus test for his team, which entered this season with so many high expectations.

The results weren't perfect: The Capitals won just two of the six against some of the NHL's elite. Four of the losses came by one goal -- one in a shootout and one in overtime.

In most cases, the Capitals were undone by a minor lapse in attention -- from unnecessary penalties to missed backchecking assignments to lackadaisical power plays.

Alex Ovechkin provided all of Washington's offense in the first 65 minutes of Saturday night's game. Then the two-time MVP scored the only goal in the shootout to lift the Capitals to their second straight victory, a 3-2 decision over a Nashville Predators team they probably should have finished off in regulation.

'We had them 2-0 there, and they are a team that is mentally battling themselves right now,' center Brendan Morrison said. 'I think if we get that third goal, the floodgates open. But we didn't and we let them back in it.'

No defenseman is going to play more than 700 NHL games, as Tom Poti has, or nearly 300, as John Erskine has, without having a bad night every now and then.

The Washington Capitals will begin the defense of their Southeast Division title in Boston on October 1st.

The real preseason for Brian Pothier was last spring's playoffs. With his 14-month medical ordeal firmly planted behind him, the New Bedford native skated a solid 16:15 of ice time on Thursday, helping the Washington Capitals start off the 2009-10 NHL season with a 4-1 victory over the Bruins in Boston.

For the past four seasons, the world's best hockey player has performed in Washington. As a member of the Capitals, Alex Ovechkin has won a scoring title, led the National Hockey League in goals twice and been named MVP two years in a row.

The prize he's expected to deliver, though, has so far eluded him.

This could be the year that changes. Surrounded by the best supporting cast since his arrival, and likely the most talented lineup in the franchise's 36-year history, expectations have never been so high for the gregarious 24-year-old Russian or the Capitals.

For the past two years, the Washington Capitals have set their sights on the Stanley Cup.

CHICAGO, Sept. 19 -- With the Chicago Blackhawks dressing nearly all of their NHL players and the Washington Capitals suiting up significantly fewer of theirs, Saturday night's exhibition game should have been a mismatch.

But a strong performance in net from Michal Neuvirth, opportunistic goals by Chris Clark and Kyle Wilson and an overtime winner by Mathieu Perreault helped the Capitals escape United Center with a 3-2 win before a Chicago preseason record 19,734.

Perreault's goal with 11.4 seconds remaining improved the Capitals to 2-0-0 this preseason, with both victories coming in extra time. Patrick Sharp and Jack Skille, meantime, scored for the Blackhawks in their exhibition opener.

Sean Collins played 15 games for the Washington Capitals last season and was a surprise hit, performing like he belonged in the NHL.

Alex Burrows of the Vancouver Canucks plays keep-away from Shaone Morrisonn of the Washington Capitals at Canucks practice at UBC in Vancouver on Monday, August 31, 2009.