Caps Briefing: Bustin' Loose!

Of course, on the ice, the Caps took as many steps backward as forward, losing in overtime after a heroic comeback led by Brooks Laich, Quintin Laing and Mike Knuble. Knuble was impressive, especially when controlling the puck deep in the offensive zone for 30 seconds of shorthanded play early in the third period while three Blue Jackets pushed, shoved and hacked away. He then passed to the equally-impressive Laing, who keyed off some brilliant passing plays that kept the puck in the offensive and neutral zones for the next half minute, until Dave Steckel came out of the box.

Knuble slid the puck slowly, back and forth along the boards, keeping his feet wide apart and spreading out his arms to push away the opposition. It was a move Ulf Dahlen used to use at even strength, to fight off one or two opponents. Watching Knuble push away three defenders while short-handed -- that got the crowd to their feet in a standing ovation.

After that, Brooks Laich made it look easy, sneaking right in front of the net while the Jackets defenders focused on Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom. Laich was all alone, five feet to the right of Mason to snap in the rebound of Tom Poti's hard, low slapshot from the blueline. This tied up the teams at two goals apiece.

Laich's second goal looked more like an Alexander Ovechkin play, as he turned and fired a quick wrist shot from the top of the left circle to the top left corner while Knuble set up a screen. Laich's quick release and accurate positioning of his shot allowed him to take advantage of the split second when Mason could not see the puck and simply crouched in butterfly position behind Knuble, covering the bottom of the net with his spread legs, the middle with his torso and holding his arms out for hope. Long known as a player who depends on grit, Laich made a skillful play to take advantage of Knuble's hard work and self-sacrifice.

This gave the Caps a three to two lead they quickly lost, as they were unable to keep Columbus forwards from camping out behind Jose Theodore's back the rest of the way. Late penalties to Knuble and Brian Pothier didn't help either, but if the Caps had a defenseman who could dominate the right post and prevent opponents from tapping in rebounds and redirections, they would have held on for the win.

Still, Laing's goal in his first game back from H1N1 influenza was an inspiration and a great reward for a night of hard work that included shot blocking, penalty killing and alert positional play all over the ice. Laich said Laing "played great coming back from the flu." The former Hershey Bears star cut into the slot to look for a rebound that went to Dave Steckel instead. Steckel alertly did not shoot the puck back into Mason, but passed it back across the slot to Laing for the tap-in.

The fact that the Caps could have won at that point, ahead with three minutes left, is impressive given that Ovechkin missed most of the game after a hit from Raffi Torres gave him what he called "an upper body injury." Pressed for specifics, Ovechkin replied first politely with, "I'm not allowed to tell you," and then more sincerely with, "what makes you think I am going to tell you?" On the upside, Ovechkin appeared calm and comfortable while responding to questions and moved without difficulty. The Post's Tariq El-Bashir heard that he is going to visit a doctor about the injury on Tuesday, which implies that it is not terribly urgent.

For now the Caps' overtime losses, even to weak teams, are propping them up from a slip in the standings. In the meantime, their use of local music is helping them rise to the top of this correspondent's heart. By busting loose from an occasionally bland musical format, they've upped their appeal to fans who believe that D.C. is, in spite of its constant change, a city with its own constant culture. Surely, our readers can suggest more musical ideas as to how the Caps can make the nation's capital into a Capitals capital in the comments.