After two straight losses knocked the Capitals five points out of a playoff spot at the trade deadline, General Manager George McPhee pulled off four deals to give his team the strength to make the playoffs. Then, last night, with all four new players in other cities making travel arrangements, the Caps put together a great team effort to beat the Minnesota Wild.

Alleged puck-bunny favorite Brooks Laich stayed hot and continued scoring with two goals and two assists. Shaone Morrisonn got his first goal in 76 games. Matt Bradley and David Steckel both won fights. Olaf Kolzig played an extremely sound positional game, helping Washington beat one of the best of the West.

It’s lucky for them that they worked so hard. All but Morrisonn will find it much harder to get ice time this Friday when the team is joined by all-star goalie Christobal Huet and forwards Matt Cooke, Alexandre Giroux and Sergei Fedorov. For those of you who follow hockey or were simply alive in the nineties, that is not a typo. The Caps have acquired Sergei Fedorov.

Photograph of Olaf Kolzig by rjv541