Recap: Washington vs. Columbus

Published online on Sunday, Nov. 01, 2009

R.J. Umberger scored his second power-play goal of the game 1:45 into overtime, lifting the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 5-4 win over the Washington Capitals in a game that saw Alex Ovechkin leave with an injury.

Just seconds after Washington defenseman Brian Pothier was whistled for interference, Rick Nash had the puck in the right circle and sent it to the crease for Umberger, who redirected a shot past Jose Theodore for the victory.

"We had that never-quit attitude last year," Umberger said. "It doesn't always have to be pretty. But this team has to dig in. We're a hard-working team, that's our MO. We can't get into the pretty, tic-tac-toe kind of game. We're a team that has to grind it out."

Nash finished with a goal and two assists, while Raffi Torres also scored twice for Columbus, which had lost three in a row and five of six entering Sunday's contest. Steve Mason stopped 32 shots in the win.

Washington got two goals from Brooks Laich, but saw star forward Ovechkin leave with an undisclosed injury in the second period after falling to the ice. Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau said Ovechkin is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Quintin Laing, who this past week was diagnosed with swine flu, picked up his first goal of the season. Nicklas Backstrom also scored for the Capitals, who have dropped their last two, both overtime losses. Jose Theodore gave up all five goals on 32 shots in the setback.

The game went to overtime after a wild third period, which Columbus entered holding a 2-1 lead.

Laich got both his goals in quick successions to put Washington on top, with the first coming on the power play at 8:15. Just over two minutes later he made it a 3-2 game.

Columbus got the equalizer from Torres, when, just after a faceoff, he got the puck behind the Washington net and put a wraparound backhander past Theodore with 6:24 to play.

The Capitals went back ahead just under three minutes later thanks to pressure on the Columbus net. David Steckel scooped up a rebound just in front of the creased and passed to the slot for Laing, who banged in a one-timer.

But late in regulation, Derick Brassard had the puck in the right circle and threaded a pass through traffic to the left side, and Torres banked in the puck with 22.4 seconds to play.

"We have to be better disciplined as a club and learn to play with the lead if we want to win hockey games," Laich said. "If we want to be an elite team, that has to happen."

Backstrom got the Capitals on the board when he finished off a cross-ice series of passes between he, Tomas Fleischmann and Alexander Semin at 12:13 of the first period.

However, the Blue Jackets got a pair of goals in the middle frame to grab the lead. Nash evened the game at 5:03, when he skated up through the left circle, shifted to the center as Theodore committed to a shot, then slid the puck in the open net.

With just under a minute to play and Columbus on the power play, Theodore went behind the net to get the puck. But the disc took an odd bounce off the end boards and slid to the slot, where Umberger slammed home the easy score.

Ovechkin left early in the second period, and there was no official word on his injury.

Game Notes