Zubrus's Goal in Overtime Lifts Capitals Over Kings

Capitals 4, Kings 3

Dainius Zubrus, top left, and Alex Ovechkin celebrate Zubrus' overtime goal. (Preston Keres - The Washington Post)

Dainius Zubrus described his overtime winner last night as "the weakest shot I'll ever take to score."

The goal didn't really earn much in the way of style points, but it did earn the Capitals a 4-3 victory over the woeful Los Angeles Kings, gave them two critical points in the Eastern Conference standings and kept them on the fringes of the playoff race.

The Capitals have now have gained at least a point in each of their past three games (2-0-1) and have moved one behind the New York Rangers for 11th place and eight in back of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the final playoff berth. Although it's unlikely the Capitals can make up enough ground over the next two months, the players, Zubrus said, believe it's possible.

Los Angeles was "one of the teams we have to beat to make that push," Zubrus said. "We have to take those games at home. We're still right there. There's a pack of us pushing for those last three spots that are going to be available. It's all going to come down to how we play the next two months."

Zubrus's decisive tally came after the veteran center won a faceoff deep in the Kings' zone. He controlled the puck, passed it back to Shaone Morrisonn, who zipped it over to his defensive partner, Milan Jurcina. Jurcina wound up and fired the puck on Kings goaltender Mathieu Garon, who slowed the puck and allowed it to slip past.

The puck hit the post and rested momentarily on the goal line, where Zubrus, who also set up a pair of goals, poked it in midway through the extra session.

Zubrus was the hero, but several of his teammates also deserved plenty of the credit, starting with goaltender Olie Kolzig (26 saves), grinder Boyd Gordon (goal and assist) and Chris Clark (goal). Left wing Alex Ovechkin, meantime, snapped the longest point drought of his brief NHL career with a second-period assist, but otherwise spent a quiet night trying to get away from Kings defenseman Rob Blake.

"If it's a home game then those are definitely the ones that we have to make sure we [win] to get to where we eventually want to be," Capitals Coach Glen Hanlon said.

But Hanlon wasn't pleased with the power play, which continued to struggle, going 0 for 4. The coach promised to make changes today in practice in an effort to jump-start the unit, which failed to record a goal for the fourth consecutive game (0-15).

"We've got to get into our head to get more shots and not look for the perfect pass," Zubrus said.

Zubrus and his teammates came out flat against the struggling Kings, who arrived in Washington having lost 11 of 13 games and in last place in the Western Conference. And, as a result, the visitors dominated the first 15 minutes of the game, opening a 10-1 margin in shots on goal and a 1-0 lead after Anze Kopitar converted a five-on-three power play opportunity at 8 minutes 23 seconds.

The first player from Slovenia to make the NHL, Kopitar crashed the Capitals' net looking for rebound. And when Brent Sopel's slap shot hit Kolzig, it came out to the smooth-skating 19-year-old center, who stopped, flipped his stick to the other side of his body and tapped the puck -- backhanded -- out of midair into the far corner of the net.

But the game turned in the second period when Gordon scored short-handed with a slap shot from inches inside the Kings blueline. Gordon's blast gave the home team its 10th short-handed goal and tied the score 1-1 at 1:43. It was Gordon's fifth short-handed point of the season, putting him one behind league leader Martin St. Louis of Tampa Bay.

Capitals winger Ben Clymer scored on a wraparound at 6:17 of the second to give the home team a 2-1 lead. Ovechkin was credited with the second assist, snapping his pointless streak.

But Washington's lead was a short-lived. Los Angeles's Alexander Frolov redirected a slap shot between Kolzig's pads only 1:05 later to even the score at 2.

Clark's 23rd goal at 11:35 of the second restored the Capitals' edge, 3-2. Garon made the stop but allowed the puck to trickle over the line.

But that Capitals lead also didn't last long.

The Kings' high-scoring defenseman, Lubomir Visnovsky, fired a slap shot from the high slot over Kolzig's left shoulder at 18:45 to send the game to the third period knotted at 3.