Caps Are Shaken and Stirred
Laich's Career Game Ends a Hectic Day, Lifts Struggling Team: Capitals 4, Wild 1

By Tarik El-Bashir
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 27, 2008

With 15 goals in 151 career games coming into the season, Brooks Laich was never considered an offensive threat. That perception, though, is slowly starting to change as the 24-year-old's game evolves.

Last night, Laich enjoyed a career performance at Verizon Center, scoring two goals and notching a pair of assists to help the Capitals cap a hectic day with a 4-1 victory in a rare visit from Marian Gaborik and the Minnesota Wild.

"He's got a little bit of confidence," Coach Bruce Boudreau said of Laich, who has four goals in as many games and 13 this season. "One door closes and another door opens. Alex [Ovechkin] hasn't scored in a bit so we need somebody else to score. On good teams, somebody else picks up the slack."

Ovechkin, the NHL's leading goal scorer, went a sixth consecutive game without a tally while playing on a line with Nicklas Backstrom -- not to be confused with Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom -- and Alexander Semin.

Which made Laich's contributions all the more important on a night in which Washington didn't gain on the Southeast Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes, but kept them in sight. Carolina defeated New Jersey in overtime to preserve its five-point cushion in the division race.

Laich opened the scoring less than three minutes into the game, then helped clinch it with Washington' fourth goal late in the second period. Defenseman Shaone Morrisonn and Eric Fehr also tallied, while Olie Kolzig made 34 saves on an emotional day for the 37-year-old goaltender.

"It's my 17th season and I have been through these before," Kolzig said, referring to the acquisition of goaltender Cristobal Huet from Montreal earlier in the day. "Some trade deadlines I like, and others I don't. But you just keep preparing the same way."

General Manager George McPhee made three deals in an attempt to jump-start his slumping team, which had lost five of its previous six (1-2-3) and was in jeopardy of falling off the pace.

The stunner, though, was the acquisition of Huet for a second-round draft pick in 2009. The addition gives the Capitals three goaltenders -- and Kolzig a lot to prove.

"If it's good enough, I'll play, and if it's not, somebody else will play," Kolzig said.

The arrangement also left Brent Johnson wondering where he fits in.

"I was shocked, because I didn't think it was broken, the goaltending here," Johnson said. "Obviously they felt like they needed something else. As of right now, I'm the man out, it looks like."

McPhee also picked up playmaking center Sergei Fedorov from Columbus for prospect Theo Ruth and checking-line winger Matt Cooke from Vancouver for struggling forward Matt Pettinger. A fourth trade made yesterday involved prospects.

Although none of the new players was available to play last night, the Capitals seemed to receive a spark from the news. In particular Kolzig, the team's starter since the 1997-98 season. He is expected to be challenged by Huet for the starting role, but as he proved last night, he doesn't plan on relinquishing it.

"I told him, 'Hey, you just want to start a goaltending controversy, don't you?' " Boudreau joked, referring to Kolzig.

The only goal Kolzig surrendered was a fluky bounce off the shorts of Branko Radivojevic at 13 minutes 10 seconds of the second period, which cut the Capitals' lead to 2-1. But it wasn't nearly enough to prevent the Wild's fourth consecutive loss in its first trip to Washington since 2001.

"Olie did his thing tonight," Laich said. "He kept us in there early."

Laich put the Capitals ahead 1-0 only 2:41 into the game, taking a long pass from Tomas Fleischmann (two assists) before beating Backstrom (22 saves) between the pads. It turned out to be the start of a special night for Laich.

"It's nice to have a night like I did tonight," he said. "We needed to get back to our winning ways. These are points we can't give away. I just checked the score and Carolina won again tonight. We didn't make up any ground, but we didn't lose any."

Capitals Notes: Forward Viktor Kozlov did not play because of the flu. Defenseman Sami Lepisto was returned to the minor league Hershey Bears. . . . Defenseman Jeff Schultz returned to the lineup after missing two games with a strained left knee. . . . Defenseman John Erskine was a healthy scratch.