what was your opinion of alex ovechkin wearing the c? >> it's inevitable. a matter of time before he gets that position. >> is that something isn't locker room you discuss and alex the obvious choice? >> it was pretty obvious. it's pretty clear. he'll be a captain of this organization for years to come. he's the best player in the world. he's our leader. he's our go-to-guy. when he's going, we are going. and we absolutely, absolutely know he's the guy and we're excited to have him as at captain. >> what do you see the role of a captain being? >> he's the catalyst. he's the guy who drives the team. when he drives and scores, that's who we follow. >> you have been practicing and cleared. you are getting close. maybe thursday getting back to the ice? >> i hope so. i sure feel good. i had a great practice today. i had contact and shot a lot of shots and tried to put a lot of stress on my rib and push it and is it respond really well. >> obviously you never want to miss a game but when you get in the situations missing because of injuries you watch on tv and her

he's getting all these goals and points without playing with alex ovechkin. d i think his game goes downhill when he's paired in the ovechkin line. that's good for him that they don't need the big guy on the ice to perform. >> we have seen the minors can do as well. because that have good performance on both ends, tomas fleischmann ends up as the first star. the second star with the two goal, alexander semin. and the assists and two blocked shots. we'll step aside. we are still waiting to hear from capital's head coach bruce boudreau. we'll break down the 4-2 win over the montreal canadiens. a hard-hitting affair. the caps jumped on them early the caps jumped on them early and never let them up. the caps jumped on them early and never let them up. in 1977, in johannesburg, south africa, an 8-year-old boy picked up the game of golf from his father. by the age of 9, he was already outplaying him. the odds of this gentle lad winning the junior world golf championships at the age of 14? 1 in 16 million. the odds of that same boy then making it to the u.s. and euro

alex ovechkin because he's wearing the c can talk to the officials. s team up 7-2 comfortably. >> joe: neuvirth makes the stop on a long wrist shot from mark streit. ovechkin, a nine-game point streak in jeopardy. >> craig: look at his numbers. watch the shots on net and close to 20 minutes of work and probably over 0 by this game's over. >> joe: streit fires again. reloads and bombs that one wide of neuvirth. >> craig: did that ever hurt morrison. that caught him. the first slap shot hit morrison in the side of the leg. good sign he's up and skating near the rest of the shift. >> joe: 3:47, locker, left in the third period. capitals cruise to go what will be win number 34 on the year. 74 points. and the front runner in the eastern krohn for instance. >> craig: they only trail san jose and chicago overall for number one spot in the nhl as far as points go. they're moving up and getting closer to those two guys. [ whistle ] >> craig: this is a seven spot that they put on the islanders. the islanders have only allowed one other seven spot this season. 21

alex ovechkin a tough game against the los angeles kings in l.a. they held them very well close to the net. a lot of shots picked up by jonathan. the caps popped up a shorty. that usually doomsday a team and the eventual game-winner. alex ovechkin and the caps lost three straight. >> 2009 did not end up well in relation. 2010 not off to a good start and they try to change that tuesday against montreal. >> we hope so. >>> up next, we'll hear from the head coach of the capitals. >>> maryland trys to rebound from its loss to william & mary. the terps at greensboro at 1:00 right here on comcast sportsnet. we're back. [holiday music] ♪ fa-la-la-la... ♪ la-la-la-la... ♪ they really made him drop. ♪ a perfect gift so sure to lift the hostess right next door. ♪ ♪ oh! give the gift of scratchers... ♪ ♪ give all four and more. give the gift of scratchers...♪ ♪ and watch their spirits soar. holiday scratchers from the virginia lottery. welcome home, man. >>> welcome back the capitals looking to end a losing streak. they get 8 shorthanded goal. what is your ga

alex ovechkin going to fire and score. that's his 28th of the yore. washington within one an 4-3.ater in the third. puff on net. and nicklas backstrom for the redirect. all tied at 4. o.t. florida with a chance. nathan horton. jose theodore making a huge save. shootout. that's right. >> first career shutout goal. caps tomorrow all the way back to win it 5-4. >> 5-4 your final. alex ovechkin with his league leading 28 goal of the season. >> we will have bruce boudreau coming up later at 11:00 p.m. dc united goaltender troy perkins is returning to the black and red but he will not come without a price. united is sending fred its first round pick in tomorrow's super draft so the team can switch places in the allocation order. that will allow united to acquire him. he was named the league's goal keeper of the year with united in 2006. >>> american footballs. concussions in the forefront in the nfl. hitting close to home a couple months ago when clinton portis suffered what amounted to a season ending concussion. jill sorenson joins us with more on this ever growing issue. >> as we sho

a 6-4 washington capital win, and alex ovechkin picked up four points that night.how do you scout a team like this in are they looking at the video from last year, or the video where they faced the ducks in atlanta? >> well, you have to use the most recent games. and last night in atlanta would be a perfect precursor of what to watch out for, and they're completely different. chris pronger is gone. they have a whole new out this year, and they've had some see you areys, so right now they're a one-line team, and they have to worry about shutting that one line down. >> all right, allen. we look forward to your post- game stuff with al. >> all right, thank you. >> they have not won nine straight since way back in the '88-e9 season. of course they're hoping to do that tonight. >> all right, lisa and al, look forward to seeing you guys after the game. the game itself, the main event, coming up at the top of the hour right here on comcast sportsnet. it's the ducks and the caps in high-definition. andal license be joined by al coken with lisa hillary contributing mightily

mike green to mike knuble picking it off for alex ovechkin. he'll wind his way through center. on a lead on target there for backstrom. it dribbles right to the doorstep and roloson clamps down. >> craig: nice job by roloson. he knew he had pressure against ovechkin and nicklas backstrom. as ovie ever been flying since he came back from a couple of games suspension racking the the points moving in closer to the league leaders a couple points behind, marleau and six behind sedin. doing a great job out wft vancouver canucks. ovie looking to win another scoring title. he would win both the way he's playing. >> joe: every time you look around vancouver, they're linked the sedin twins night after night. this one booted back to center. jose theodore playing it for john erskine teaming up again with tom poti this evening. alexander semin, his tally unassisted. schremp from weight and hunter on the power play. roloson spins this one into the corner. bailey on the reverse. fleischmann anticipated that. back to point position, it will squirt to center. almost 8:00 gone by opening period.