The Washington Capitals, on the first day of free agency, inked veteran winger Mike Knuble to a two-year, $5.6 million contract. Knuble, 37 on Saturday and late of the Philadelphia Flyers, has scored 21 goals or more each of his last six seasons and has two 30-goal seasons to his credit.

Captials General Manager George McPhee already envisions the gritty winger occupying the spot vacated when Viktor Kozlov departed for his homeland in the off-season.

"We just felt we needed someone else, a player on [the top] line in particular with [Alex] Ovechkin and [Nicklas] Backstrom that will go to the net," McPhee said. "Mike's made his living there. He was the right guy for us and we got what we felt what was the right deal for him. We replaced a 13-goal scorer [Kozlov] with 27-goal scorer, and the team is better as a result."

In addition to his willingness to sit in the crease, Knuble has been praised for his two-way play, comfortable on the power play and the penalty kill.

Now that the Caps addressed their primary need via free agency, McPhee doesn't see too much more involvement adding players in that method. "I said that we're probably not going to do a lot in free agency unless there was something there that made sense. We did it. It was unanimous amongst our pro staff that this was the right guy."

Washington still has a glaring need for a second line center, and if McPhee will probably look to move the untenable contracts of Michael Nylander or Jose Theodore in that search. Barring that, the Caps have very little room under this season's salary cap to make another free agent splash.

"We'll spend the next couple of months talking to clubs and seeing what other things can be done out there," McPhee said. "If there are other things to do, we'll do them."

Fan favorite Donald Brashear accepted a two-year deal from the New York Rangers for $1.4 million per season, a significant raise from his D.C. salary.

"We are happy for Brash," McPhee said. "But we couldn't pay that number."

Washington Capitals winger Donald Brashear was given a one-game suspension for his pre-game altercation with New York's Colton Orr, and a five-game suspension for a "shoulder hit to an unsuspecting player," Blair Betts, according to Collin Campbell, NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations.

Betts has a fractured orbital bone and is out indefinitely.

Brashear's suspension will be served beginning tomorrow night when the Capitals meet the Rangers in Game 7 of the series. The suspension will extend through the Capitals' next five 2009 playoff games, the 2009-10 regular season, or both, as circumstances warrant.

Here is the play in question:

While it's fairly obvious the check was late, it's otherwise a perfectly legal shoulder check. Brashear's elbow comes up after the contact, it's not what initiated the contact. Brashear also obviously wanted to go after Aaron Voros, but Voros went straight to the bench and Betts was the next Ranger in the area.

The hit was vicious and late, but was it illegal? Neither referee on the ice thought so--the only penalty on Brashear was for the roughing with Paul Mara after the play. Could it be that the resultant injury made the act less defensible in the mind of Collin Campbell? That's not right.

Betts was seriously injured on the play, but you know what could have avoided this? Betts keeping his head up. He had just dumped the puck and turned to go to the bench. He let his guard down in what has been a very tight-checking series.

Here's another quote from Campbell:

"It is also my opinion that the hit was delivered late and targeted the head of his opponent, causing significant injury."

"Targeted the head"? You mean like Orr clothes-lining Alexander Semin in Game Five?

Let's parse the last part of the quote: "causing significant injury." He did not say "with the intent to cause serious injury." Campbell effectively admits, in his choice of words, that he is penalizing Brashear for causing the injury, not for his intent. Again, this is wrong. It's not how the rule is supposed to be upheld.

If Betts was simply dazed, or even concussed, but not had his orbital bone broken, would we still be taking about five games?

While we're on the subject of "cheap shots", was this any worse than Brandon Dubinsky boarding Mike Green from behind? Dubinsky was given 14 minutes of penalty, including the game misconduct.

Was Brashear's hit worse than Sean Avery butt-ending Milan Jurina in Game Four, bloodying his nose and cheek. Or Avery high-sticking Brian Pothier in the same game, a player just returning from missing a year with concussion symptoms. In both instances, Avery not only intended to injury, but in butt-end instance, actually did injure. Shouldn't Avery, by Campbell's own carefully chosen words, be suspended for his hit on Jurcina in that case?

Wait, though. Game Four wasn't on NBC.

Or is this a case of Campbell caving in to Glen Sather's ridiculous e-mail after his coach's heinous actions in Game Five, where John Tortorella threw a water bottle into a group of fans, injuring a woman, and brandishing a stick in the direction of fans?

Tortorella received a one-game suspension, but Sather's long-winded letter, a letter he allowed published in the media, accused the Verizon Center staff of allowing mistreatment of the Rangers coaches and players. Basically, the fans were calling the players and coaches names, and Tortorella responded by throwing things into the stands.

So was Brashear's suspension affected by Sather's public letter of condemnation and the media attention it has received? It would appear so, since the on-ice officials didn't think the hit warranted a penalty.

"Make-up" calls happen all the time in hockey. This one is simply ridiculous.

The Washington Capitals built a 3-1 first period lead, thanks to goals from three different defensemen, and cruised to a 5-3 victory over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden to even the best-of-seven series at three games apiece.

For the second year in a row, the Capitals have come from behind in a series to force a Game Seven at home. Washington hopes this season the result will be different.

Milan Jurcina, Mike Green, and Tom Poti all got the puck past the Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist, who looked all but impenetrable earlier in the series. Viktor Kozlov and Alex Ovechkin each added second period markers, and for the second straight game Lundqvist watched the third period from the bench.

"He can't play every game like a god," Ovechkin said of Lundqvist, who had stopped 141 of 149 shots in the first four games when the Rangers grabbed a 3-1 series lead. "He can't save the game all the time."

Simeon Varlamov made 29 saves for the win. New York out shot Washington 32-22, but the Caps only had two shots on goal in the third period due to playing short-handed much of the frame, as they took four minor penalties.

But the Rangers did very little with all that power play time, as they went 2-for-8 with the advantage for the game.

Tom Poti, who toiled for the Rangers before joining the Capitals, was the player of the game. In addition to his goal, he had three helpers, and logged 23:46, most on the squad.

The game had several interesting sub-plots as well, with a couple that will bear further scrutiny.

First, the Rangers played without coach John Tortorella, who was suspended for Game Six as a result of his altercation with fans during Game Five at Verizon Center. Tortorella was caught on camera throwing a water bottle and brandishing a stick at fans behind the bench.

That prompted the Rangers organization to file a letter with the Commissioner's Office requesting an inquiry into the security at Verizon Center. It read, in part:

"...we respectfully request that you consider appropriate discipline in light of Washington's gross negligence in ensuring the safety of the personnel on the Rangers' bench, including Coach Tortorella, in the face of the Rangers' repeated requests for intervention against egregious fan misconduct during Game 5. "

The email to Commissioner Gary Bettman continued:

"...several people seated immediately behind the visitors' bench took advantage of the looseness of the glass panels and the unusually wide gaps between the panels to assault the Rangers with some of the most obscene language imaginable. Because of the way the glass is installed, the patron sitting behind Coach Tortorella (the gray-haired, bearded man in the white T-Shirt) could literally scream into the coach's ear. According to Rangers trainer Jim Ramsay, one patron was screaming at the team, in graphic language, about whether Dan Girardi and Marc Staal have a sexual relationship. This was within earshot of several children seated nearby. Several other fans also made repeated homophobic remarks. Moreover, Mr. Ramsay reported that he and other bench personnel were spit on by one or more "fans" as they yelled through the gaps in the glass. "

The Game Six controversies started in the pre-game skate, as Donald Brashear had words with Rangers' tough guy Colton Orr at center ice. As Brashear started away, he gave Orr a shove with his stick and glove. Physical altercations during pre-games skates are expressly forbidden and the incident is just part of Brashear's conduct that will be reviewed from this game.

Late in the first period, Brashear laid out Rangers forward Blair Betts with a vicious hit from his shoulder to Betts' upper body, knocking the ace penalty killer to the ice, and he needed assistance to the locker room. He is doubtful for Game Seven.

The check, which did not earn a penalty, came as Betts had cleared the puck and was starting to turn for the bench. He never saw Brashear coming.

In the second period, Brandon Dubinsky ran at Mike Green from behind, sending Green head-first into the boards. Shaone Morrisonn came to Green's defense, and according to the Rangers interim coach Jim Schoenfeld, Dubinsky needed a tetanus shot from Morrisonn biting him.

Game Seven is Tuesday night at Verizon Center at 7:00 p.m. Extra security for the Rangers bench is expected.
__________________________________________________
SCORESHEET

1ST PERIOD
07:09 Milan Jurcina (1), Snap Shot. Assist: Laich, Steckel
08:15 Power Play - Scott Gomez (2), Tip-In. Assist: Redden, Avery
13:58 Power Play - Mike Green (1), Wrist Shot. Assist: Semin, Poti
17:14 Tom Poti (2), Tip-In. Assist: Steckel, Gordon

2ND PERIOD
09:21 Viktor Kozlov (2), Wrist Shot. Assist: Poti, Fedorov
16:44 Power Play - Alex Ovechkin (3), Slap Shot. Assist: Poti, Backstrom

3RD PERIOD
04:21 Power Play - Ryan Callahan (2), Backhand Shot. Assist: Morris, Gomez
19:54 Marc Staal (1), Wrist Shot. Assist: Korpikoski, Sjostrom
__________________________________________________
THREE STARS

1. T. Poti - WAS (Goals: 1, Assists: 3)
2. S. Varlamov - WAS (Saves: 29, Save Pct: .906)
3. A. Ovechkin - WAS (Goals: 1, Assists: 0)

The Washington Capitals (14-9-3-31, first in Southeast) got goals from five different players and goalie Brent Johnson made 27 saves as the Caps rebounded from a poor display Tuesday to defeat a similarly undermanned New York Islanders (10-13-2-22, fifth in Atlantic) team 5-3 before 18,130 fans at Verizon Center.

The Caps were 3-for-5 on the power play, getting goals from Alex Ovechkin (14), Viktor Kozlov (5) and Eric Fehr (3) with the man advantage. Donald Brashear scored his first goal since last March to break a 2-2 tie in the third period, and Nicklas Backstrom put the exclamation point on the win with an empty net goal with 50 seconds remaining.

Ovechkin finished with a goal and two assists.

Coach Bruce Boudreau preached the necessity of receiving "secondary" scoring after losing to Florida Tuesday night, and he got just what he was looking for from Brashear, who knocked in a rebound of a Karl Alzner shot into the back boards, and from Eric Fehr, who lifted a backhanded rebound past Islanders goalie Joey MacDonald.

The Fehr goal was made possible from Brooks Laich, doing the heavy lifting in front of the net on the power play, another long-time point of emphasis from Boudreau.

The game was full of penalties and both teams had their chances, but Washington held New York to 1-for 8 on the power play. The Caps out shot the Islanders 47-29.

Washington faces-off against the Toronto Maple Leafs (9-10-6) Saturday, December 6 at 7:00 p.m. ET from Air Canada Centre.

Photo courtesy of WahingtonPost.com.

__________________________________________________

SCORESHEET

WAS: Ovechkin (14) from Jurcina and Laich (1-11:31-PP); Kozlov (5) from Helmer and Lepisto (1-13:15-PP); Brashear (1) from Alzner and Jurcina (3-6:50); Fehr (3) from Laich and Ovechkin (3-16:14-PP); Backstrom (7) from Ovechkin (3-19:10-EN)

NYI: Streit (6) from Weight and Guerin (1-19:24-PP); Hunter (11) from Sutton (2-13:38)
__________________________________________________
THREE STARS

1. V. Kozlov - WAS (Goals: 1, Assists: 0)

2. K. Alzner - WAS (Goals: 0, Assists: 1)

3. D. Brashear - WAS (Goals: 1, Assists: 0)
__________________________________________________

NOTES

The Islanders were the last Eastern Conference team coach Bruce Boudreau had not earned a victory against.

Ovechkin has 14 goals and 20 assists in 24 games.

Milan Jurcina had a multi-point night, assisting on the Ovechkin and Brashear goals.