[Boxscore - Recap]

For a moment there, everything was right in the world. I had a newly-opened Sierra Nevada in my hand, Duke was losing an NCAA Tournament game, Alfonso Soriano had played the outfield for the second-straight day and the Caps held a 3-2 third period lead on the road. Needless to say, I took care of my business (a few times over). So did LSU. Even Fonzy gave it the old college try. But alas, the clean-sweep was not to be, as the Lightning - aided by a horrendous phantom interference call on Ivan Majesky with just over a minute left in regulation - downed the Caps early in overtime. Which brings us to today's Rink trivia question: when was the last time the Caps won a road game for Olie Kolzig? Answer at the bottom.

Without question, the effort was there last night from the Caps, and Alex Ovechkin played his best game in a couple of weeks, registering two goals and an assist and firing a whopping 13 shots on goal. But for the second-straight night they allowed three power-play goals (this time on only five attempts) and failed to capitalize on their own golden opportunities with the extra man, this time a 1:46 two-man advantage immediately followed by a four-minute power-play. The result, then, was predictable, albeit the route taken a bit circuitous.

The WaPo's recap is here, the WTimes' here.

Thread of the Day: If I Were An NHLer I Would Be... - borrowing from Jes borrowing from Vancouver Canucks Op Ed borrowing from the HF Boards (how's that for a citation?), I brought the question to the mostly-unwashed mass of Caps fans.

Elsewhere 'round the rinks:

• The Caps signed their 2005 fifth-round draftee, goaltender Darren Machesney, to a three-year entry-level contract. "Machesney posted a 28-17-1-2 record in the 2005-06 regular season, leading the [Brampton] Battalion to first place in the OHL’s Central Division. He tied for sixth in the OHL with three shutouts, ranked 10th with a 3.03 goals-against average and 11th with a .908 save percentage." But I guess the real question (if you follow the two links above) is how many "r's" are in the kid's first name?
  
• Happy Birthday to former Cap Doug Jarvis, who turns 51 today. Needless to say, the Caps sure could use a penalty killer like the 1983-84 Selke winner these days. Also of note is Jarvis's ironman streak, during which he played 964 consecutive regular season games from 1975 through 1987.
  

Daily Awards

• Hart: Todd Bertuzzi (Goal, assist, shootout winning goal, +1, 2 shots on goal, 0 opposing players' necks broken)
  
• Ross: Marian Hossa, Scott Gomez, Brad Richards, Jordan Leopold, Jamie Lundmark, Steven Reinprecht (3 points each)
  
• Norris: Roman "Stop... Hamr Time!" Hamrlik (2 goals, +1, 4 shots on goal, 2 hits)
  
• Vezina: Manny Legace (28-save shutout win)
  
• Richard: Alexander Ovechkin, Roman Hamrlik, Raffi Torres (2 goals each)
  
• Calder: Alexander Ovechkin (2 goals, assist, +2, 13 shots on goal, 2 hits, 1 takeaway, 0 giveaways)
  
• Aiken: Martin Brodeur (Loss, 6 goals against on 30 shots in OT loss after giving up 4 third period goals and all 6 after the 12:33 point of the second period)
  

Answer: Olie Kolzig's last road win was December 14 at Los Angeles.