Better Things -There were a number of positive signs to be gleaned from the Caps' 4-3 shootout victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night in Washington. First and foremost as always are the two points, which are needed in what has suddenly become another multi-team chase for playoff positioning in the final quarter of the campaign.

Along with Sunday's 5-3 win over Pittsburgh, the Caps were able to sweep a two-game homestand. That's therapeutic for a team that started the homestand with a 1-5-1 mark in its previous seven games. Tuesday's win also gives Washington its first pair of consecutive wins in nearly a month, since their four-game winning streak was halted on Jan. 27.

In their first game following the NHL's trade deadline on Monday, the Caps played with more detail and structure than in many games of late. But they also led 3-0 with less than two minutes remaining in the second, and weren't able to secure that second point until the fifth round of the shootout.
They took a 1-0 lead in the game's second minute and held the lead until the 57th minute of the contest, a plus for a team that hasn't had many sustained leads of late. They forged their first three-goal lead of the month and their first two-goal lead achieved without the benefit of a late empty-net goal in February, too.
Washington's second goal was a beauty, born from defensive diligence and backtracking, and brought to fruition with sudden burst of speed and skill. As Winnipeg's Patrik Laine cruised down the right side toward the Washington line, Dmitry Orlov and T.J. Oshie worked in tandem to shake the puck loose and put it on Jakub Vrana's stick.

From there, Vrana went into Hot Rod Lincoln mode, blowing through the Winnipeg defense and finishing with a flourish, beating Laurent Brossoit over the right pad on a breakaway for his career-high 25th goal of the season.
"All five guys come back," says Caps coach Todd Reirden. "They all come back from behind. It allows our defense to stand up, we force a turnover, and obviously Vrana's speed takes over there."
The forecheck was better. Breakouts were better. There were more and longer shifts in the offensive zone. There were noticeable improvements, and most of Tuesday's game was closer to Washington's identity, but as always, a cowboy's work is never done.
"It's after the trade deadline," says Caps right wing Garnet Hathaway. "The guys in this room are the guys we're going to win with. So that's the mentality right now, we've got to stick to our guns and play to our identity.
"Finally, we play with the lead. But it's something we've got to work on and get better at. We made it tough on ourselves again, but we had [goalie Braden Holtby] to back us up again, and in the future, we're going to do a better job."

Celebrating 700 - The Caps put on a stirring pregame ceremony to honor the occasion of Alex Ovechkin's 700th career goal, scored on Saturday afternoon in New Jersey. Holding his 18-month-old son Sergei in his arms, Ovechkin stood alongside wife Nastya, Caps majority owner Ted Leonsis, Caps president Dick Patrick and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly as a pair of stirring videos were shown on the center ice scoreboard screen.
The first of those short videos documented Ovechkin's goal-scoring prowess, and the second was more emotive, including congratulatory sound bites from longtime teammates, from every living member of the 700-goal club, as well as Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Howe, son of the late, great Gordie Howe, who ranks second all-time with 801 goals. At the end of the piece, the congratulations and well wishes also came from Ovechkin's parents, his dog, and finally Sergei, who stood blowing kisses while standing amid balloons shaped in numbers to form "700."
Winnipeg players stood near the team benches, tapping their sticks appreciatively as the crowd roared.

Once the game started, Ovechkin quickly stamped his own inimitable imprimatur upon the contest both early and late. He scored the game's first goal - No. 701 - at 1:55 of the first, and he netted the game-deciding strike in the shootout a little less than three hours later.
"That and the shootout goal," says Reirden, asked about Ovechkin's early goal after the ceremony. "It's good to see those things, and definitely fitting. He is in and around the dangerous area, the puck comes to him, and obviously no one really finishes better than him around those areas.
"It was obviously emotional for him and you have your family out there, and I especially thought the Caps' organization did a phenomenal job putting that together. The celebration before the game and the number of different videos they had, especially the one with his mom and dad. I felt it was an emotional moment for him, and for him to gather himself and then continue to play and score the first goal, that made for a nice night for sure. I'm so happy for him, he deserves it. And the fans of D.C. deserve it, to be able to see that and witness that, and take it in. It's a special moment."

As for the Jets, they definitely didn't like giving up the game's first goal for the ninth straight game, and before the game was two minutes old. But they were also appreciative of what they were witnessing, both before the game and on Ovechkin's first shift.
"For sure," says Jets blueliner Anthony Bitetto. "Anytime you give up a goal early in the game, it's kind of frustrating. But he's a special player. It's pretty cool to be playing against him. The guy's got 700 goals. You can't really talk about that; it's speechless to be playing against a guy like that. Congratulations to him, he is a hell of a player."
Seventeen -As if the Ovechkin salute wasn't enough, the Cap One crowd was also amped to witness the debut of newly acquired Ilya Kovalchuk, who sported a Caps' sweater for the first time on Tuesday night, ironically enough against the franchise that drafted him first overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. The Jets were still based in Atlanta and known as the Thrashers in those days.
The early returns were good. Skating the right side of a unit with Carl Hagelin and Lars Eller, Kovalchuk and linemates had an excellent first night together. Although they were the only Caps line that didn't score at 5-on-5, they spent most shifts in the offensive zone and generated a number of excellent scoring chances.
One of their best shifts of the night came just past the midpoint of the second when Hagelin and then Kovalchuk both put point-blank shots on net, only to be denied by Winnipeg's Laurent Brossoit. Washington's fourth line then came over the boards and - despite losing the offensive-zone draw - made it 3-0 nine seconds later with some great offensive-zone work of its own and a Garnet Hathaway finish.

"What I think it does for us is it frees up our other lines," says Reirden. "[Kovalchuk] is someone that has the respect of the opposition, every night now. So now they're concerned about matchups of him, and things he's been able to do, because his résumé speaks for itself in terms of being a dangerous player.
"I like that he's physical and I think their line had a huge shift right before Hathaway's goal. They got three or four chances for sure, and now we've got some momentum from that."
Kovalchuk finished the night with three shots on net, a couple hits, a couple blocked shots and 14:39 on the clock.
"It was pretty good," says Kovalchuk. "I think our line did well. But in the third, with puck management, I should make a better decision on the second [Winnipeg] goal. I finished minus-2, so I'm going to watch the video and get better for next game.

Down On The Farm - The AHL Hershey Bears put a 6-1 stomping on the Charlotte Checkers on Tuesday night at Giant Center. Joe Snively recorded his first professional hat trick to lead the Bears' attack.
The game was overshadowed by a frightening injury to Bears forward Kale Kessy, who lost but later regained consciousness on the ice after a fight with the Checkers' Derek Sheppard. Kessy was alert when leaving the ice on a stretcher, and he was taken to a local medical facility, where he was reported to be in stable condition.
Snively got the scoring started at 4:02 of the first, netting his 10th of the season with help from Matt Moulson and Philippe Maillet. After the Checkers knotted the score at 1-1 midway through the first, Hershey went on to score five unanswered, starting with Bobby Nardella's fourth of the season from Snively and Moulson at 15:34 of the first.
Hershey struck for three more in the second period. Snively scored his second of the game at 3:19 with help from Alex Alexeyev and Tyler Lewington. Just over eight minutes later, Shane Gersich scored his 10th of the season - Liam O'Brien and Lewington assisting - to make it a 4-1 game. Snively completed his hat trick at 17:24 of the second with a single assist from Nardella.
In the third, Brian Pinho closed out the scoring with his 18th goal of the season - a shorthanded strike - from Alexeyev at 12:10.
Hershey's six-pack attack made a winner out of Vitek Vanecek (22 saves), who improved to 16-10-1 on the season.
The 34-17-3-3 Bears sit atop the Atlantic Division standings, three points in front of second-place Hartford, which holds two games in hand on Hershey. The Bears are back in action on Saturday when they host Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
By The Numbers -John Carlson led the Caps with 25:10 in ice time … Nic Dowd led the Caps with five shots on net … Ovechkin led Washington with a dozen shot attempts … Tom Wilson led the Caps with five hits … Oshie led the Caps with five blocked shots, and 11 different Washington skaters combined to block 24 Winnipeg shots … Eller won six of 10 draws (60 percent).