The Capitals have nine games left, starting Saturday at home against Boston.

WASHINGTON -- Every point matters more than ever to Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, who are part of a logjam in the Eastern Conference -- and on the outside of the playoff race, looking in, at the moment. Mason Raymond Jersey . So blowing two-goal leads, as the Capitals tend to do, and losing key players such as centre Nicklas Backstrom to injury are not exactly what they want. All of those bad things happened to the Capitals in a 5-4 shootout loss Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Kings, who came back after Ovechkin scored two early power-play goals. "Obviously, you miss Backy, but every team has guys that go out," said Capitals coach Adam Oates, who would only say that Backstrom has an upper-body injury. "Youve got 19 other guys that have got to do the job. Weve got plenty of guys that can do the job." Also "being evaluated," as Oates put it, after the game was defenceman Jack Hillen, who was involved in a scary moment halfway through overtime, colliding with Ovechkin at centre ice. Hillens helmet slammed into Ovechkins chest, and the game was put on hold for a bit. Ovechkin got the wind knocked out of him and took a knee, but returned to the game. Hillen got the worst of the impact and remained face-down on the ice while a trainer checked on him. Washington is ninth in the East, one spot out of the playoffs based on tiebreakers, even though it is one of four teams with 80 points, alongside No. 7 Columbus, No. 8 Detroit and No. 10 Toronto. The Capitals have nine games left, starting Saturday at home against Boston. So among the Capitals, there was a mix of relief at the idea of picking up one point against Los Angeles -- and disappointment at failing to get two after leading 2-0 thanks to Ovechkin before the game was 7 1/2 minutes old, and then being ahead 3-1 entering the third period. "Theres no excuse. We have to find a way to win when we are up two goals," Washington forward Marcus Johansson said. "It hurts a lot. You never know when it comes down to it -- in or out (of the playoffs) by one point." Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter scored in the shootout for the Kings, and goalie Jonathan Quick caught Eric Fehrs attempt after rookie forward Evgeny Kuznetsov whiffed on Washingtons opening shot. Kuznetsov had tied the wild, back-and-forth game with 41.5 seconds left in regulation on his first NHL goal, a short-hander that came when he reached in to knock home a loose puck after it trickled through Quicks pads on Ovechkins shot. Plenty of fans thought Ovechkin was responsible for his third goal of the night, and they tossed their hats onto the ice. But his total stayed at a league-leading 48. While Kuznetsovs goal got the crowd excited, in the end, the Kings wound up winning their seventh consecutive road game and their fourth game in a row overall. They began Tuesday sixth in the West, and their playoff status is looking a lot more secure than Washingtons. Los Angeles coach Darryl Sutter wasnt pleased with the way his team started Tuesday. But he liked the way his players turned things around. "We just kind of hung in there," Sutter said. Mike Richards, Dwight King, Marian Gaborik and Dustin Brown scored for the Kings in regulation. The most important goal might have been Kings, which came 45 seconds into the third period and pulled Los Angeles within 3-2. "The boys stuck together, stuck with it," Kings defenceman Drew Doughty said. "We knew the whole time we were going to get back in that game." NOTES: LW Dustin Penner netted his first goal for the Capitals since arriving from Anaheim at the trade deadline. ... The Kings have seven victories in a row over Washington. ... Midway through the second period, Capitals F Troy Brouwer and Kings D Willie Mitchell were both called for penalties after a skirmish in front of Quicks net. Brouwer stayed down on the ice for a bit, then was helped up and led to the locker room. It wasnt immediately clear what was wrong. ... The Kings record is eight straight road wins, in the 1974-75 season. Sean Monahan Jersey .Y. -- Nothing seems to phase No. Kris Russell Jersey .J. -- Pete Carroll said it was the suspension of linebacker Bruce Irvin last spring that finally got the attention of the rest of the Seattle Seahawks that they needed to be taking their commitment to the team more seriously. http://www.jerseyofficialhockeyflames.com/oliver-kylington-hockey-jersey/ . Armstrong was given the rank of "Chevalier" -- or Knight -- in the "Legion dHonneur" in 2005, the last year of his seven consecutive Tour de France victories.The opener of the highly-anticipated Western Conference quarterfinal series between the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks did not disappoint, On Saturday afternoon, the clubs will try for an encore performance at Scottrade Center in St. Louis. Two overtime periods werent enough to decide Game 1 at the Scottrade Center, but Alexander Steen finally ended it for the Blues with his game-winning goal just 26 seconds into triple overtime. The thrilling victory gave St. Louis a 1-0 edge in the best-of-seven series and the club will try to make it a two- game cushion before the series shifts to Chicago for Games 3 and 4. The Blues trailed by a goal late in regulation, but Jaden Schwartz tallied the equalizer with 1:45 left in the third to force an extra session. After a pair of entertaining overtimes, Steen ended the longest game in Blues history when he scored from point-blank range off a nice set up from Steve Ott to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven set. "We know stuff is going to happen," Steen said. "We might get down, might be up in the series, and we just stick with it and keep playing." Steen is coming off the best regular season of his NHL career, posting career bests in goals (33) and points (62) over 68 games. The 30-year-old notched his fifth career postseason goal with Thursdays winner. Adam Cracknell and Vladimir Tarasenko also scored for the Blues, who were able to shrug off a late-season funk to win their first game of the 2014 playoffs. St. Louis dropped its final six regular-season games to fall into second place in the Central Division heading into the postseason. "I think the players really put a lot into this because they didnt want this season to just kind of wilt away," St. Louis head coach Ken Hitchcock said, referring to his teams struggles down the stretch in the regular season. "Theyre going to put up a fight here." Former SSabres goaltender Ryan Miller saw his Blues playoff debut get off to a rocky start before settling into the game. Travis Hamonic Jersey. Miller, who was acquired from Buffalo at the trade deadline, allowed three goals on seven shots in the first period but turned aside the final 35 shots he faced to help St. Louis hang on for the victory. St. Louis won despite playing without forwards Patrik Berglund and T.J. Oshie, but both players were able to participate in an optional skate on Friday. Oshie is considered questionable for Game 2, while Berglund expects to miss Saturdays test. Brent Seabrook notched a goal and an assist, while Johnny Oduya and Patrick Kane potted a goal apiece for the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks, who received 48 saves from Corey Crawford. Early on, Kane, who missed the final 12 games of the regular season with a lower-body injury, capped a high-scoring first period by breaking a 2-2 deadlock when he converted a breakaway off a slick stretch pass from Jonathan Toews with just 1:36 left in the period. The reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner Kane beat Miller with a wicked wrister from the slot, but it was the last time the puck found the back of the St. Louis cage. "I know we had a couple power plays where we could have maybe scored and made it 4-2 which would have been nice," Kane said of his team failing to score after the first period. "It definitely would have been nice to get another one and give us a little insurance." The Blackhawks won their second Cup in four years last spring and are no stranger to mounting postseason comebacks. Chicago trailed Boston 2-1 in the Cup Finals a year ago before winning three straight to take the series and also overcame a 3-1 deficit to eliminate Detroit in the 2013 Western Conference semifinals. Game 3 of this series is scheduled for Monday in Chicago and the fourth test is set for Wednesday. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '