semyon varlamov

Alex Ovechkin scored his first goal of the season on the power play and assisted on one of T.J. Oshie's two goals as the Washington Capitals defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 3-0, on Tuesday night.

Chris Jakubauskas and Alfredo Simon gave up six runs apiece Monday night as the Orioles were overwhelmed in a 13-4 loss to the Rangers. ... The Orioles will purchase the contract of Mitch Atkins so he can start Tuesday night's game against the Rangers. ... About a year ago, when the Orioles were in Texas before the All-Star Break, Buck Showalter was contemplating whether he should return to baseball. ... Orioles catcher Matt Wieters was selected to his first career All-Star Game on Sunday, but Adam Jones trails Paul Konerko in voting for the final spot.

After one of the worst outings of his career in a loss to the Cardinals, struggling starter Brian Matusz was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday night. ... After the game, Matusz was relatively upbeat about his demotion, saying he will use it for motivation. ... The Orioles will recall a reliever from the minors for Friday¿s game in Atlanta, and the most likely candidate is Double-A Bowie left-hander Pedro Viola. ... Three local sports talk show hosts -- Stan "The Fan" Charles, Jerry Coleman and Rob Long -- were without a home at radio station WVIE (1370 AM) as of Friday morning when the station started moving to a mainly network news/talk format.

The Capitals have started to retool their roster after another early playoff exit. They have re-signed center Brooks Laich, traded for power forward Troy Brouwer and added a few draft picks to their minor-league system. Expect more changes -- perhaps more significant ones -- after owner Ted Leonsis said the Capitals "want to change and improve" this offseason. He also suggested that some trades could be in the works.

Expect the Capitals, who trail the Lightning by five points in the Southeast Division, to be players before the NHL's trade deadline on Feb. 28. As it's currently constituted, this team doesn't appear to be capable of going on a deep playoff run (though nothing should be discounted as long as Alex Ovechkin is still in the scarlet and white).