Caps

Capitals right wing Mike Knuble has a broken finger and will be sidelined three to four weeks. Knuble was injured on a power play in the first period of Friday's 3-1 victory over the Wild. He crashed into the net when defenseman Marek Zidlicky sent him hurdling over goaltender Josh Harding . The Capitals said Knuble will have surgery. The team did not say which finger was broken. Knuble has five goals and 10 assists for the Capitals this season. He was one of Washington's major offseason acquisitions, signing a two-year deal, $5.6 million deal on the first day of NHL free agency in July.

It has been a familiar scene the past two days at UMBC: lacrosse sticks flying everywhere, a mass celebration, then the traditional team photo with the state championship plaque proudly displayed. When it was the South River boys' turn, after a stunning, 10-8 comeback win over Westminster in the Class 4A-3A final, the sticks flew a bit higher, the celebratory pile came together quicker and the smiles were broader. The No. 8 Seahawks had more to enjoy than bringing home the program's second state championship Wednesday at rainy UMBC Stadium.

The Capitals shook up their roster a bit Monday, acquiring left wing Jason Chimera from the Blue Jackets in a trade that sends Chris Clark and defenseman Milan Jurcina to Columbus. The deal cuts about $2 million in salary this season from Washington's payroll, which could clear room for another trade. Chimera has eight goals and nine assists this season, along with 47 penalty minutes, more than anyone on Washington's roster. The deal moves him from the last-place Blue Jackets - a team on a franchise-record-tying nine-game losing streak - to a first-place Capitals club.

They are plebes no longer. It took two hours, 10 minutes and 13 seconds Tuesday for the freshman class at the U.S. Naval Academy to have one of its own knock a plebe's "dixie cup" hat from the top of the greased Herndon Monument and replace it with a midshipman's hat, symbolically morphing the group into 4th-class Mids. Andrew Craig, 19, of Tulsa, Okla., achieved the goal in the noisy and slippery event that drew between 800 and 1,000 plebes, officials said. Tradition holds that the student who caps the monument will be first in the class to reach the rank of admiral, though that has yet to happen.

The Washington Capitals signed unrestricted free-agent goaltender Dany Sabourin, 29, to a one-year contract. Sabourin has played 57 games for the Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks. He spent 2009-10 with the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League, going 28-27-0 with a 2.67 goals-against average, a .915 save percentage and three shutouts. José Theodore, the Capitals' starter for much of 2009-10, is a free agent and is not expected to be retained. That leaves Washington with two 22-year-olds, Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth, likely to get most of the starts.

Nicklas Backstrom scored the only shootout goal on Washington's third attempt to give the Capitals a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Backstrom secured the win when he put a shot past Carey Price . Varsity: Dylon Cormier, a 6-foot-1 guard who has committed to play at Loyola University next year, scored a game-high 37 points to power host Cardinal Gibbons past Annapolis Area Christian School, 66-56, in boys basketball Saturday. - From Sun staff and news services

Travis Moen and Tomas Plekanec scored in a three-minute span early in the second period, Michael Cammalleri added a goal in the third and the visiting Montreal Canadiens withstood a comeback to beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2. Brendan Morrison scored with 2:32 remaining to pull Washington within a goal. Then Maxim Lapierre was whistled for hooking with 1:52 to play, giving the Capitals a power play through the end of regulation. Washington pulled its goalie with a minute to play, a Canadiens player lost his stick and the Capitals held siege in the offensive zone.

The Washington Capitals signed free-agent defenseman Dustin Stevenson to a three-year entry-level contract. Stevenson, 20, is a 6-foot-5, 220-pound player for the La Ronge Ice Wolves of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. - From Sun staff and news services

Sunday's matinee against the Carolina Hurricanes won't go down as one of the more complete or perfect performances by the Washington Capitals this year. In fact, there were few moments at Verizon Center where they seemed firmly in control of the contest, but all that truly matters is that the Capitals found a way to win. Boosted by Dmitry Orlov's first NHL goal, which stood as the game-winner, and a 43-save outing by Tomas Vokoun, the Capitals claimed a 2-1 win over Carolina that catapulted them to first place in the Southeast Division and third in the Eastern Conference.

Following the New York Rangers' 6-0 drubbing of the Washington Capitals Sunday night at the Capital Centre, just one question was asked in the clubhouse: "Is the series over or has it just begun?"It won't take long to find answers in tonight's fourth game of the series (7:35, HTS), which the Rangers lead 2-1.Dubbed the "discipline series" by Caps coach Terry Murray, the Caps were anything but in Sunday's Patrick Division semifinal game after nearly taking a pair from the Rangers in Manhattan late last week with a controlled style of play, emphasizing patience and more patience.

The largest crowd in Preakness Stakes history watched the thrilling victory of a horse that's now on a Triple Crown hunt, jammed to pop band Maroon 5 and basked under a Saturday sky whose only clouds were the wispy letters of an advertisement sprayed from a plane. Bettors in the Turfside Terrace, a massive white tent along the home stretch at Pimlico Race Course , watched anxiously as the 137th Preakness ended just as many had predicted - with Derby champ I'll Have Another and also-favored Bodemeister vying for the win. When I'll Have Another surged late to win by a nose - and continued his bid for what would be the first Triple Crown triumph since 1978 - they erupted into cheers, clutching their betting tickets and hugging.

Behind the black metal doors leading into the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium, Orioles players bobbed their heads to the bass-thumping music that filled the room Thursday afternoon. Travel bags in front of each player's locker, the Orioles were ready to barnstorm out of Kansas City, having completed a road series just 40 hours after arriving here. Their stay was brief, but they swept through the Midwest with a pair of more-than-meaningful comeback wins at Kauffman Stadium -- wins that came within less than 24 hours of each other.

Mount St. Joseph tennis coach Tom Hughes knew he had something special the first day his team stepped onto the court for its first practice in early March. Most of the players had already spent much of the year improving their skills, so they were already in mid-season form by the first drill. The Gaels then went undefeated through the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association regular season and knocked off defending champion McDonogh in the playoffs, dropping just one game in that entire stretch.

The law, sometimes, can be a bit difficult to comprehend. Relatives of three people killed when a firetruck that went through a red light hit their car in Northwest Baltimore are to get a grand total of $40,000 in their out-of-court settlement. A woman hit by a car driven by a passed out health department worker and seriously injured settles for $200,000. The difference? State law caps civil damages in accidents involving first responders when they're operating lights and sirens and headed to emergencies.

Don't be surprised if gaggles of screaming teens suddenly make a rush on Orioles gear. Their icon, "Twilight" star Kristen Stewart, has been photographed in an Orioles hat all over the place. It turns out that Stewart has apparently swiped the orange and black headgear from her boyfriend, co-star Robert Pattinson. (Robert Pattinson??? Aaaaaaaah!!!) Yahoo's Crush blog is reporting that the hat-grab is a meaningful indicator of the couple's true love. "While some girls snag their boyfriend's favorite button-down shirt or perfectly broken-in sweatshirt, Kristen Stewart seems to have taken possession of Robert Pattinson's prized ball cap," Crush writes.

Finding a way to respond from demoralizing, soul-crushing defeats is nothing new for the Washington Capitals this season. They've managed to follow up disappointing losses by rallying around one another for weeks now, throughout the playoffs and dating to the end of the regular season. When they host the New York Rangers for Game 6 tonight, though, the Capitals will face the greatest challenge to their collective resiliency as they try to stave off elimination. Washington trails the top-seeded Rangers three games to two in their Eastern Conference semifinal series, and a loss at Verizon Center would end the Caps' season.

As Wilson Betemit rounded third, he flung his batting helmet in the air and charged headfirst into the mob awaiting him at home plate. A remarkable comeback struck quickly -- the stadium siren blaring and the seating bowl fervent -- with the Orioles, down to their final two outs, rallying Sunday for a 5-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics at Camden Yards in front of an announced 31,793. Betemit capped a five-run ninth inning with a three-run shot -- the first walk-off homer of his career -- taking a fastball from Oakland closer Grant Balfour (0-1)

LANDOVER -- Watch the Washington Capitals long enough, particularly some of their shenanigans in the NHL playoffs, and you begin thinking you might be endowed with prescient powers. Or at least fair to middlin' in the extrasensory perception department.It's scary how predictable these guys are sometimes.In their current opening-round best-of-seven series with Pittsburgh, the Caps held a healthy 3-1 margin in games and they were playing the Penguins off their skates in western Pennsylvania a couple of days ago. And lost.

So much of the Washington Capitals' success in the postseason has stemmed from their ability to protect and hang on to even the slimmest of margins regardless of the adversity they faced. At a certain point, though, there was bound to be a break that went against them. On Monday night at Madison Square Garden it came in the form of a high-sticking call and double-minor penalty on Joel Ward late in the third period as Washington protected a one-goal lead. The New York Rangers scored twice on that power play — Brad Richards to force overtime, then Marc Staal 1:35 into the extra session — to secure a 3-2 victory and a three-games-to-two lead in this Eastern Conference semifinal series.

As Wilson Betemit rounded third, he flung his batting helmet in the air and charged headfirst into the mob awaiting him at home plate. A remarkable comeback struck quickly -- the stadium siren blaring and the seating bowl fervent -- with the Orioles, down to their final two outs, rallying Sunday for a 5-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics at Camden Yards in front of an announced 31,793. Betemit capped a five-run ninth inning with a three-run shot -- the first walk-off homer of his career -- taking a fastball from Oakland closer Grant Balfour (0-1)