WASHINGTON -- The Rangers are Alex Auld's seventh NHL team. Last night, for the first time, the 29-year-old goaltender did not win his first start for a new team, though through no fault of his own. "I felt anxious I guess all day," the veteran goaltender said after the...

Peter Caputo of Scarsdale Youth Hockey was the winner of the 2009-10 Emile Francis Award, which recognizes dedication to the local youth hockey scene.

Rangers head coach John Tortorella speaks to reporters after the Blueshirts fell to the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 in overtime on March 7 at The Garden.

MSG broadcasters Al Trautwig and Dave Maloney take a look back at the Blueshirts' 2-1 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres on March 7 at The Garden.

During the NHL's Olympic break, Blueshirts United Members were invited to a special event that brought them face to face with several Rangers players.

Caps game wrap

Vinny Prospal had a relatively simple suggestion for how the Rangers can improve their odds of scoring by a factor of 10:

“Just hit the net,” the Ranger forward said after this 2-0 loss to the Caps, the sixth time the Rangers have been shut out this season, all in the last 27 games. “And if you don’t score, get a rebound. There were numerous chances, and we don’t even hit the net on our initial chance. And it goes all the way around and we give the other team a chance to break out easily. That’s where the problem starts; we have to hit the net to score at least, or give ourselves a chance for a next chance.”

Certainly that applies to the 2-on-0 near the end of the game on which Brandon Dubinsky lost the handle and the scoring chance. It applies to much more of a game in which the Rangers did a lot of good things against the NHL’s highest-scoring team, and a lot of nothing against Jose Theodore. That includes Marian Gaborik, who played 20:08 as less than full strength with his groin injury. “Hopefully it’s going to be back soon,” the Rangers’ leading scorer said of the strength in his legs. “The key is to be in a game. It’s going to be back.”

The penalties? It wasn’t that the Rangers took all that many, it was that they took them at all the wrong times. Sean Avery’s offensive-zone hooking penalty 8:58 into a good start for the Rangers was one they didn’t need, and that goes double for Marc Staal’s minor for holding the stick 15 seconds later. “Against that team,” John Tortorella said, “you’re very fortunate if you can get out of it without getting a goal scored on you.” No such luck. And back-to-back minors to Dubinsky and Marian Gaborik in the last 4:06 - sandwiching that 2-on-0 - put the stops on any comeback attempt.

At least now have they found a backup goaltender who will stick for the rest of the season? Not that rookie Chad Johnson played poorly in his stint with the big club, but John Tortorella is likely to have an easier feeling seeing a veteran play as confidently, inside and outside his crease, as Alex Auld did tonight. Auld made 26 saves, had no prayer on Eric Fehr’s 5-on-3 goal, and was the anti-Henrik in how he would jet far outside his office to retrieve pucks as Capital clears, and forecheckers, came toward him.

“He played good, he played very well,” Tortorella said. “He’s good with the puck; it’s something that helps you out in certain situations. With the D, he made a couple good calls as far as coming out of the net. So he played very well - that’s good news.”

Theodore, though, was better. His best stop of the night came 5½ minutes into the second period when Shaone Morrison sent a cross-ice pass to Dubinsky in the slot as if they were wearing the same colors. Dubinsky tried deking as he got in tight, but Theodore was equal to it, and from that point on he allowed the Rangers very few second chances.

Washington won its 13th straight game at home, a club record, despite Alex Ovechkin going a sixth straight game without a goal (with two Olympic goals in between). Only three teams this season have defeated them in regulation at their home rink - the Rangers being one of them, back during the halcyon days of the seven-game win streak to start the season, a 4-3 victory on Oct. 8.

The Rangers lost a low-scoring affair, 2-0, to the Washington Capitals last night and watched their playoff push in the season's final month become all the more desperate. Jose Theodore made 30 saves for his first shutout of the season.