capture Olympic gold in the 100 free at London.This time

WASHINGTON -- John Tortorella had worried about Sundays game, the first matinee for the Columbus all season. He didnt want the Washington Capitals to get off to a quick start.The Capitals scored on Nicklas Backstroms goal barely three minutes into the game, but the Blue Jackets didnt fold and got a last-minute goal with Backstrom in the penalty box and escaped with their fourth straight win, 3-2 over the angry Capitals. Backstrom was called for high-sticking Nick Foligno with 1:34 remaining, a penalty that the Capitals vehemently disputed.Alexander Wennberg took a pass from Foligno and slammed it past Capitals goalie Braden Holtby with 54 seconds left in the game. The goal was confirmed after a video review.It was the Blue Jackets second power play goal of the game, and Washington coach Barry Trotz didnt like the call that cost his team.If you see the replay, he doesnt really touch him, and his head pops up when (Backstroms) stick is already on the way down. Thats just a little disrespectful to the game, Trotz said. The penalty call was not great for me.Backstrom, who also assisted on Alex Ovechkins ninth goal of the season midway through the second period, didnt think he touched Foligno.Last two minutes you get a penalty thats not a penalty, thats tough, Backstrom said.Columbus has its longest winning streak since they ran off nine straight wins from March 18-April 4, 2015.Sometimes it seemed like they took over the game more and more but we started to play smart and at the end of the game we felt like we played smart and got opportunity to score, Wennberg said. Find a way to win. Its as easy as that.Tortorella, who has eliminated morning skates from the Blue Jackets routine, talked to his team about the perils of getting off to a slow start.They score one, but they dont score the two and three where it can really knock you out in an afternoon game like this, really a morning game, he said. That steadied us a little bit.Ovechkins ninth goal of the season gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead, but the Blue Jackets tied it just 14 seconds into the third period on Brandon Dubinskys second goal of the season.Columbus goal by Foligno six minutes into the second period broke Washingtons streak of 15 straight successful penalty kills.Other than the disputed call, Trotz didnt find much to find fault with -- even though it was the Capitals second loss in five days to the Blue Jackets.They played a solid game. We played a solid game. Theres not going to be a lot of mistakes, Trotz said.Game notes Washington was without C Lars Eller and RW T.J. Oshie. Both have upper-body injuries. They were injured in Fridays game against Detroit. . C Paul Carey was recalled from AHL Hershey. . Columbus D Dalton Prout (upper body) missed his third straight game. . D Todd Jones (foot) was out for the sixth straight game. Tortorella says Jones is back practicing with the team, but isnt sure when hell return.UP NEXT:Blue Jackets: Host Colorado on Monday. They play five games in seven nights.Capitals: Continue season-long five-game homestand against St. Louis on Wednesday. Kyle Schwarber Jersey . R.J. Umberger scored twice to lead the Blue Jackets to a franchise-record for consecutive wins with a 5-3 victory Tuesday night over the Los Angeles Kings. Billy Williams Cubs Jersey . LOUIS -- Mike Smith is used to facing plenty of shots, so this was nothing new. http://www.cubsauthentic.com/cubs-andre-dawson-jersey/ . Speaking Thursday on TSN 1050 Thursday, the Leafs GM also touched on the questions surrounding the teams leadership and the struggles of his big-name free-agent signing. “Its not from lack of effort from the coaching staff. Kendall Graveman Cubs Jersey . -- Vincent Lecavalier got everything but the desired result in his return to Tampa Bay. Billy Williams Jersey . 10 VCU 85-67 on Thursday night at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The Seminoles (4-0) have scored at least 80 points in each of their games. OMAHA, Neb. -- Michael Phelps wasnt about to lose his last race in the United States.With his gangly arms cutting through the water, Phelps dazzled the home fans one last time.Phelps made it three-for-three at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, rallying on the return lap to win the 100-meter butterfly Saturday night.In what was billed as the farewell race in his home country, Phelps competed in lane seven after a sluggish swim in the semifinals. As usual, it took him a lap to really get going, making the turn in fourth place.But Phelps powered to the front, as hes done so many times.Even with a long glide to the wall, he finished in 51.00 seconds.When Phelps saw the 1 beside his name, he pounded the water and pointed toward his family -- including 7-week-old son Boomer -- up in the stands. Hell now get a chance to win his fourth straight gold in the 100 fly at Rio.When his longtime coach, Bob Bowman, asked for a game plan before the race, Phelps kept it simple.I dont want to lose my last race on American soil, he said.Katie Ledecky and Maya DiRado also won their third individual events on the next-to-last night of the trials, while Nathan Adrian made up for the disappointment of four years ago by winning the 50 freestyle.For Ledecky, its been the dominating performance everyone expected, this one a nearly 10-second victory in the 800 freestyle.For DiRado, its been a huge surprise, the first-time Olympian setting herself up to make quite a splash before she retires at age 23.A late bloomer who already lined up a job as a business analyst in Atlanta, she followed her victories in the 200 and 400 individual medley by knocking off defending Olympic champion Missy Franklin in the 200 backstroke.Franklin finished second to at least ensure shell get a chance to go for another gold in Rio.Phelps, of course, is also planning to retire -- for the second time -- as soon as his fifth Olympics are over. At age 31, he cruised through Omaha with victories in both butterfly races as well as the 200 individual medley.Assuming he is on all three mens relays in Rio, a virtual lock, hell get a chance to add six more medals to his already massive collection of 18 golds and 22 medals overall.The second Olympic spot in the 100 fly went to Tom Shields, who touched in 51.20 to barely beat out Seth Stubblefield (51.24).We did everything that we wanted to do, Phelps said.Well, not quite. Hell need to go even faster in Rio.A 51.0 is OK, he said, but its going to take more than that to win a gold medal.One night after competing in the 100 free, the 19-year-old Ledecky didnt have quite enough in the tank to challenge her own world record. She finished in 8 minutes, 10.32 seconds, far off the mark of 8:06.68 she set in January at a meet in Austin, Texas.ddddddddddddThe swimmer who surprisingly captured gold in the 800 free four years ago will go into Rio as one of the biggest favorites in any sport. Leah Smith took the second Olympics spot in 8:20.18 -- nearly half a lap behind Ledecky.Ledecky also posted Omaha wins in the 200 and 400 free, which means shell have three individual events and a relay at the Olympics. The only thing that didnt go her way: a seventh-place finish in the 100 free, an event she only recently started focusing on in hopes of landing a second relay race.Ledecky will be busy enough as it is.Shes going to tear it up, Phelps predicted. She always does.DiRado was nearly a body length ahead of Franklin in the 200 back with a winning time of 2:06.90.This is a dream, DiRado said.Franklin, a big disappointment at the trials but still set to swim three events in Rio, finished in 2:07.89 to hold off Lisa Bratton for the second berth.I got a spot and thats all that I needed to do, Franklin said. Theres so much room for improvement.Franklin claimed her second individual event in Rio, having also taken the runner-up spot in the 200 freestyle. Shell also swim the 4x200 free relay, a far cry from her grueling seven-event program at London four years ago.One of the things Ive been trying to do this whole year is not compare myself to where I was in 2012, she said. Im here to be the best of who I am right now.Adrian surprisingly failed to qualify in the 50 free at the 2012 trials, though he did go on to capture Olympic gold in the 100 free at London.This time, Adrian swept the sprint events. In a furious dash from one end of the pool to the other, he touched ahead of Anthony Ervin in 21.51 seconds. Ervin claimed the second spot for Rio -- one-hundredth of a second behind the winner.Its an honor to come out of that field on top, Adrian said. Looking ahead to his Rio double, he added, Its not going to be easy.Two-time Olympian Cullen Jones wont be heading to Rio. The silver medalist from London finished third at 21.75, missing a spot on the U.S. team.At age 32, it mightve been Jones last realistic shot at the Olympics. He was the final man to climb out of the pool, soaking up the moment for as long as possible.Then again, age hasnt been a hindrance to Ervin.The 35-year-old is the oldest swimmer at the trials, but hes heading to the Olympics for the third time.Im enjoying it more than 2000, Ervin said, remembering his first Olympics as a 19-year-old. That seems so long ago.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . ' ' '