"Most of Brooks Laich's 21 goals for the Washington Capitals last season came from deflections, rebounds and other dirty work around the goal mouth.

His first this season was of the same variety, and it decided the Caps' first victory of the 2008-09 campaign. Laich's goal snapped a 2-2 tie at 15:33 of the final period in a 4-2 victory Saturday night against the Chicago Blackhawks in front of a sellout crowd at Verizon Center.

Coach Bruce Boudreau, Chris Clark, Alex Ovechkin and Sergei Fedorov watched last season's division championship banner being raised.

Alexander Semin carried the puck to the net, and Laich's second whack helped it across the goal line. There was no immediate signal for a goal, but a review showed Blackhawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin caught the puck inside the net and brought it back into play.

The Washington Capitals provide joy to fans capturing a 4-2 win during their home opener against the Chicago Blackhawks.

"I actually thought [Semin] scored it," said Laich, wearing a dark red construction helmet to signify his efforts as the hardest-working player for the night. "He makes a great play to get to the net and just crash the net because good things happen."

The Caps raised a banner before the game began to commemorate their Southeast Division title. Coach Bruce Boudreau, captain Chris Clark and assistants Alex Ovechkin and Sergei Fedorov were on the ice as the banner went up, far below the others at the end of the arena where the visiting team shoots twice.

As far as Boudreau is concerned, it is time to move on.

"I am trying to get away from talking about last year because this is this year, and it is a whole different scenario, I believe," Boudreau said before the game. "The more we start thinking about last year, then you have results like you have [Friday] night. It is time to put that behind us. It is a great honor and they deserve it, but once that is done let's focus on what is at hand."

The only member of this year's Caps who wasn't on last year's team is goaltender Jose Theodore, who collected his first win with Washington despite another shaky start. After Boudreau pulled him in the team's season-opening loss to Atlanta on Friday night, he was beaten by Kris Versteeg 26 seconds into the contest on the game's first shot. "