"Before the puck was dropped for the Washington Capitals' home opener against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night, the Caps had a ceremony to raise the 2007-08 Southeast Division championship banner.

Coach Bruce Boudreau would rather they have hung the net from the goal his team defended in Atlanta on Friday in its season-opening 7-4 loss.

That is the memory the coach wants fresh in minds of his players - not last season's honors.

"I am trying to get away from talking about last year because that was last year and this is this year, and it is a whole different scenario," Boudreau said before Saturday night's game. "The more we start thinking about last year then you have results like you have last night."

You can't have too many results like the seven goals the Capitals allowed against the Thrashers, or else it defeats the purpose of having a goalie. And within the first 30 seconds of Saturday's game, fans may have wondered what the point was of having Jose Theodore in the net.

But the free-agent signee managed to play as if he understands what a goalie's purpose is. Theodore blanked the Blackhawks in the second and third periods in the Capitals' 4-2 victory.

"I think it was a little bit maybe of me being too anxious, of wanting to do too much, and forgetting about having fun out there," Theodore said. "I just stopped thinking and just [remembered you need to] have a good time and do what you do."

Just 26 seconds into the game, the puck went by Theodore for a 1-0 Chicago lead on a goal by forward Kris Versteeg. Twelve minutes later, Theodore gave up a goal to forward Jack Skille and the crowd rumbled with low-level boos. Capitals forward Matt Bradley's goal about two minutes later at least stopped that sinking feeling rushing through the arena.

Reporters once asked Hall of Fame baseball manager Casey Stengel why he picked catcher Hobie Landrith as the first choice in the 1962 expansion draft to put together the roster for the New York Mets. Stengel replied, "Well, if you don't have a catcher, you're going to have a lot of passed balls."

Well, if you don't have a goalie, you're going to chase a lot of pucks into the net, as they did Friday night. "