by Tom Reed, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH , The Columbus Dispatch

But after the Jackets' 5-4 win against Washington, Umberger awarded the assist of the night to Tim LeRoy. The Jackets equipment manager attached a protective flap to his equipment that cushions blows to his lower back.

On the winning goal, Umberger parked himself in front of Capitals goalie Jose Theodore. A defenseman cross-checked Umberger three times in the small of the back, but could not prevent the Jackets' winger from tipping in Nash's feed at 1:45.

"I knew (Tom Poti) was doing it and I figure let him do it, he's just taking himself out of the play," Umberger said. "I didn't feel a thing."

Umberger has a huge welt on his back courtesy of a Jim Vandermeer cross-check Tuesday night against Phoenix. Because of Umberger's willingness to stand in front of the net and absorb punishment on the power play, his back is a frequent target.

LeRoy and Umberger spoke about the issue and the equipment manager came up with the flap, which is used by others throughout the NHL.

"It really spares me some pain," Umberger said.

\ Ovechkin injured

Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is being listed as day-to-day after he suffered a second-period, upper-body injury.

The league's two-time reigning MVP was involved in scrum near the Jackets bench 70 seconds into the period. Jackets forward Jason Chimera bumped Ovechkin in retaliation for a punishing first-period check.

Ovechkin took a swipe at Chimera and players from both sides jumped into the fray. Jackets forward Jared Boll grabbed Ovechkin and tugged at his jersey. Ovechkin and Chimera were assessed matching roughing minors and Boll picked up a roughing penalty and 10-minute misconduct.

Ovechkin, the league's top scorer, was flexing his left arm or shoulder as he skated to the penalty box.

"He kind of threw a punch at me, and then Boller kind of got into it and it was a mess," Chimera said. "I hope he's all right. There was no intent to hurt somebody out there. He just hit me pretty hard that one shift, so I just let him know 'You're not going to hit me like that all game,' so I pushed him a bit."

Boll said Ovechkin's left arm might have been pinned awkwardly against the bench.

Several minutes later, Ovechkin fell to the ice after colliding with Torres. Again, the Caps star flexed his arm heading to the bench.

Ovechkin said he's not sure how he got hurt and didn't blame Chimera.

"It was just a moment of the game," Ovechkin said. "Nothing happened. He just hit me, there was a little battle there."

\ Ailing assistant coach

Blue Jackets assistant coach Gord Murphy missed his second straight game with the flu, coach Ken Hitchcock confirmed. Murphy, who works with Jackets defensemen is expected to return to practice Tuesday.

treed@dispatch.com

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