mike ribeiro gives to john carlson. he unleashes a slapshot past henrik lundqvist. the capitals have a 1-0 lead. 2nd period same score, the rangers working along the road. then ryan mcdonough sends one on net creaked by karl haglund right past braden holtby, game tied 1-1. 3rd period, game still tied, rangers on a power play, brad richards in front to derek stephon and the rangers have a 2-1 lead. the capitals have their chances to tie in the 3rd. alex ovechkin shot off of lundqvist and the crossbar and then later troy brouwer in the slot shoots wide, not meant to be tonight, capitals falling 2- 1 despite a great effort by holtby with 38 saves. the nba all-star game was tonight in houston. there's no better way to celebrate than on michael jordan's birthday who turned 50

today. east versus west and this is a show, east in blue, lebron james to d. wade who tosses it off the backcourt board, back to king names for the dunk. later in the 1st quarter kobe bryant with the steal. he flings it to kevin durant. he gets the dunk of his choice. the d.c. native goes for the windmill. 2nd quarter the west chris paul to kobe. he lobs it up for blake griffin for the one-handed throwdown. the west up 69-55 at the half. in the 4th quarter more from the west, paul gives it to durant down the lane for another serious dunk. the score really doesn't matter. it's just fun but the west is leading the east. college hoops this afternoon, jeff jones and american looking to avenge a 19 point loss to holy cross on january 19th. final minute in overtime au down one, inside to steven lumpkins, layup is good and the foul. he would make the three-point

play giving american a two- point lead. final seconds game tied 61-61. holy cross misses the free throw. danny munoz up the left side lets it fly and he makes it before time expires. munoz scores eight of his 14 points in overtime. american defeats holy cross 64- 61. women's college hoops brenda freese and her seventh ranked terrapins on the road against virginia. thomas on the inside for the layups and the terps never frail. later in the 1st manufacture virginia turn -- trail. later in the 1st half virginia turns it over. maryland routs virginia 73-44. >> reporter: i'm scott smith in florida at nats spring training, coming up the first full squad workout plus get to know your new center fielder. we're back after this.  almost tastes like one of jack's cereals.

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>> reporter: welcome back to sports xtra. i'm scott smith from vieira, florida, where today the nationals held their first full squad workout. the whole gang was here and hit the field around 10 a.m. this morning. and the temps were reminiscent of october when they were actually all together. it dipped down into the for thes this morning. they tried to stay warm taking some ground balls and in the back of everyone's mind this spring is still the way last season ended, unfinished business in the playoffs which many players say taught a very valuable lesson. >> took a little while. i thought about that multiple times this offseason and i think it kind of makes you work a little harder knowing how close you really were and we're all putting that behind us and it's a new year and we're going to do everything we can to get a little farther. >> we look back on it quite a bit. a lot of us would text each other and keep in touch and talk about things and obviously

we talk about how it ended and how much that kind of still stung in the offseason obviously being that close to kind of going to that next level and once you play, get past that first round and of we played the giants. you never know. you get hot and once you get to the world series anything can happen, but i think we learned a lot from our success but also we learned a lot from how owl of us failed. each -- all of us failed. each individually we can do better and it's going to be fun to build on and we're looking forward to it. >> i don't know. everyone says it's always a learning experience when you get to the playoffs. if you don't take the game serious every day, i don't know what you're doing. if it's that easy for some people, then it's that easy for some people. it's not that easy for me, so i work at it every day and i take every pitch, everything in. i'm always trying to learn and be in tune with the game at all

times. biggest difference probably is the crowd. the crowds are just unbelievable. every out every pitch they're into it. you can feel it. that's probably the biggest difference. they say what did you learn, gain from the losing side of it? nothing. you're either a loser or winner at the end of the day. >> reporter: this year many are hoping they do go out winners. in the offseason they added a lot of pieces to help them do that, one of those being a new leadoff center fielder denard span. how much difference can one guy make? if he's at the top of your order, a lot. >> the addition of span is a pretty big one because of such an important role and it's something that we didn't have consistently. >> it's a good thought for denard to be leadoff guy. jason did a good job when he came back from injury and gets on base a high percentage and denard does, too. so to have someone on base all

the time that can run, cause problems on the base helps our whole team out. >> reporter: in his sixth big league season denard span is now starting over coming over from the minnesota twins where he's spent his entire career to join what may just be the most talented team in baseball. >> this is an opportunity i've been waiting for my whole life. i was in minnesota for a while and i think coming to d.c. with what the team did last year, the spotlight is definitely going to be on us. >> with the addition of span, might be one of the best outfielders i've ever had. >> hear those words, him saying that, this might be one of the teams he's been around and one of the best outfields he's put in the field is definitely gives you a lot of pressure a little bit. >> reporter: but again you're an athlete and athletes love pressure. >> you're right. >> reporter: he's a career .284 hitter with an on base percentage of .357 outdone by just nats starter from a year ago, the guy he's replacing,

jayson werth. >> didn't think they really needed with me to be honest with you, 98 wins. it was an honor when i got the news that i got traded here, definitely flattering. >> reporter: a humility that definitely comes from the upbringing of this self- professed mama's boy. >> she knows when to give me the business per se. when i need to hear something that i don't want to hear, she knows when to get on me, but throughout the season she's just -- i talk to her every game unless we're on the west coast. she's usually asleep, but other than that after each game i'm talking to her and we're talking about the game and she's like you need to swing at the first pitch. i know you're trying to work the count but my god, you're getting down 0-1 every time and, so you know, every now and then i'll listen to her. nine times out of 10 -- i ain't saying nine times out of 10, but a lot of times i let her talk. you got to let mom think she's right, hope she's not watching

this. >> reporter: expanse every one ofs had teammates has been very well -- span says every one of his teammates has been very welcoming and making him feel very comfortable. he is a florida native. lindsay, back to you. the nationals first spring game next saturday versus the mets. let's move on to golf in los angeles, the final round of the northern trust open rivera country club. john merrick tied for the lead at 11-under par. this give me putt missed, not too happy. second hole of the playoffs. merrick taps in for his par. now it's belgiums turn. his putt burns the left edge. it won't fall. john merrick becomes the first los angeles native to win the tournament, the first pga win for the ucla grad. coming up forget godaddy. how about go danica. history is made at the tracks qualifying for the daytona 500,

that story next. this is dylan right here, this is dylan, and this is his big brother hayden. dylan's only five, but he's already been through two surgeries for brain tumors. and he just went through his second round of chemo. and this is their mother, dawn, who runs this loving and happy home. she too struggled with tumors. but that doesn't slow her down. her love of family comes first. their dad, phil, works two jobs, repairing copiers, and on weekends delivering newspapers. but the bills keep piling up, and the heating bill gets pushed off. when you learn about their difficulties, it just breaks your heart.

when we asked the biggest oil companies to help families in need, only citgo, the people of venezuela, and president hugo chavez responded. thanks to them, citizens energy is able to deliver millions of gallons of fuel to families just like the berios. i'm joe kennedy. if you need help staying warm, call me at 1-877-joe-4-oil. because no one should be left out in the cold!

danica patrick has had her share of historic moments in racing. in 2005 she became the first woman to lead lane in the indianapolis 500. in 2008 she became the first woman to win an indycar series race and today maybe her best yet. patrick became the first female

to qualify on the pole for a sprint cup race and will have the lead spot next week in the daytona 500. patrick started 29th last year in her cup debut at daytona. today she posted the fastest lap, 196.4 miles per hour. jeff gordon will start in the front row next to her. congratulations, danica. here's danica on her historic accomplishment. >> pride, proud of all the hard work that goes into making a pole car. it's not just turning left. it's so many other things. it's all the attention to detail that these guys put in over the winter and i can't be more proud of them, happy for them. the 55th running of the daytona 500 can be seen right here next sunday on fox. coverage begins at noon. that's all for tonight's show. good night.