With his hair perfectly in place and his face not at all flushed, it was as if Alzner barely broke a sweat playing 19 minutes 22 seconds in the win - more than three minutes longer than his season average coming in.  "I feel fine," Alzner said. "It's easier to get into the game when you're just rolling constantly."  With defensemen Mike Green and Tom Poti both nursing injuries, Alzner is one of several Caps blue-liners who has played more minutes than usual lately.  John Carlson, Jeff Schultz, John Erskine, Tyler Sloan and Alzner all took extra shifts Saturday, and their ability to shoulder the load is key in the Capitals' attempt to withstand the early slew of injuries that has afflicted the team.  The Thrashers took 32 shots Saturday - including 27 in the first two periods - and two of the three penalties Caps defensemen took were the result of them being a step behind the play. But the defense played well enough to keep the Capitals in the game, and it gave the offense a chance to pull out the win.  "They're playing huge," goalie Michal Neuvirth said. "It's nice to be around those guys and they've got a big future for us ahead."  Green played just four shifts Saturday - almost exclusively on the power play with an undisclosed upper-body injury that kept him out of the previous three games - while Poti did not play for the fourth time in six games because of an undisclosed lower-body injury that Coach Bruce Boudreau said felt sore before the game.  Beyond the absence of Green's dynamic play-making ability on a full-time basis, and of Poti's veteran presence, playing with five healthy defensemen presents several minor challenges the remaining players have had to deal with.  But, at least on Saturday, the defensemen handled what could have been a difficult situation.  "I thought [assistant coach Bob Woods] did a great job managing the bench," Boudreau said. "We played disciplined enough where we didn't get a lot of penalties where it didn't end up [that] we overtaxed them."  The uneven number of defensemen and the double-shifting that accompanies it has thrown the defensive pairings out of whack, and has forced guys to play with multiple partners.
With Mike Green and Tom Poti nursing injuries, the Washington Capitals are receiving a little extra from the rest of their defensemen.