Laing: 'A couple of days of feeling miserable'

Quintin Laing will return to the Caps' lineup tonight against Columbus after three games with the H1N1 virus, the fourth line winger confirmed moments ago.

"I don't know if there will be a close hug or not," Laing joked when asked how he expected his teammates to congratulate him if he scores. "Maybe a fist bump on the side."

Laing told me he's "100 percent" recovered from the flu and that it didn't really hit him all that hard. His temperature, in fact, barely went over 100, he said.

"A couple of days of feeling miserable, that's all," said Laing, who is the fourth known NHLer to come down with swine flu. "My wife and two kids got the regular flu and they were 10 times worse than me."

Laing said he couldn't believe it when he found out what was ailing him. First a torn spleen, now this, he thought.

"The swing flu? What? You have to be kidding me," he said with a laugh. "I guess I only get the rare injuries. Then he told me five days away from the rink. That was the hardest part, not seeing the guys and stuff."

Tonight's lineup is in flux right now because of a few players who are questionable, but it's expected that Laing will return to his usual spot on the left side of the fourth line.