Capitals Jump To Fourth
Peter Bondra set a franchise record with a superb shorthanded goal, while Olaf Kolzig had fans chanting his name as he made 33 saves for his second consecutive shutout as the Washington Capitals beat the New Jersey Devils 2-0 Friday night.
It was the sixth win in seven games and fifth in a row at home for the Capitals, who moved ahead of Boston and Montreal in points for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. The conference-leading Devils suffered only their second loss in 16 games and their first shutout since Nov. 26 in the first of home-and-home games between the two teams.
His goal was Bondra’ 43rd of the season and his 18th career shorthanded goal for the Capitals, breaking the team mark he shared with Bengt Gustafsson and Mike Ridley.
Elsewhere on the ice
At Kanata, Ontario, Pavel Bure scored his 42nd goal and Arturs Irbe stopped 28 shots to help the Vancouver Canucks earn a 1-1 tie with the Ottawa Senators.
Alexei Yashin opened the scoring for the Senators 29 seconds into the game.
Ottawa has lost just one of its past 12 home games and is undefeated in its past eight at the Corel Centre (5-0-3). The Senators hold down the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot.
Vancouver is 2-2-2 in the middle of a seven-game, 11-day road trip. The Canucks are eight points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
At Dallas, Pat Verbeek scored three goals to lead the shorthanded Dallas Stars to their fourth straight victory, 6-1 over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Jamie Wright snapped a 1-1 tie when he beat Carolina goaltender Trevor Kidd from 45 feet with his third goal at 14:28 of the second period.
Verbeek followed with the next two goals, then completed his 12th career hat trick at 13:27 of the third period with his 25th goal of the season to boost Dallas’ advantage to 6-1.
Theoren Fleury scored two goals and the Calgary Flames kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 4-1 win over the New York Islanders in Calgary.
The win moved the 11th-place Flames within seven points of idle Edmonton for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Blackhawks lose center
Chicago Blackhawks center Jeff Shantz is out for the rest of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Shantz suffered the injury in the first period of Chicago’s 1-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Savage’s thumb broken
Canadiens forward Brian Savage has a broken thumb and could miss at least four weeks.
The Canadiens sent a videotape to the NHL of a Brent Sutter slash on Savage that broke his left thumb during Chicago’s victory over Montreal Thursday.