After 7 Hours And 4 Ots, Pens Evens Series With Caps

Petr Nedved scored a power-play goal with 44.6 seconds left in the fourth overtime Wednesday night, ending the longest NHL game in 60 years and giving the Pittsburgh Penguins a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals at Landover, Md.

The only two games that went longer were in 1933 and 1936. Both those games went to six overtimes.

The victory tied the playoff series 2-2. Game 5 will be Friday night in Pittsburgh.

Several thousand fans were still in attendance nearly 7 hours after the game began. It ended when Nedved scored from the the top of the left circle with the Capitals’ Jim Johnson in the penalty box for hooking. It was Nedved’s sixth goal of the series.

The Penguins played the final 100 minutes without Mario Lemieux, who was ejected after punching Todd Krygier with 36.2 seconds left in the second period.

Penguins 3, Capitals 2 (4OT)

Pitt 011 0 0 0 1 - 3

Wash 110 0 0 0 0 - 2

First period-1, Washington, Pivonka 3 (Hunter, Gonchar), 13:50 (pp).

Second period-2, Washington, Bondra 3 (Juneau, Brunette), 7:36 (pp). 3, Pittsburgh, Jagr 1 (Francis), 18:42 (sh).

Third period-4, Pittsburgh, Nedved 5 (Daigneault, Zubov), 8:00 (pp).

Overtime-None. Second Overtime-None. Third Overtime-None. Fourth Overtime-5, Pittsburgh, Nedved 6 (Zubov, Jagr), 19:15 (pp). Missed Penalty Shot-Juneau, Was, 15:44, second overtime.

Shots on goal-Pittsburgh 16-7-19-3-4-5-11-65. Washington 9-7-5-14-12-11-6-64.Power-play opp.-Pittsburgh 2 of 10; Washington 2 of 8.Goalies-Pittsburgh, Barrasso (9 shots-8 saves), Wregget 1-0 (0:00 second, 55-54). Washington, Kolzig 2-1 (65-62).A-18,130 (18,130).

Panthers 4, Bruins 2

Boston

Florida moved within a victory of sweeping the first playoff series in its three-year history as John Vanbiesbrouck shut down Boston.

Jody Hull scored twice, and the Panthers rolled to a 3-0 lead in the first 13 minutes against goalie Bill Ranford, who had missed the second game with a sore right ankle.

The Panthers, leading the best-of-seven series 3-0, can advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals with another win tonight in Boston.

Boston is in the playoffs for an NHL record 29th straight year but is just 1-11 and has been outscored 46-21 in its last 12 playoff games.

Vanbiesbrouck entered his first playoff series in four years with a 13-20 postseason record but was outstanding as he turned aside 40 of 41 shots before Rick Tocchet scored a meaningless power-play goal with 58 seconds left.

Florida 3 1 0 - 4

Boston 0 1 1 - 2

First period-1, Florida, Hull 2 (Fitzgerald), :30. 2, Florida, Mellanby 1 (Svehla, Woolley), 10:29 (pp). 3, Florida, Hough 2, 12:19. Second period-4, Florida, Hull 3 (Barnes, Carkner), 15:16. 5, Boston, McEachern 1 (Moger), 18:40. Third period-6, Boston, Tocchet 3 (Gruden, Borque), 19:02 (pp).

Shots on goal-Florida 11-9-6-26. Boston 14-13-15-42.Power-play opp.-Florida 1 of 6; Boston 0 of 4.Goalies-Florida, Vanbiesbrouck 3-0 (42 shots-40 saves). Boston, Ranford 0-2 (26-22).A-14,922 (17,565).

Tuesday’s result

Blackhawks 2, Flames 1, (3OT)

Calgary, Alberta

Joe Murphy scored at 10:02 of the third overtime late to lift Chicago over the Calgary Flames 2-1 and put the Blackhawks into to the second round of the playoffs on a four-game sweep.

It was yet another playoff defeat for the Flames, who have not won a series since winning the Stanley Cup in 1989.

Chicago 00 1 0 0 1 2

Calgary 01 0 0 0 0 1

First Period-None. Second Period-1, Calgary, Iginla 1 (Titov), 5:53.

Third Period-2, Chicago, Roenick 2 (Murphy, Suter), 19:51.

First Overtime-None. Second Overtime-None. Third Overtime-3, Chicago, Murphy 4 (Craven), 10:02.

Shots on goal-Chicago 5-10-10-11-5-6-47. Calgary 12-8-10-10-10-6-56.Power-play opp.-Chicago 0 of 3; Calgary 0 of 6.Goalies-Chicago, Belfour 3-0 (56 shots-55 saves). Calgary, Tabaracci 0-2 (47-45).A-16,629 (20,230).

xxxx
NHL playoffs Florida at Boston, 4:30 p.m. St. Louis at Toronto, 4:30 p.m. Tampa Bay at Philadelphia, 4:30 p.m. Vancouver at Colorado, 6 p.m.