W-OLF
04-08-2006, 01:52 PM
AP) - The Washington Capitals had Alexander Ovechkin and a whole lot of power plays to work with. Yet it was the Carolina Hurricanes who kept taking advantage.
Ovechkin, well on his way to the NHL rookie of the year award, had one assist to reach 99 points. But that wasn't enough to help the Capitals, who gave up three short-handed goals in a 4-3 home loss to the Hurricanes on Friday night.
Washington went 1-for-6 on power plays and ended up a minus-2 on its own advantages.
Justin Williams scored two of Carolina's man-down goals, and Kevyn Adams had the other. Williams and Adams teamed up to score 19 seconds apart on the same Capitals power play.
"We don't pride ourselves on trying to score with a man short, but if we have odd-man rushes, we're all for it," Williams said. "(It) was just a situation where opportunity knocks."
Eric Staal scored his 44th goal of the season during a second-period power play, and Cam Ward made a career-high 39 saves for the Hurricanes, who lead the Eastern Conference with 51 wins. Carolina is tied with Ottawa for first place with 108 points.
It was the third straight game between the Southeast Division rivals and the fifth matchup in 14 days. Carolina won all three this week - including an overtime victory and a shootout win - after dropping the two other meetings to Washington at the end of March.
"It's kind of like their playoffs, and they play hard," Williams said of the Capitals, the second-to-last place club in the East. "They're a team that is going to scratch and claw and never give up."
In other NHL games, it was Detroit 6, Columbus 5 in a shootout; Pittsburgh 5, Florida 1; Philadelphia 4, Buffalo 2; Edmonton 4, Chicago 3 in overtime; and Calgary 2, Minnesota 1.
Ovechkin has 48 goals and 51 assists, and is one point from becoming the sixth NHL rookie to ever post 100. Teemu Selanne, during the 1992-93 season, is the only first-year player to reach the mark while also scoring 50 goals. Ovechkin, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 draft, will have a chance to hit both milestones Saturday night at the New York Islanders.
The Hurricanes were trailing 1-0 in the second period and down a man when Adams deflected in a shot by Frantisek Kaberle. Just 19 seconds later, Williams intercepted a pass and scored on a breakaway to make it 2-1.
It was the second time in franchise history Carolina scored two short-handed goals on one opposing power play. Dave Tippett and Dean Evason did it on Feb. 10, 1990, when the franchise was known as the Hartford Whalers.
Jeff Halpern gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead with help from Dainius Zubrus and Ovechkin. Washington didn't score again until the frantic final minutes, when Shaone Morrisonn scored his first goal of the season with 2:52 remaining. Brian Willsie got Washington within 4-3 by scoring his 17th goal with 1:32 left.
Flyers 4, Sabres 2
At Buffalo, N.Y., Simon Gagne had a goal and two assists, helping Philadelphia clinch a playoff spot.
Robert Esche made 19 saves for the Flyers, who closed within three points of the first-place New York Rangers in the Atlantic Division.
R.J. Umberger, Eric Desjardins and Mike Knuble also scored for the Flyers, who trail fourth-place Buffalo by five points in the East playoff chase.
Tim Connolly and Ales Kotalik scored, and Ryan Miller made 30 saves for the Sabres, who had a seven-game home unbeaten streak against the Flyers end.
Red Wings 6, Blue Jackets 5, SO
At Detroit, Tomas Holmstrom scored the only goal of a five-round shootout to lift the host Red Wings.
Brendan Shanahan had a goal and an assist, and Kris Draper, Mikael Samuelsson, Niklas Kronwall, and Jason Williams also scored for Detroit. Robert Lang added two assists.
Rick Nash got his first career hat trick and Mark Hartigan and Dan Fritsche added a goal and an assist each for Columbus.
Penguins 5, Panthers 1
At Sunrise, Fla., rookie Sidney Crosby had his 36th goal and three assists, Sebastien Caron made 36 saves, and Pittsburgh snapped a 12-game losing streak to Florida.
Konstantin Koltsov, Ryan Whitney, Ryan Malone and John LeClair also scored for Pittsburgh, the NHL's worst team this season.
Jay Bouwmeester scored for Florida, but Roberto Luongo stopped only 14 of 18 shots through two periods. That was enough to knock the Panthers out of the Eastern Conference playoff chase.
Oilers 4, Blackhawks 3, OT
At Chicago, Ryan Smyth scored his second goal of the game during a power play at 3:18 of overtime to lift Edmonton.
Kyle Calder scored with 1:59 left in regulation to tie the game at 3 for the host Blackhawks.
Smyth also had an assist as the Oilers moved into sixth place in the Western Conference, four points ahead of ninth-place Vancouver. Ales Hemsky and Fernando Pisani also had power-play goals for Edmonton.
Radim Vrbata and Mark Bell had man-advantage goals for Chicago, which has won just three of 11.
Flames 2, Wild 1
At Calgary, Alberta, Jamie Lundmark scored the tiebreaking goal with 5:20 left in the third period and Miikka Kiprusoff won his franchise-record 40th game in the Flames' victory that eliminated Minnesota from the West playoff chase.
Starting for the 19th time in 20 games, Kiprusoff made 21 saves to eclipse the record of 39 wins set by Mike Vernon in the 1987-88 season.
The first-place Flames lead Edmonton by six points in the Northwest Division and Colorado by seven.
Tony Amonte opened the scoring for Calgary in the second minute of the first period with his first goal since Jan. 14.
The Wild tied it at 8:31 of the third period when Brian Rolston scored his team-leading 33rd goal while Minnesota was short-handed.
credit BellSouth
Ovechkin, well on his way to the NHL rookie of the year award, had one assist to reach 99 points. But that wasn't enough to help the Capitals, who gave up three short-handed goals in a 4-3 home loss to the Hurricanes on Friday night.
Washington went 1-for-6 on power plays and ended up a minus-2 on its own advantages.
Justin Williams scored two of Carolina's man-down goals, and Kevyn Adams had the other. Williams and Adams teamed up to score 19 seconds apart on the same Capitals power play.
"We don't pride ourselves on trying to score with a man short, but if we have odd-man rushes, we're all for it," Williams said. "(It) was just a situation where opportunity knocks."
Eric Staal scored his 44th goal of the season during a second-period power play, and Cam Ward made a career-high 39 saves for the Hurricanes, who lead the Eastern Conference with 51 wins. Carolina is tied with Ottawa for first place with 108 points.
It was the third straight game between the Southeast Division rivals and the fifth matchup in 14 days. Carolina won all three this week - including an overtime victory and a shootout win - after dropping the two other meetings to Washington at the end of March.
"It's kind of like their playoffs, and they play hard," Williams said of the Capitals, the second-to-last place club in the East. "They're a team that is going to scratch and claw and never give up."
In other NHL games, it was Detroit 6, Columbus 5 in a shootout; Pittsburgh 5, Florida 1; Philadelphia 4, Buffalo 2; Edmonton 4, Chicago 3 in overtime; and Calgary 2, Minnesota 1.
Ovechkin has 48 goals and 51 assists, and is one point from becoming the sixth NHL rookie to ever post 100. Teemu Selanne, during the 1992-93 season, is the only first-year player to reach the mark while also scoring 50 goals. Ovechkin, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2004 draft, will have a chance to hit both milestones Saturday night at the New York Islanders.
The Hurricanes were trailing 1-0 in the second period and down a man when Adams deflected in a shot by Frantisek Kaberle. Just 19 seconds later, Williams intercepted a pass and scored on a breakaway to make it 2-1.
It was the second time in franchise history Carolina scored two short-handed goals on one opposing power play. Dave Tippett and Dean Evason did it on Feb. 10, 1990, when the franchise was known as the Hartford Whalers.
Jeff Halpern gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead with help from Dainius Zubrus and Ovechkin. Washington didn't score again until the frantic final minutes, when Shaone Morrisonn scored his first goal of the season with 2:52 remaining. Brian Willsie got Washington within 4-3 by scoring his 17th goal with 1:32 left.
Flyers 4, Sabres 2
At Buffalo, N.Y., Simon Gagne had a goal and two assists, helping Philadelphia clinch a playoff spot.
Robert Esche made 19 saves for the Flyers, who closed within three points of the first-place New York Rangers in the Atlantic Division.
R.J. Umberger, Eric Desjardins and Mike Knuble also scored for the Flyers, who trail fourth-place Buffalo by five points in the East playoff chase.
Tim Connolly and Ales Kotalik scored, and Ryan Miller made 30 saves for the Sabres, who had a seven-game home unbeaten streak against the Flyers end.
Red Wings 6, Blue Jackets 5, SO
At Detroit, Tomas Holmstrom scored the only goal of a five-round shootout to lift the host Red Wings.
Brendan Shanahan had a goal and an assist, and Kris Draper, Mikael Samuelsson, Niklas Kronwall, and Jason Williams also scored for Detroit. Robert Lang added two assists.
Rick Nash got his first career hat trick and Mark Hartigan and Dan Fritsche added a goal and an assist each for Columbus.
Penguins 5, Panthers 1
At Sunrise, Fla., rookie Sidney Crosby had his 36th goal and three assists, Sebastien Caron made 36 saves, and Pittsburgh snapped a 12-game losing streak to Florida.
Konstantin Koltsov, Ryan Whitney, Ryan Malone and John LeClair also scored for Pittsburgh, the NHL's worst team this season.
Jay Bouwmeester scored for Florida, but Roberto Luongo stopped only 14 of 18 shots through two periods. That was enough to knock the Panthers out of the Eastern Conference playoff chase.
Oilers 4, Blackhawks 3, OT
At Chicago, Ryan Smyth scored his second goal of the game during a power play at 3:18 of overtime to lift Edmonton.
Kyle Calder scored with 1:59 left in regulation to tie the game at 3 for the host Blackhawks.
Smyth also had an assist as the Oilers moved into sixth place in the Western Conference, four points ahead of ninth-place Vancouver. Ales Hemsky and Fernando Pisani also had power-play goals for Edmonton.
Radim Vrbata and Mark Bell had man-advantage goals for Chicago, which has won just three of 11.
Flames 2, Wild 1
At Calgary, Alberta, Jamie Lundmark scored the tiebreaking goal with 5:20 left in the third period and Miikka Kiprusoff won his franchise-record 40th game in the Flames' victory that eliminated Minnesota from the West playoff chase.
Starting for the 19th time in 20 games, Kiprusoff made 21 saves to eclipse the record of 39 wins set by Mike Vernon in the 1987-88 season.
The first-place Flames lead Edmonton by six points in the Northwest Division and Colorado by seven.
Tony Amonte opened the scoring for Calgary in the second minute of the first period with his first goal since Jan. 14.
The Wild tied it at 8:31 of the third period when Brian Rolston scored his team-leading 33rd goal while Minnesota was short-handed.
credit BellSouth