Capitals Win in Overtime, Send Carpenter to Rangers

Mike Gartner scored on a breakaway at 1:30 of overtime for his second goal of the game, giving the Washington Capitals a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the only National Hockey League game scheduled on New Year’s Day.

The Capitals were given a chance to break a two-game losing streak when Gaetan Duchesne tipped in a shot by Lou Franceschetti with 42 seconds left in regulation time. The Penguins, winless in their last nine games, had gone ahead, 3-2, on a blue-line slapshot by Ville Siren at the 16:50 mark.

The Siren goal was the first since Gartner and Mike Gould scored 11 seconds apart for Washington in the final minute of the first period.

The Penguins had taken a 2-0 lead on goals by Jim Johnson at 2:19 and Dave Hannan at 16:57.

But Gartner scored on a power play at 19:12, with a shot high on the glove side of goalie Roberto Romano. After Gould won the ensuing faceoff, he took a pass from behind the goal by Duchesne and forged the 2-2 tie at 19:23.

The Capitals are last in the Patrick Division with 32 points but trail third-place Pittsburgh by only five points. The Penguins, who started the season with seven consecutive victories, dropped below .500 for the first time at 15-16-7.

Pittsburgh has played its past six games without Mario Lemieux, the league’s fourth-leading scorer, who suffered sprained ligaments in his right knee on Dec. 20.

The Capitals also finally traded center Bobby Carpenter, whose 53 goals two seasons ago is the most ever scored by a American-born NHL player. Carpenter, 23, was sent to the New York Rangers for forwards Mike Ridley, Kelly Miller and Bob Crawford.

Carpenter, the third player taken in the 1981 entry draft, saw limited action this season, and he left the team after a game on Nov. 22.