Washington Blanked in Boston : NHL playoffs: Moog stops 28 shots, Neely has goal, assist as Bruins go two games ahead.

Stanley Cups came easier than shutouts to Andy Moog. Until this season.

Moog, who played on three Cup winners with Edmonton, had no shutouts in 50 playoff games before this year. But he got his second in seven games as the Boston Bruins beat the Washington Capitals, 3-0, Saturday night. The victory gave Boston a 2-0 lead in the Wales Conference final.

“I’ve been given the opportunity to earn my starts here,” he said. “I took it and got on a roll and I’ll just keep going as long as I can because it’s a lot of fun right now.”

Moog, who backed up Grant Fuhr with Edmonton, has shared the No. 1 spot with Reggie Lemelin since being traded to Boston March 7, 1988. Lemelin started two of the Bruins’ first four playoff games this year, but Moog relieved him to start the third period of Game 4, got hot and has played every minute since.

Moog, who has started 10 consecutive games, winning eight, stopped 28 shots. His first playoff shutout was a 1-0 victory over Montreal in the opener of the Adams Division final. He is 10-3 in the playoffs.

“Andy came up with some big saves,” said Cam Neely, who had a goal and an assist. “We certainly needed that.”

The next two games of the best-of-seven series are scheduled for Monday night and Wednesday night at the Capital Centre in Landover, Md. The Bruins had the NHL’s best regular-season road record, and the Capitals were 19-18-3 at home.

“They outworked us for the last part of the 60 minutes,” Washington Coach Terry Murray said. “We created a lot of the problems for ourselves with turnovers, poor passes, poor clearing passes.”

Bobby Carpenter broke up a goaltending duel between Moog and Don Beaupre by scoring at 3:23 of the second period. Linemates Neely and Craig Janney each capitalized on two-on-one breaks early in the third period to give Moog some insurance.

“Andy made some good saves, but he didn’t have to deal with any rebounds,” Beaupre said. “I can’t remember any. That’s team play.”

Moog’s only scare came midway through the second period when Bruin defenseman Glen Wesley shot the puck off his own backboards. It bounced in front of Moog, who lost his stick trying to clear it, but managed to fall on the puck before the Capitals could reach it.