NHL ROUNDUP : Capitals Keep Rolling on Liut’s 25th Shutout

Mike Liut keeps doing a brilliant job of stopping the puck and the Washington Capitals keep winning.

Liut stopped 25 shots for his 25th shutout Friday night at Landover, Md., in the Capitals’ 4-0 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It was the second consecutive shutout for the Capitals, who are 10-3-0, their best start ever. It was the 34-year-old Liut’s 289th victory, putting him in a tie with Ed Giacomin for 10th place on the all-time list.

Liut has beaten the Maple Leafs 24 times.

Liut’s task was made easier when Dino Ciccarelli, Calle Johnson and Todd Krygier scored in the second period for the Capitals.

“I had a feeling, “ he said. “The game started well and things were going my way. We’re playing with a lot of confidence.”

Liut preserved the shutout when he stopped Brian Bradley on a breakaway with 7:45 to play, then survived a power play in the closing minutes.

The Capitals have not given up a goal in more than 131 minutes.

Montreal 5, Buffalo 1--The defenses are prevailing thus far in the NHL. Especially Montreal’s.

Roland Melanson lost his bid for a third consecutive shutout in this game at Buffalo, but he extended his scoreless streak to 195 minutes and the Canadiens’ winning streak to six games.

When Donald Audette scored for the Sabres at 5:18 of the last period, it was only the fifth goal against the Canadiens during their winning streak.

Calgary 7, Winnipeg 6--After blowing a three-goal lead in the last two minutes of regulation at Winnipeg, the Flames waited until there were 23 seconds left in overtime to win it.

Robert Reichel, who scored only 19 goals last season, scored his eighth in the overtime to win it.

The Flames took a 6-3 lead, but Doug Evans scored with 1:54 remaining and Fredrik Olausson scored with 62 seconds left. There were four seconds left when Phil Housley sent the game into overtime.

St. Louis 3, Vancouver 2--Jeff Brown scored his second goal of the season on a power play with 6:53 to play at Vancouver.

Brett Hull scored his eighth goal as the Blues took a 2-0 lead. The Canucks battled back, tying the score on Sergio Momesso’s goal early in the last period.

Detroit 8, Hartford 5--Ray Sheppard and Paul Ysebaert each scored twice to lead the Red Wings at Detroit. There were 63 shots in the game, 33 by the Red Wings.

New Jersey 3, Edmonton 1--Claude Lemieux scored twice at Edmonton and Chris Terreri continued his sensational play in the nets to lead the Devils.

Terreri stopped 21 shots and is 4-1-0 in his last five starts.