NHL ROUNDUP : Capitals Again Beat Penguins

John Druce scored the tie-breaking goal early in the third period and Dino Ciccarelli had two goals and an assist as the Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-4, in Landover, Md., on Sunday.

Randy Burridge had a goal and two assists for the Capitals, who are 4-1 against Pittsburgh this season. With only two games left against the Penguins, Washington already has clinched its first series against Pittsburgh since the 1985-86 season.

With the score 4-4, Druce got the puck in the right circle after a faceoff and sent a shot that went past the right shoulder of goalie Tom Barrasso. Kelly Miller capped the scoring on a breakaway with 59 seconds to to play.

Mark Recchi scored his 27th goal for the Penguins and Mario Lemieux had two assists, but Pittsburgh failed on all six of its power-play chances.

Penguin Coach Scotty Bowman and Lemieux vehemently criticized the work of referee Ron Hoggarth.

“He got himself in a position where he wouldn’t call a penalty,” Bowman said. “I mean, you can’t do that. It happens to some referees, but an experienced referee? He just got himself boxed right in.”

Said Lemieux: “It was a good hockey game until the referee got into it. It’s just a disgrace for this game, and as long as we’re going to have people like that, the game’s not going to go anywhere.”

Buffalo 5, Winnipeg 2--Pat LaFontaine scored two goals, including an empty-net shot with seven seconds to play, to lead the Sabres at Buffalo.

The Sabres had a 3-2 lead during the third period when Dale Hawerchuk took a pass from defenseman Grant Ledyard and shot the puck past goalie Bob Essensa with 5:06 to play.

Buffalo took a 3-1 lead at 12:30 of the second period when Randy Wood put in the rebound of a shot he missed. The goal was Wood’s 100th in the NHL.

Montreal 3, Hartford 1--Mike McPhee ended a scoreless tie with a goal at 16:02 of the second period for the Canadiens at Montreal.