Capitals Overwhelm Penguins Again With Rally

The Washington Capitals rallied from a two-goal deficit for the second consecutive game, riding Peter Bondra’s go-ahead goal and a rejuvenated power play to a 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins and a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-seven playoff.

The heavily favored Penguins, who recovered from 3-1 deficits to oust Washington in 1992 and 1995, wasted an early 2-0 lead and a four-minute power play late in the third period to lose their second in a row at home.

The Capitals, 0 for 20 on the power play against Pittsburgh during the regular season, scored three power-play goals, two by Pat Peake and the other by Bondra. Washington Coach Jim Schoenfeld’s gamble to sit down star goaltender Jim Carey for backup Olaf Kolzig, who hadn’t started in six weeks, paid off as Kolzig--who replaced Carey in the Capitals’ 6-4 win in Game 1--stopped 33 of 36 shots. So did Mark Tinordi’s constant shadowing of Mario Lemieux as the NHL scoring champion was held without a goal for the second consecutive game.

Chicago 3, Calgary 0--Ed Belfour made 33 saves and Jeremy Roenick scored his first goal in five weeks as the Blackhawks took a 2-0 series lead over the Flames at Chicago.

Belfour’s third career playoff shutout was his 31st postseason victory, tying Glenn Hall for second place on Chicago’s all-time list.

Detroit 4, Winnipeg 0--The Red Wings tied a club record with two short-handed goals as they took a 2-0 lead at Detroit in their Western Conference series.

NHL Notes

The San Jose Sharks announced the start of their formal search for a new coach, but said interim Coach Jim Wiley was one of the potential candidates.