Capitals Get a Break and a Win

A quick whistle gave Olaf Kolzig and the Washington Capitals a shutout and may ultimately cost the Carolina Hurricanes a spot in the playoffs.

Referee Paul Stewart, believing goalie Kolzig was holding the puck, blew the play dead just before Martin Gelinas put in his own rebound for the apparent tying goal with 1:51 to play. The goal was disallowed, preserving a 1-0 victory for the Capitals on Wednesday night.

“I lost sight of the puck,” Stewart said. “That happens. It’s not something I’m real happy about, because one second after I blew the whistle, the puck was there, free, and the guy pops it in the net.”

Coach Paul Maurice and his Carolina players, appreciating Stewart’s candor, were more frustrated than angry, because they really could have used a point or two from this game.

“He said he blew it,” defender Glen Wesley said. “It’s disappointing because Martin made a big play. It’s unfortunate. We are [six] points out of the playoff spot. It would have been a huge point for us.”

Carolina wouldn’t have been so desperate at the end had it found a way to solve the best penalty-killing unit in the league. The Hurricanes were zero for eight with a man advantage, and have scored only once in their last 37 power plays. The Capitals have killed 42 of their last 45 penalties.

New York Rangers 2, Montreal 1--Kevin Stevens scored with 18.6 seconds left in overtime to give the Rangers the victory at Madison Square Garden.

Stevens scored when he redirected a pass by Wayne Gretzky from the left circle past Jocelyn Thibault, who had made six saves in overtime.

The Rangers appeared headed toward their NHL-leading 18th tie before Stevens’ goal gave them their first victory in overtime this season.

The Rangers are within four points of Ottawa for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference after the Senators tied the New York Islanders.

Ottawa 4, New York Islanders 4--The Senators mounted the biggest comeback in their six-year expansion history to earn the tie at Ottawa.

Magnus Arvedson, Wade Redden and Shawn McEachern scored in a 4:05 span midway through the third period and Sergei Zholtok sent the game into overtime with a goal at 18:32 to erase a 4-0 Islander lead.

Detroit 5, Toronto 2--Kris Draper scored twice and rookie goalie Norm Maracle made 20 saves at Toronto to win his second game in as many nights .

Mike Knuble, Brendan Shanahan and Vyacheslav Kozlov also scored for Detroit, which ended a three-game road losing streak.

The score was tied, 2-2, when Draper scored on a power play at 14:17 of the second period. Kozlov added a goal on a delayed Toronto penalty at 17:39 of the third period. Draper clinched the victory with an empty-net goal at 19:08.

Pittsburgh 4, Edmonton 2--The victory at Pittsburgh gave the Penguins 84 points, matching last season’s total with 14 games left.

Pittsburgh also avoided consecutive losses for the first time since Nov. 12-14. The Penguins have gone a club-record 47 games without losing two in a row.

Jaromir Jagr had two points for Pittsburgh, including his 31st goal, and now has 16 in his last eight games.

Tampa Bay 4, Vancouver 2--Stephane Richer had two goals and two assists and Mark Fitzpatrick made 33 saves to lead the Lightning at Tampa.

Richer, who recently signed a three-year contract, has 16 points in his last 15 games.

“I think we’re starting to show some character,” Richer said. “It’s a great win, because everyone sacrificed and did what they had to do. Hopefully we can build some confidence from this.”

Dallas 3, San Jose 1--Jamie Wright and Jere Lehtinen scored third-period goals to break a 1-1 tie at San Jose as the Stars improved their league-leading record to 41-16-10 (92 points).

The Stars also improved to a league-best 22-8-4 on the road, including a 9-1-1 mark against Pacific Division teams.

San Jose outshot Dallas, 34-13, but was frustrated by goaltender Roman Turek, who had 33 saves in his sixth consecutive victory.