It’s Survival of the Hottest as Capitals Stop Panthers

The Washington Capitals found a way to slow down the Florida Panthers.

Richard Zednik scored two goals Wednesday night as the Capitals won their sixth straight game and snapped the Panthers’ six-game winning streak with a 3-1 victory at Sunrise, Fla.

The Capitals, 8-1-2 since Dec. 22, have won four consecutive road contests.

Zednik’s goals, his 11th and 12th, came within a three-minute stretch of the second period and snapped a 1-1 tie.

Capital goalie Olaf Kolzig stopped 29 shots to earn his career-best sixth straight win.

“Everybody’s committed to the team and to not letting each other down,” Coach Ron Wilson said. “The talk is all positive on the bench, and if someone doesn’t follow the plan, then the players are managing the situation.”

Florida, 16-4-2 at home, lost there for the first time since Dec. 20.

New Jersey 4, Chicago 1--Patrik Elias scored twice in a three-goal third period and tied a franchise record with points in 12 straight games in leading the Devils at East Rutherford, N.J.

Jason Arnott and Jay Pandolfo also scored and Martin Brodeur, who shut out Chicago earlier this season, made 27 saves for surging New Jersey (10-1-2).

Edmonton 7, Calgary 0--Tommy Salo stopped 24 shots at Edmonton, Canada, to record his first shutout as an Oiler in snapping the Flames’ four-game winning streak.

Tom Poti and Mike Grier scored short-handed goals 21 seconds apart in the third period while Doug Weight, Sean Brown, Ryan Smyth, Alex Selivanov and Bill Guerin also scored for the Oilers.

San Jose 0, Colorado 0--Evgeni Nabokov, in his first career start for the Sharks, made 39 saves in a tie with the host Avalanche.

Colorado, which ran its home unbeaten streak to 10 games (8-0-2), outshot San Jose, 39-15.

Colorado’s Patrick Roy made key saves at the end of regulation and in overtime to earn his 47th career shutout as the Avalanche extended its shutout streak to 161 minutes, 40 seconds.

Detroit 3, Vancouver 3--Brendan Shanahan scored two power-play goals as the visiting Red Wings overcame a three-goal deficit to earn a tie.

Martin Lapointe capped a three-goal second-period and Pat Verbeek and Chris Chelios had two assists for the Red Wings.

Peter Schaefer, Vadim Sharifijanov and Greg Hawgood scored first-period, power-play goals for the Canucks.

Pittsburgh 3, St. Louis 1--Martin Straka scored two goals, one on a penalty shot, as the Penguins, without Jaromir Jagr, ended a four-game losing streak with a victory at Pittsburgh.

Jagr, the NHL’s leading scorer, sat out because of a rib-cage injury.

Montreal 3, N.Y. Islanders 0--Trent McCleary scored his first goal in three years and Jose Theodore made 23 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canadiens won at Montreal.

Boston 4, Atlanta 3--P.J. Axelsson scored the game-winning goal with 4:17 left at Atlanta as the Bruins ended a six-game winless streak.

Around the League

The Ottawa Senators will be without rookie center Mike Fisher for the rest of the season after he suffered a torn ligament in his right knee. Fisher, 19, suffered the injury on Dec. 30 against Boston, though the team didn’t reveal its severity until Wednesday. . . . The NHL’s 2001 All-Star game will be played Feb. 4 at the new Denver Pepsi Center.