Bondra Sticks It Out to Reach 400 Goals

Peter Bondra used different sticks for his 400th and 401st NHL goals. He saved the silver stick he was presented with before the game.

Bondra became the fifth active player to score 400 goals with one team when the Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers, 5-2, Tuesday night at Washington.

“Every stick is different,” said Bondra, who called for stick No. 3 at the start of the power play that resulted in his 400th goal.

“One is more heavy. The other is more light. It’s got different curves. It’s just different sticks, and I just try to have a feeling, and sometimes you pick the right stick for the right shot.”

Bondra scored both goals in the second period, and Ulf Dahlen, Chris Simon and Dainius Zubrus also had goals for the Capitals, who have won three in a row and six of nine. They are 3-0 against the Rangers this season, outscoring them, 16-6.

“We’ve got their number right now,” Coach Ron Wilson said. “But when we’ve played them we’ve probably had three of our better games overall, especially defensively.”

Eric Lindros and Petr Nedved scored for the Rangers, who had won three consecutive. Two of those victories were shutouts by Mike Richter.

Bondra was feted in a pregame ceremony for a goal last week that moved him past Mike Gartner (397) to become the Capitals’ career leading goal scorer.

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New Jersey 1, Tampa Bay 1--Bobby Holik scored on a power play with 8:33 to play in regulation as the Devils finally got a puck behind Nikolai Khabibulin for a tie at East Rutherford, N.J.

Khabibulin, who shut out the Devils 11 days ago, made 41 saves in stealing a point for the Lightning. Tampa Bay had 11 shots against Martin Brodeur, none in the extra five minutes.

Boston 3, Atlanta 2--Bill Guerin scored two goals in an 18-second span of the third period to lead the Bruins at Atlanta.

Guerin has scored a goal in four consecutive games and in seven of 10. The Bruins, who also had two assists from Jozef Stumpel, improved to 7-0-1-2 this season when Guerin scores.

Pittsburgh 1, Toronto 0--Johan Hedberg made 27 saves at Toronto for his fourth shutout of the season.

Robert Lang scored by beating goalie Curtis Joseph at 17:57 of the first period.

Joseph made 22 saves.

Buffalo 4, Carolina 2--J.P. Dumont and Erik Rasmussen scored two goals each as the Sabres beat the slumping Hurricanes at Raleigh, N.C. to sweep a three-game road trip.

Buffalo defeated Carolina, Washington and the New York Islanders in a seven-day span, outscoring the three, 13-6.

Philadelphia 3, New York Islanders 2--Keith Primeau scored the go-ahead goal on a power play with 7:39 left as the Flyers won at Uniondale, N.Y.

Primeau tipped the puck in from the crease after a sharp centering pass by Mark Recchi to break a 2-2 tie. It also broke the Flyers’ 0-for-23 skid with the man advantage.

Calgary 2, San Jose 2--Niklas Sundstrom scored early in the third period and Evgeni Nabokov made a save in the final seconds of regulation to preserve the Sharks’ tie at San Jose.

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Vancouver Canuck tough guy Donald Brashear received six months of probation for grabbing a man by the throat in an off-ice fight.

Brashear pleaded guilty to common assault on Oct. 30.

It resulted from a brief altercation in the gym of his luxury townhouse complex Nov. 27, 2000.

The sentence means that Brashear will not carry a criminal record or a conviction if he completes his probation without further trouble.