Capitals Continue to Sizzle

Even though the playoffs are nearly two months away, the Washington Capitals are already in a postseason frame of mind.

Jeff Halpern scored twice and Peter Bondra scored his 35th goal as the Capitals extended their unbeaten streak to nine games with a 6-3 victory Saturday night over the Montreal Canadiens at Montreal.

“You want to win the games, but the biggest thing is we’re trying to make improvements in our game that are going to help us in the playoffs,” Halpern said. “Sometimes you win a game, even though it’s a step back. Tonight’s game was a team effort. We did exactly what we were supposed to do and it’s that kind of game that is going to push us into the playoffs.”

Steve Konowalchuk had a goal and an assist for Washington, Chris Simon scored his 10th, and Ulf Dahlen scored into an empty net as the Capitals finished a season-high six-game trip 5-0-1.

Pittsburgh 3, Columbus 2--Robert Lang scored with under a minute left in regulation to force overtime and Alexei Kovalev scored the game-winner for the Penguins at Columbus, Ohio.

A crowd of more than 19,000 came to Nationwide Arena to see Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr--but they each turned the puck over, leading to Blue Jacket goals by Kevin Dineen and Robert Kron.

The Penguins were listless most of the night after tying New Jersey on Friday night.

The game was one of the biggest sporting events to ever hit the city. Ticket brokers and scalpers sold tickets worth $50 for as much as $400 apiece. The question all week was whether Lemieux, battling a bad back after returning from his 3 1/2-year retirement, would play.

Lemieux received a 20-second standing ovation when introduced to the crowd late in the first period.

Colorado 5, Toronto 5--Alex Tanguay and Adam Deadmarsh each scored twice to help the Avalanche overcome three two-goal deficits and tie the Maple Leafs at Toronto.

Chris Drury scored the tying goal for Colorado, which has one win in seven games.

Toronto goalie Curtis Joseph, pulled after allowing five goals in his last game, gave up five on 33 shots.

Patrick Roy, the NHL’s career winningest goalie, allowed five goals on just 22 shots.

Yanic Perreault scored twice for Maple Leafs, who have a five-game winless streak. Dmitry Yushkevich, Mats Sundin and Tomas Kaberle also scored for Toronto.

Philadelphia 5, Atlanta 1--Simon Gagne had two goals and an assist and Roman Cechmanek made 28 saves for the Flyers at Philadelphia. Ruslan Fedotenko and Chris Therien also scored for the Flyers, who have won four in a row and are 8-2 in their last 10 games.

Buffalo 5, New Jersey 1--Miroslav Satan scored twice and set up two others to lead the Sabres at Buffalo, N.Y.

Pierre Dagenais, making his NHL debut, scored a power-play goal on his first shot of the game for the Devils, winless in six games.

New Jersey fell into second place in the Atlantic Division, one point behind Philadelphia.

N.Y. Rangers 5, Tampa Bay 4--Petr Nedved had three goals and an assist for the Rangers at Tampa, Fla., as the Lightning lost its sixth in a row.

Nedved, who has 10 goals and eight assists in his last 12 games, scored on the Rangers’ first two shots and their last.

Vancouver 6, Edmonton 5--Brendan Morrison’s second goal of the game 58 seconds into overtime gave the Canucks the victory at Edmonton.