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| December 24, 2001 | Monday | Shawwal 8, 1422 |
Bondra’s lucky goal earns Capitals point
WASHINGTON, Dec 23: Peter Bondra scored a “lucky” goal with 8/10ths of a second left in regulation as the Washington Capitals rallied from three goals down to force a 4-4 tie with the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday.
The Caps, who also overcame a three-goal deficit during Friday’s 4-3 loss at Pittsburgh, extended their unbeaten streak at home to six games (4-0-2).
Bondra picked up the rebound from Sergei Gonchar’s shot at the right side of the net and banked a shot from beyond the goal-line off Penguins netminder Johan Hedberg for his 23rd goal of the season — one behind league leader Jarome Iginla of Calgary.
Olaf Kolzig stopped all 17 shots over the third period and overtime. Pittsburgh had two powerplays in the extra session but Kolzig threw up a wall in front of the net.
In Philadelphia, Mark Recchi scored his second goal of the night 27 seconds into overtime as the Flyers matched a season-high three-game winning streak with a 4-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Defenseman Kim Johnsson set up the game-winner by snatching the puck away from rookie Erik Cole from behind the blue line and feeding a wide-open Recchi who slid the puck around fallen goaltender Arturs Irbe.
It was the first two-goal game since March 24 for Recchi who has five goals in his last five games and 14 this season.
Johnsson picked up his fourth point in as many contests on the same day he was named in the Swedish Olympic team.
The Flyers have won eight of their last 11 games to get within a point of first place in the Atlantic Division.
In Toronto, Travis Green and Gary Roberts scored second-period goals as the Maple Leafs rallied for a 3-2 comeback win over the Buffalo Sabres.
Alexander Mogilny added a goal and two assists for the Maple Leafs who played to a 3-3 tie in Buffalo on Friday.
Green and Roberts scored off rebounds less than eight minutes apart, and red-hot Darcy Tucker had a pair of assists for the Leafs who improved the Eastern Conference’s best home record to 13-5-1.
Defensemen James Patrick and Rhett Warrener scored 77 seconds apart in the first period for the Sabres who are winless in their last four games (0-3-1).
In New Jersey, Jani Hurme made 23 saves for his second shutout of the season as the Ottawa Senators shut out the Devils 1-0.
Mike Fisher notched the only goal midway through the second period.
Hurme, Ottawa’s backup to Patrick Lalime and due to be the starting goaltender for Finland at the 2002 Olympics, outdueled Martin Brodeur on the way to his fourth career shutout.
In New York, the Boston Bruins scored three goals in the second period to defeat the Islanders 4-2.
Glen Murray scored the go-ahead goal, his 12th goal of the season, for Boston with a deflection off a Kyle McLaren blast.
Less than three minutes earlier, McLaren set up the tying goal when his shot from the right faceoff circle deflected off the stick of Rob Zamuner past goaltender Chris Osgood for Boston’s NHL-leading eighth shorthanded goal.
In Columbus, Ohio, Mike Modano celebrated his 900th NHL game by nearing another milestone as he scored into an empty net for his 399th career goal to cap a 4-2 victory over the Blue Jackets by the Dallas Stars.
In Florida, Brent Johnson had to stop only 17 shots as the St Louis Blues snapped a six-game winless streak on the road with a 2-0 shutout of the Panthers.
In Montreal, Yanic Perreault prevented his former team moving above the .500 mark for the first time this season by scoring a powerplay goal with 3:15 remaining to give the Canadiens a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.
In Vancouver, Wes Walz scored with 4:16 remaining, backhanding a shot past goaltender Dan Cloutier to give the Minnesota Wild a 2-1 victory over the Canucks.
Saturday’s results (home team in CAPS):
Ottawa 1 NEW JERSEY 0
Dallas 4 COLUMBUS 2
MONTREAL 2 Los Angeles 1
Boston 4 NY ISLANDERS 2
PHILADELPHIA 4 Carolina 3 (OT)
TORONTO 3 Buffalo 2
WASHINGTON 4 Pittsburgh 4
St Louis 2 FLORIDA 0
Minnesota 2 VANCOUVER 1
—Reuters
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