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Wednesday, Jan. 12 7:30pm ET
Caps take rubber game of 3-game series | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
ATLANTA (AP) -- Considering the Washington Capitals' struggles away from home, Sergei Gonchar was grateful for a victory. Washington broke a four-game road losing streak Wednesday night as Gonchar and four other Capitals scored in a 5-2 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers. "The game was very important for to us to get our confidence back," Gonchar said. "We lost a lot of games on the road." On a power play with 4:34 left in the period, Gonchar forged a 1-1 tie by scoring his eighth goal on a 50-foot slap shot from behind the right circle. Only 22 seconds later, Jan Bulis scored the go-ahead goal -- his ninth -- by beating rookie Scott Fankhouser stick side on a wrist shot from the left circle. Mike Eagles capped the three-goal spree, which covered only 1:24, by redirecting Ken Klee's slap shot for a 3-1 lead with 3:20 remaining. "I thought we had a great all-around effort tonight," said Washington coach Ron Wilson, whose team stopped four power plays to extend its penalty killing streak to 15 in the three-game series with the expansion Thrashers. "The guys stood up for each other. We played a team game, and defensively we were outstanding." It was 15 years since NHL teams played each other three straight times. Washington goalie Olaf Kolzig faced only 16 shots, but fell behind 1-0 just 5:15 in. Andrew Brunette was credited with a goal after Kolzig inadvertently knocked the puck in with his stick. The Capitals, who entered with the NHL's fifth-best penalty killing percentage, completely outmatched Atlanta, which came in with the league's third-worst power-play unit. The Thrashers fell to 20-for-177 in power-play opportunities. Fankhouser, who stopped 19 shots, lost his second straight decision. "I thought Fankhouser did a terrific job. It had nothing to do with him," Atlanta coach Curt Fraser said. "This is just showing us more of what we need to become a better hockey club." Andrei Nikolishin put the game out of reach with 15:57 remaining by stealing the puck from Patrik Stefan at the Atlanta blue line and skating uncontested toward Fankhouser. Nikolishin faked a shot to Fankhouser's glove side before slipping the puck under the goalie's stick for a 4-1 lead. Chris Simon scored the final goal with 1:33 to play in the game by scoring on a wraparound rebound at the right side of the crease. Ray Ferraro scored Atlanta's second goal with 7:55 to play. "I'm sure happy with the way we responded tonight," Kolzig said. "The way we played in this building last week, we could have folded our tents. The last seven games, we've played really well, except for that other game here." | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Washington Clubhouse Atlanta Clubhouse RECAPS Washington 5 Atlanta 2
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