The Washington Capitals maintained their unbeaten record against Pittsburgh this season with a 4-3 shoot-out win over the Penguins on Wednesday night. Mike Knuble, who had opened the scoring for the Caps in the second period, netted the winning goal in the fourth round of the shoot-out. "You just bury your head and shoot it," Knuble said, as his team beat Pittsburgh for the third time this season.
"It's fun because it's the first time it has happened to me and I doubt I'll ever get that chance again." Jose Theodore, the Washington goaltender, made 39 saves plus two in the shoot-out after conceding the first two. "I don't know how often you get down 2-0 in a shoot-out and you come back," said Bruce Boudreau, the Capitals coach. "It's thinking: 'Oh man, we're done, there's no way.' But I don't think we ever think that. I think that's the kind of group we have."
Jordan Staal's goal for the Penguins with just over three minutes left sent the game into overtime. Washington (49-14-10) moved a step closer to clinching the top seed in the Eastern Conference while the second-placed Penguins (42-25-7) lost for the third time in a row. The game was a welcome relief for Washington after two days of distractions stemming from the steroids-related arrest of a chiropractor who has treated several of the team's players.
Matt Bradley, Shaone Morrisonn and Eric Fehr were interviewed in investigators on Tuesday and indicated they were unaware of the chiropractor's alleged drug connections. The authorities said they had no proof steroids were supplied to any Capitals player. "The sooner we can get that behind us, the sooner we can play hockey," Fehr said. Elsewhere, Peter Mueller scored in the shoot-out as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 to end a three-game losing streak.
Colorado squandered a two-goal lead, allowing the Kings to level through Alexander Frolov with 1:21 remaining . The Avalanche drew level with Nashville on 89 points, two more than Detroit in eighth-place and six ahead of Calgary in ninth in the race for the eight conference play-off spots. "It was huge getting the two points," Mueller said. "We couldn't settle for anything less." Mueller also contributed two assists, giving him 15 points in 11 games with Colorado. He had just 17 points in 54 contests while with the Phoenix Coyotes.
"He's starting to feel good about himself," Joe Sacco, the Avalanche coach said. "When you start to feel good about yourself, your game picks up. He's starting to regain some confidence." * With agencies
