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Saturday, Nov. 4 7:30pm ET
Gonchar leads Capitals to victory | |||||
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BOX SCORE
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -- After only one win in their first 12 games, just coming close is almost cause for optimism for the Florida Panthers. Sergei Gonchar had a goal and an assist as Washington beat the Panthers 3-2 Saturday night, the Capitals' first road win this season. "You don't want to accept defeat, and you don't," Panthers coach Terry Murray said. "There were a lot more signs of life. The instensity, the work, the passion for the game was there." Olaf Kolzig, displaying his Vezina Trophy form of last season, turned aside 32 Florida shots, a season-high for the goal-starved Panthers. Pavel Bure ruined Kolzig's shutout bid by scoring on a breakaway at 2:41 of the third period to pull the Panthers within 2-1. It was Bure's sixth goal of the season. "We had a few more scoring chances but we can't be satisfied with this result," Bure said. "We'll try to take something positive from it." Just 29 seconds later, the Capitals restored their two-goal lead when Gonchar slapped a point-blank shot past Roberto Luongo during 4-on-4 play. Gonchar was set up by Jeff Halpern's and Steve Konowalchuk's digging. "You give Gonchar 20 seconds of roaming time and he's going to find a way to get open, and he did," Capitals coach Ron Wilson said. "Jeff made a great play to him." "We don't like to get scored on, our line," said Halpern, who lost the puck to Bure. "Kono was on a mission and did all the dirty work. And Gonchar came through on the tail end." Murray was furious at the defense played by his forwards on Gonchar's goal. "That's as angry as I've been in a couple years," Murray said. "The responsibility there is very clear." Marcus Nilson scored his first goal of the season to make it 3-2 at 16:04 of the third. Nilson beat Kolzig with a blistering slap shot from the right circle. The struggling Panthers went 113:40 without a goal until Bure's breakaway. They went 0-for-6 on the power-play and are 0-for-13 the last two games. "We're seriously frustrated," Peter Worrell said. "We had a great effort and are working hard but we're not getting any breaks." Washington, 1-5-3 on the road, took a 1-0 lead at 2:28 of the first when Andrei Nikolishin pounced on a rebound and flipped it over Luongo's head for just the Capitals' second power-play goal in their last 28 chances. Gonchar took the original slap shot, and both he and Ulf Dahlen received assists on Nikolishin's third goal of the season. "It's a good win anywhere, especially against a division rival," Halpern said. "Ollie is the heart and soul of this team and gives us a chance to get a win every night." Skating 4-on-4, Adam Oates won a faceoff to Luongo's right, then poked it on net. The rebound popped out to an unguarded Jan Bulis on the doorstep, who swatted in his first goal at 10:32 of the second period to make it 2-0. Game notesMurray shuffled his No. 1 line to try to create more scoring. Bure was surrounded by center Mike Sillinger and Worrell instead of Rob Niedermayer and Igor Larionov. ... The Panthers averaged 1.91 goals in their first 11 games. ... Luongo is 0-5-2 this season. ... Nikolishin's goal marked the first time Washington scored first on the road this season. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Washington Clubhouse Florida Clubhouse RECAPS Los Angeles 2 New Jersey 1
Washington 3 AUDIO/VIDEO   Pavel Bure steals the puck then scores.avi: 616 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||