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Capitals rally to complete season sweep of Senators
2008-01-16
The Washington Capitals rallied for a 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, the home team completing a four-game season-series sweep of the Eastern Conference leaders. The Senators are 29-8-4 against every other team in the NHL but were swept by Washington for the first time since the 1995-96 season. "You look at every game and every game we lost this year -- it's our own doing," Ottawa defenseman Chris Phillips told reporters. "Beating ourselves, making mistakes and they're capitalizing on them." Washington star Alexander Ovechkin scored a powerplay goal -- his 34th goal of the season -- to put the hosts ahead for good in the third period after Ottawa had briefly led 2-1 in the second. Alexander Semin scored twice for the Caps as Washington (19-21-5) continued their march towards playoff contention after a poor start had led to the sacking of Glen Hanlon in November. "We played a fantastic game against the second best team in the NHL," Washington's winning goalkeeper Brent Johnson said. Asked why the Capitals gave his team so much trouble this season, Ottawa coach John Paddock said: "They forecheck real hard, powerplay's pretty good and the star (Ovechkin) is a star most nights." Both teams were playing their first of many games without key performers. Ottawa lost high-scoring forward Dany Heatley for as long as six weeks with a shoulder injury and Washington learned on Monday that center Michael Nylander will undergo shoulder surgery this week and is out for the season. * Marian Hossa scored his team's first three goals and Kari Lehtonen made 46 saves as the visiting Atlanta Thrashers scored a 5-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings, the top team in the NHL. * Jose Theodore stopped 32 shots, 22 of them in the third period, to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-0 road victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was Theodore's 24th career shutout but his first since February 28, 2004. * Tomas Plekanec scored two goals to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-1 road win over the New York Islanders. Montreal is 6-1-2 in its last nine games. (Writing by Mike Shalin; Editing by John O'Brien)
Sidney Crosby and Washington howler spark Penguins victory (2008-03-09)John Madden, Martin Brodeur lift Devils into conference lead (2008-02-25)Capitals rally to complete season sweep of Senators (2008-01-16)Flyers power past Capitals for road win, Devils edge Leafs (2007-11-03)Avalanche surge toward playoff spot (2007-03-19)
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