Smokin'
Jim Carey of the Capitals earned his sixth shutout of the
season with a 3-0 win over division rival Philadelphia.
Carey's fifth shutout (on Saturday against the Bruins) tied
a franchise record -- set previously by Don Beaupre in
1990-91 -- which he now holds alone with 18 games remaining
on the Capital schedule. Carey is also two wins shy of
Beaupre's club win record. The Caps also gained two points,
their 70th, and trail Philly by only six points in the
Eastern Conference.
This game also featured Kevin Kaminski's first goal of the season to compliment 119 penalty minutes, in his 40th game played. "Killer" -- immortalized in the book "Home Game" by Ken Dryden and Roy MacGregor -- now moves out of the cellar on the Capitals' scoring sheet, into a tie with Carey who has one assist.
Reminders
It didn't take former Sabre Alexander Mogilny very long to
remind the Buffalo faithful what they lost. With under a
minute remaining in the first period, Mogilny scored his
52nd goal of the season as the Canucks went on to shut out
the Sabres 3-0.
Vapor trails
Since the season began, Winnipeg has had some trouble
carrying the momentum of a win into their next game, but
that has changed recently. Winnipeg's 7-5 shootout win over
the Islanders gave the Jets their fifth straight win, their
longest streak of the season. The Jets won three in a
row earlier this season and have put back-to-back wins
together only four times.
Flashback
Jeff Hackett has had a career year, but a 6-2 loss to the
Red Wings might remind him of days past. Coming into his
dream season, this year's save percentage leader (.921
before the Detroit drubbing) owned a career record of
25-97-8 in 150 NHL games and was winless versus Detroit.
Hackett is now 0-7-0 lifetime against the Wings.
Not only are the Red Wings the best NHL team by record, but this Detroit edition has been making a run at their franchise win record as well. With the 6-2 victory over Chicago, the Red Wings picked up their 47th win which ties a franchise mark set by the 1992-93 team.
Stormy in California
The weather in California seems to treat the Lightning just
fine. With a 2-2 tie in Anaheim, Tampa Bay has not lost to
a California based team all season (10-0-1).
