Montreal more or less strutted into USAir Arena Tuesday night, with Thibault boasting a .957 save percentage and a 1.33 goals-against average in three straight wins, including a 1-0 shutout of the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday.
But when this one was over, the Capitals had blasted 41 shots at Thibault and secured a 4-0 shutout for goalie Jim Carey.
Peter Bondra scored twice and Steve Konowalchuk and Joe Juneau added singles, while Carey produced a 20-save performance.
Red Wings 3, Blues 2. In Detroit, coach Scotty Bowman tied the NHL record for most games coached and his Red Wings overcame an early two-goal deficit to beat the St. Louis Blues.
The game was Bowman's 1,606th as an NHL coach, tying him with Al Arbour for career games coached. Bowman, already the NHL's career leader in coaching victories, will break the games record Friday night at Dallas.
(For other results, see Scorecard.)
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The Ottawa Senators, 6-4 losers to the Rangers Tuesday, were to meet Wednesday with the agent for holdout Russian center Alexei Yashin.
Pierre Gauthier, hired last month to replace fired general manager Randy Sexton, will speak with Yashin's agent, Mark Gandler, at the Boston site of the World Junior Hockey Championships.
"All I can say is that I am going to Boston to talk to his agent,'' Gauthier said. "Beyond that I have no comment.''
If an agreement can be reached, Yashin, in the third season of a five-year $4.2 million contract, could play next Wednesday against Pittsburgh.
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Doug Gilmour reached the 1,000-point plateau Saturday by assisting on two goals by Mats Sundin as the Toronto Maple Leafs crushed the Edmonton Oilers 6-1. Gilmour is the third Maple Leaf with 1,000 points, following Norm Ullman and Glenn Anderson.
(The Baltimore Sun, AP)
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