Dafoe

Skipjacks goaltender Byron Dafoe is doubtful for tomorrow night's game at Hershey because of a sprained left ankle.Dafoe was injured during Friday's home game against Utica and missed games at Utica and at New Haven the next two nights. Duane Derksen filled in at Utica (win) and at New Haven (tie).Dafoe also is questionable for Saturday's game against Cape Breton at the Baltimore Arena. "He could be ready then or he could be out two or three weeks," Skipjacks coach Barry Trotz said. "It's one of those ankle injuries that's day to day."

Max Schreck endures as one of cinema's most bizarre-looking icons, one Willem Dafoe acknowledges he was a natural to play. "Steven Katz says he wrote it for me," Dafoe says, referring to the role of Schreck in director E. Elias Merhige's "Shadow of the Vampire." The new film imagines that Schreck, star of F.W. Murnau's surrealistic 1922 "Dracula" clone, "Nosferatu," really was a vampire, and that all the work that went into making him look so archetypically demonic was really no work at all. Now, some actors might not take such a connection to Schreck as a compliment.

The Baltimore Skipjacks have recalled goalie Byron Dafoe. The rookie goaltender, who had been on loan with the New Haven Nighthawks, is expected to rejoin the Skipjacks in time for tonight's game with the Hershey Bears at 7:30 at the Baltimore Arena.The Skipjacks had activated radio broadcaster Shawn Simpson as a backup goalie to Ollie Kolzig for Wednesday's 7-4 loss to the Rangers in Binghamton, N.Y. Dafoe is expected to start against the Bears."Dafoe was to leave for Baltimore after his game with Capital District [a 3-2 win for New Haven in which Dafoe made 42 saves]

BOSTON -- Washington goaltender Craig Billington turned a rare start into a milestone victory last night at the FleetCenter.Billington, a former Boston goalie, was making his second start of the season. The backup to the Caps' Olaf Kolzig recorded his 100th NHL victory in a 3-0 win over the Bruins before a crowd of 17,565 -- Boston's first sellout of the season.But the Bruins' fans had little to cheer about and plenty to boo about as Billington, who played for the Bruins from 1994 through 1996 (15-14-3)

PHOENIX -- Byron Dafoe got his wish.Dafoe asked the Washington Capitals to trade him four months ago -- preferably to the Los Angeles Kings -- and lo and behold, the Capitals traded the 24-year-old goalie a week ago.Dafoe and left wing Dimitri Khristich were traded on draft day in exchange for the Kings' first- and fourth-round picks in next season's entry draft.Dafoe spent most of last season with the Phoenix Roadrunners, becoming one of the team's most durable and popular players. He set several Roadrunners records in 49 games while on loan from the Capitals.

Skipjacks coach Barry Trotz started Byron Dafoe in goal on a hunch. It was a dandy.Dafoe, 22, posted the Skipjacks' first shutout this season, making 26 saves in a 3-0 victory over the Halifax Citadels last night at the Baltimore Arena. The Skipjacks had lost two straight and Halifax was unbeaten in its past four.Dafoe had come on in relief of Duane Derksen on Friday night in the first period against Fredericton and allowed only one goal, leading Trotz to start him last night."Maybe he can build on that," Trotz said before the game.

HAMILTON, Ontario -- Goalie Byron Dafoe continued to work his magic against the Hamilton Canucks, as the Skipjacks earned a road victory last night.Dafoe, who was outstanding in last Friday's win, was near-perfect last night in Baltimore's 4-1 victory."

The Skipjacks have recalled goalie Byron Dafoe. The rookie, who had been on loan with the New Haven Nighthawks, is expected to rejoin the Skipjacks in time for tonight's game with the Hershey Bears at 7:30 at the Baltimore Arena.The Skipjacks had activated radio broadcaster Shawn Simpson as a backup goalie to Ollie Kolzig for Wednesday's 7-4 loss to the Rangers in Binghamton, N.Y. Dafoe is expected to start against the Bears."Dafoe was to leave for Baltimore after his game with Capital District [a 3-2 win for New Haven in which Dafoe made 42 saves]

Skipjacks goalie Byron Dafoe not only had an encore in mind. He had two.After missing 20 games with a badly sprained ankle, Dafoe returned Friday night to stop the Hershey Bears, 7-2, after sailing into the third period with a shutout. Saturday, he turned back the New Haven Senators, 5-2.Dafoe and the Skipjacks won their third straight last night, beating New Haven again, this time 5-3 before 1,417 at the Baltimore Arena."Byron did more than we expected," assistant coach Paul Gardner said.

At the moment, the Skipjacks are tearing up the AHL.Baltimore stretched its winning streak to five, the longest of the season, by beating the Rochester Americans, 2-1, last night on two third-period goals at the Baltimore Arena.The Jacks got goals from Simon Wheeldon and Todd Hlushko after surrendering a short-handed goal to Don McSween.Rookie goaltender Byron Dafoe stopped 35 Rochester shots, including a penalty shot by Jody Gage with one second remaining.Rochester pulled its goalie with 1:14 remaining and added another skater with 50 seconds remaining when Brent Hughes was called for a high-sticking major.

PHOENIX -- Byron Dafoe got his wish.Dafoe asked the Washington Capitals to trade him four months ago -- preferably to the Los Angeles Kings -- and lo and behold, the Capitals traded the 24-year-old goalie a week ago.Dafoe and left wing Dimitri Khristich were traded on draft day in exchange for the Kings' first- and fourth-round picks in next season's entry draft.Dafoe spent most of last season with the Phoenix Roadrunners, becoming one of the team's most durable and popular players. He set several Roadrunners records in 49 games while on loan from the Capitals.

OTTAWA -- The Washington Capitals are still looking for their first road victory of the season.But last night's 5-5 tie against the Ottawa Senators easily could have been a loss.There were only 24 seconds remaining in regulation time -- with goalie Byron Dafoe pulled for an extra skater -- when Caps forward Dimitri Khristich scored his second goal to tie the score in a wild, five-goal third period.Then, with less than two minutes remaining in overtime, Ottawa appeared to win it again when Troy Murray deflected a puck past Dafoe.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- At least the Washington Capitals can say they've seen their worst road trip of this season.They wrapped up a disaster of a five-game excursion last night with a 4-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils, yielding two goals in the first 10 minutes and never recovering.Thus they completed their longest trip of the season with only one point. From now on, they will play no more than two straight on the road, a good thing since they have gone 0-6-2 away from home in this revised schedule.

The Washington Capitals recalled goaltender Byron Dafoe from the Phoenix Roadrunners of the International Hockey League yesterday, and he will join the club tonight for its game against the New Jersey Devils.The move was in response to a strained hamstring suffered by goalie Rick Tabaracci in Monday night's 5-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.Dafoe, 23, was 24-17-6 with a 3.37 goals-against average for Phoenix this season.

CBS' two-night "Million Dollar Babies" seems tailor-made for Newt Gingrich.The next speaker of the House looked at "Forrest Gump" and the Susan Smith case and saw reasons to vote Republican. Imagine then what he could do with this story:A hard-working father and stay-at-home mother seem the object of a miracle when the mother gives birth to quintuplets. The family and its plain-spoken doctor at first become darlings of the media, but cynical reporters and a selfish government attack the family.

For the four goalies fighting for two spots on the Washington Capitals' roster, the battle is down to the last 60 minutes.The Caps play their final preseason game tonight, and coach Jim Schoenfeld could announce his decision as early as tomorrow.Schoenfeld will choose among seasoned Don Beaupre, youthful veteran Rick Tabaracci and developing Olie Kolzig and Byron Dafoe.Against the Quebec Nordiques tonight, Tabaracci is likely to get most of the work because, having been injured, he has had the least chance to demonstrate what he can do."

Byron Dafoe staged a grand performance in his return to the Skipjacks.Playing for the first time since Nov. 20 after missing 20 games with a badly sprained ankle, Dafoe led the Skipjacks to a 7-2 victory over the Hershey Bears last night before 3,228 at the Baltimore Arena. He had 27 saves.Dafoe was closing in on the Skipjacks' first shutout since Olaf Kolzig blanked Capital District last March 28 when Tim Tookey broke the spell 4:26 into the final period. The victory raised Dafoe's record against Hershey this year to 3-0-0.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Washington Capitals had a successful dress rehearsal for the playoffs. On Sunday, fans can see how it plays on Broadway, or at least in Pittsburgh.The Capitals defeated the Sabres, 3-2, at Memorial Auditorium last night in the final regular-season game for both teams. Washington goes into Game 1 of the playoffs Sunday against the Penguins on a three-game winning streak.The Capitals scored the first three goals last night, all in the first 15:29 of the first period. From there, Washington relied on the goaltending of Byron Dafoe and a strong defensive effort to hold off the Sabres.

The Washington Capitals recalled goalie Byron Dafoe, center Steve Konowalchuk and right wing Pat Peake from the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League yesterday.With his team 0-5 -- two games away from tying the club's all-time season-opening losing streak and four from their all-time opening winless streak -- general manager David Poile didn't try to hide the reason."We're obviously trying to put as much pressure as possible on the current roster," Poile said. "I want it made clear that no one is guaranteed a spot, game-to-game.