Kolzig

The crowds at the Baltimore Arena returned to normal last night, but the Skipjacks continued their new winning ways.In their two previous games, the Jacks drew a total of 18,343, but last night the crowd was 2,087. The team, however, raised its unbeaten streak to three (2-0-1) with a 3-1 triumph over the Southern Division-leading Binghamton Rangers.The Skipjacks opened a 2-0 lead in the first 21 minutes on goals by Tim Bergland and Ken Lovsin. Binghamton cut the margin to dTC 2-1 on Jody Hull's goal, and the Skipjacks got the insurance goal with 28 seconds remaining from John Byce into an empty net."

WASHINGTON - The Washington Capitals were trying desperately to break a seven-game winless streak last night when Sergei Fedorov took a seemingly harmless shot at 4:23 of the second period, to stake the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to a lead it would build into a 4-2 victory. The Capitals were doing well to that point. The game was tied, 1-1, when Fedorov's shot somehow slipped through goalie Olie Kolzig's legs, dawdled into the back of the Capitals' net and opened the gates for Anaheim. Kolzig, who has been haunted by near misses this season, did not answer questions after the game at MCI Center.

The Washington Capitals open the Stanley Cup playoffs tomorrow in Pittsburgh with two rookie goaltenders. One, Jim Carey, has been one of the best in the NHL, and the other, Olie Kolzig, showed Tuesday night, in a season-ending, 7-2 victory over the Penguins, that he also can get the job done.Yesterday, coach Jim Schoenfeld had no doubts about his goaltenders."I think having playoff experience is a little overrated," said Schoenfeld. "Deep playoff experience is important. Knowing what it takes to win, knowing you have to play banged-up, tired and sore and then when you think you can't go any more pushing yourself to another level, that experience is valuable."

PITTSBURGH -- When Game 1 of the NHL Eastern Conference quarterfinal playoff series ended with the Washington Capitals carrying off a 6-4 comeback victory, Jim Carey was sitting on the sidelines leading the cheers.For Carey, the Caps' No. 1 goalie and one of the best in the NHL, it was not the place to be. For the second time in two years, in the same series, against the same team, the Caps had to call Olie Kolzig in relief to backstop a winning rally."It's not easier to accept because I've -- unfortunately -- experienced it before," Carey said with a smile at what seemed a bad joke.

No one could have imagined when Washington began its NHL postseason series against the Pittsburgh Penguins that one of the Capitals' major trouble spots would be No. 1 goalie Jim Carey.Carey had been their ace all season, anchoring the third-best defense in the league. But Carey's accomplishments were ripped apart in short order by the Penguins, who unmasked him for 10 goals on 39 shots in the series."No excuses," Carey said. "That's the bottom line."The Capitals won the first two games of the series and then lost four straight, getting eliminated Sunday.

LANDOVER -- For the Washington Capitals, it was a nightmare on the USAir Arena ice.Goalie Ken Wregget made 30 saves and came within 1:27 of his first shutout since 1989 last night and the Pittsburgh Penguins, one game from elimination, crushed the Caps, 7-1, in Game 6 of the NHL's Eastern Conference quarterfinals.This best-of-seven Stanley Cup playoff series is tied 3-3 and returns to Pittsburgh tomorrow night for a Game 7 showdown.The demoralizing defeat would have been bad enough for Washington, which had held a 3-1 series lead.

At the moment, the Washington Capitals are in the familiar position of having three goaltenders, which may be one too many."But we're not going to eliminate one of our guys for convenience," said Capitals coach Jim Schoenfeld. "If someone calls and wants to make a deal, that's different. But, other than that, we're going to have to let it work itself out."If the regular season had started when it was originally scheduled, on Oct. 1 in Toronto, the Capitals would have gone into the season with veteran Don Beaupre the No. 1 goalie and Olie Kolzig, who has played 10 NHL games, No. 2.At that point, Rick Tabaracci would have been No. 3.Now, with the season opener in Hartford six days away, they are all back on equal footing, rotating in and out of scrimmages at the Piney Orchard Ice Rink, trying to make an early impression.

LANDOVER -- Peter Bondra scored two goals within 2:18 in the third period last night to make it close, but the Washington Capitals lost to the Florida Panthers, 4-3.With the victory, the Panthers regained the overall lead in the Eastern Conference and the NHL, thanks in part to the Detroit Red Wings' 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.This was the third straight loss for Washington, which has gone from 8-3 to 3-10-2 over its past 15 games."We're going through a real tough stretch right now," said Capitals coach Jim Schoenfeld.

WASHINGTON -- Washington Capitals goalie Olaf Kolzig sat in front of his locker one recent evening. He had answered wave after wave of questions about his team's resurgence in the NHL. And, like the rest of his teammates, he had talked about "playing the system," "playing as a team," "playing great hockey." Now, he was asked why. "I don't know about the rest of the guys," Kolzig said, "but I was tired of being considered mediocre. God knows I was tired of reading it and hearing it after a year like last year.

WASHINGTON -- What must it be like for the Washington Capitals to know that any one mistake, any split-second lapse can make the entire difference between winning and losing? That kind of pressure is talked about and rejected in conversation. Every hockey fan has heard it: "The pressure is on them." ... "We don't dwell on that stuff." ... "We just have to play our game." Yesterday afternoon in Game 5 of this NHL Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, the Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins stepped on the ice with the best-of-seven series tied at two games.