Peter Bondra

LANDOVER -- A crowd of 15,713 finally came out to see what all the commotion over the Washington Capitals was about last night. They went home still wondering.With a chance to overtake the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference, the Capitals played what very well might be their least impressive game of the season and saw their four-game winning streak come to a resounding halt with a 3-2 loss to the Florida Panthers.And with the victory, the Panthers did what the Capitals couldn't.

LANDOVER -- Peter Bondra, dressed all in black, entered the Washington Capitals' locker room last night to backslaps, broad smiles and welcome-home wishes.After a 39-day holdout, Bondra and the Capitals reached an agreement on a five-year, $9 million deal yesterday in time for 1995's leading NHL goal-scorer to climb into a uniform and onto the ice for last night's 7-4 loss to Los Angeles."I'm excited, relieved and very happy to have Peter under contract for the next five years," said Capitals general manager David Poile.

The All-Kid goaltending tandem of Jim Carey, 21, and Olie Kolzig, 25, that the Washington Capitals plan to put on the ice this season just got a little incentive to play harder.With the signing of veteran Ron Tugnutt, general manager David Poile has made sure he will not be caught one goaltender short this season -- as the Capitals nearly were a year ago, when Rick Tabaracci was injured shortly after the Caps had traded their all-time winningest goalie, Don Beaupre, and left the team dependent on the two rookies.

PITTSBURGH -- The Washington Capitals often talk about what a simple game hockey is. Play "Cap hockey," they say, execute for 60 minutes, finish your checks and put your chances away. Simple game.Coach Jim Schoenfeld tried to remind his team of that in the locker room before Game 5 of this Stanley Cup Eastern Conference series in which Washington needed just one victory to clinch the series. There in the depths of the Civic Arena, below the stands where 16,083 fans were ready to write off the Pittsburgh Penguins, the coach took the time to write a message on the blackboard:"Set the highest standard for yourself today and exceed them.

Right wing Peter Bondra is attempting to become the first Washington Capital to win the NHL's goal-scoring title.He leads the Quebec Nordiques' Owen Nolan, 32-30, and both players have two regular-season games remaining. The Caps play Florida today and Pittsburgh on Tuesday, and the Nordiques play New Jersey today and Hartford on Wednesday."I am on top now and I would like to stay there," said Bondra. "But most important is that the team wins, and no matter what happens to me, it is already a confidence-builder for me just to be on top with those other big guys, like Nolan, Brett Hull or [Theoren]

LANDOVER -- Suddenly, the Washington Capitals have the monster goal-scorer their fans have been screaming for.Last night, Peter Bondra went where no other Washington Capital has gone -- to the top of the NHL's goal-scoring list.Bondra scored his first hat trick of the season and has 29 goals, tying the Quebec Nordiques' Owen Nolan and Detroit Red Wings' Ray Sheppard for the goal-scoring lead.His performance, which had 15,721 fans on their feet in a frenzy at USAir Arena, anchored the Caps' 6-3 victory over the Hartford Whalers.

PITTSBURGH -- It was billed as a showdown. It turned out to be a game of domination.The Washington Capitals had been pretty hot stuff of late. They carried a 13-2-2 record into the Civic Arena, thanks to the goaltending of rookie Jim Carey, who brought a 1.88 goals-against average, the best in the NHL.But last night, the Pittsburgh Penguins, who had lost two of their previous three games, picked up where they left off against the Capitals on Jan. 29.The final...

LANDOVER -- Washington Capitals coach Jim Schoenfeld likes to remind his team that these are desperate times. It doesn't matter that the Caps have been winning, that they have been pursuing the Philadelphia Flyers toward the top of the Atlantic Division or even that they have settled quite nicely into the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.The bottom line is that every game matters.After last night's 3-1 loss to the Flyers at sold-out USAir Arena, every game is going to matter a little more.

Less than 12 hours after being called up from the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League by the Washington Capitals, rookie goaltender Jim Carey learned he will be starting tonight against the New York Islanders."

LANDOVER -- This was more like the Washington Capitals of 1995.Forget the 4-2 victory over the Quebec Nordiques on Saturday night.The Capitals still can't score goals, and they proved it yesterday in a 2-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils before 10,761 at USAir Arena.The Devils (6-6-3) were 1-5-1 on the road before meeting the Capitals (3-9-2), and the visitors didn't have any big-time goal scorers to scare anybody.But it didn't matter.Capitals defender Sylvain Cote suggested yesterday that some of the team's players rethink their offensive strategy.