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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
WASHINGTON (AP) -- On a night when he reached another playmaking
milestone, Adam Oates seemed happier just to have finally won a
game.
Oates had two goals and two assists as the Washington Capitals
beat the New Jersey Devils 5-2 Thursday night for their first
victory of the season.
|  | | Devils goalie Martin Brodeur was pulled after allowing four goals vs. the Capitals. |
Oates' assist on Peter Bondra's goal midway through the second
period was the 900th of his career. With his next assist, Oates
will move into a tie for 11th place with Bryan Trottier on the NHL
career list.
"The win was very important, but it was nice to do both on the
same night. ... We really needed a win against the Stanley Cup
champs," Oates said.
Steve Konowalchuk and Dmitri Mironov also scored for Washington,
which opened the season 0-4-2. Olaf Kolzig made 34 saves.
"It was bound to happen," Kolzig said. "This is too good a
hockey team to keep not winning."
Sergei Nemchinov and Brian Rafalski scored for the Devils, who
fell to 0-2-1 on the road.
"We had too many guys who were passengers tonight," New Jersey
coach Larry Robinson said. "We took four or five needless
penalties. Our coverage at times was not very good."
The Capitals got only 10 shots on goalie Martin Brodeur through
the opening 33:56, but scored four times -- forcing coach Larry
Robinson to yank Brodeur.
Washington, 4-for-29 on power plays in its first six games,
scored twice with a man advantage in the opening period.
Twelve seconds into the first of two Turner Stevenson penalties,
Bondra slid the puck between the legs of Devils defenseman Scott
Stevens between the circles to Konowalchuk, who bounced a shot off
Brodeur at 3:36.
With 1:55 remaining in the period, Oates got his first goal of
the year -- using the backhand to sweep his own rebound by Brodeur.
New Jersey used a dump-and-chase play to trim the lead to 2-1 at
1:11 of the second period. Alexander Mogilny took Steve Kelly's
long pass out of the right corner and fed Nemchinov, who squeezed a
backhander between Kolzig's pads and the right post.
Oates restored the two-goal cushion at 7:43, barreling past
Kelly in the slot to flip a loose puck past Brodeur for his first
two-goal game since Oct. 8, 1997. Bondra made it 4-1 by finishing
off a give-and-go with Oates, connecting from the left circle at
13:56 and knocking Brodeur from the game.
Mironov surprised backup Chris Terreri with a slap shot from
just outside the blue line, scoring his first goal in 39 games for
a 5-1 lead.
Rafalski scored on a power play midway through the third period.
After scoring eight goals in their first five games, Washington
has eight goals in its last two contests.
Though happy with his team's biggest scoring output of the
season, coach Ron Wilson didn't get too carried away with the
suddenly potent attack.
"It helps, but it's not about offense," Wilson said. "That's
all everyone talks about. It's about defense."
Game notes
Capitals RW Richard Zednik began a four-game suspension he
received Wednesday for cross-checking Colorado's Adam Foote on
Tuesday night. ... The defending Stanley Cup champion Devils, did
not make the traditional White House visit on their first trip this
season to Washington. New Jersey doesn't return to the MCI Center
until April 3. ... Capitals D Brendan Witt missed the game with a
sore left elbow. Fellow D Joe Reekie strained his neck in the first
period and did not return. ... Mogilny had his second consecutive
two-assist game. ... Brodeur had not been pulled from a game since
Oct. 7, 1999.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
New Jersey Clubhouse
Washington Clubhouse
Roundup: Capitals' Zednik suspended four games for cross-check
RECAPS
Pittsburgh 3
Ottawa 3
Montreal 3
Philadelphia 3
Washington 5
New Jersey 2
Nashville 2
Detroit 1
St. Louis 7
Los Angeles 1
Toronto 4
Edmonton 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Adam Oates skips the puck in for the goal.
avi: 732 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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