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NHL

Defense is key to Caps win

WASHINGTON -- The Capitals got the dominant defensive effort they've been looking for.

Peter Bondra, Jeff Halpern and Steve Konowalchuk each had a goal and an assist, and Olaf Kolzig made 20 saves to send Washington past the Islanders 3-0 Friday night.

"It was a team shutout rather than one of Olie's special performances," Washington coach Bruce Cassidy said. "The only thing we've missed throughout the course of the season is that defense night after night."

The Capitals won all four games of the season series and are 23-1-3 in their past 27 games against New York, including 12-0-2 at home. Washington allowed five goals in the four wins over the Islanders this season.

It was the Capitals' second shutout this season. Kolzig has both, the other being 3-0 over Tampa Bay on Dec. 23.

"We really suffocated them," Kolzig said. "If we play like that, we're going to beat a lot of good teams."

THRASHERS 4, DEVILS 2: Marc Savard and Vyacheslav Kozlov scored 15 seconds apart in the third period as visiting Atlanta handed New Jersey its first loss in regulation since Jan. 4. Ilya Kovalchuk and Dan Snyder also scored, and Byron Dafoe made 26 saves in his first game since Jan. 13 as Atlanta improved to 7-2-1 since Bob Hartley became coach. With their 19th victory the Thrashers surpassed last season's total.

CANUCKS 4, SABRES 2: Markus Naslund scored his league-leading 36th goal and added an assist for visiting Vancouver. Daniel Sedin, Artem Chubarov and Brendan Morrison, with his first goal in 18 games, also scored for the Canucks.

Naslund moved ahead of Mario Lemieux for the league lead with 70 points.

WILD 4, SHARKS 3: Cliff Ronning followed a disallowed goal early in the third period with one that counted 45 seconds later for host Minnesota. The Wild, who began the day sixth in the West, won their 27th game, more than each of their first two seasons. Teemu Selanne had a goal and an assist for the Sharks.

FLAMES 4, OILERS 3: Jarome Iginla scored his third goal of the game with 1:08 left in the third for host Calgary. Iginla picked up the puck in front of the Oilers net and slid a backhander past goaltender Jussi Markkanen with defenseman Eric Brewer draped on his back. Iginla tied it 4:50 earlier, scoring after Craig Conroy's shot deflected off Oilers defenseman Jason Smith.

DUCKS 3, COYOTES 2: Patric Kjellberg, Stanislav Chistov, and Niclas Havelid scored in the second period and host Anaheim held off Phoenix. Jason Krog assisted on all three goals.

KINGS 8, HURRICANES 2: Bryan Smolinski had a hat trick and Jared Aulin scored twice for host Los Angeles.

Sabres get a loan

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The bankrupt Sabres received an additional $15-million line of credit and approval to pay four players their deferred salaries. There were no objections to the request made by attorney William Thomas in Buffalo bankruptcy court.

The request for an additional line of credit was expected. Judge Michael J. Kaplan had granted the Sabres up to $25-million in debtors-in-possession financing when he approved an initial $10-million line of credit after the team filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month.

In jeopardy of folding or moving after the end of this season, the Sabres owe their 40 largest creditors more than $206-million.

The Sabres are expected to pay forward Curtis Brown, goaltender Ryan Miller and defensemen Jay McKee and Brian Campbell a combined $541,666 in deferred bonus money they were due last month.

CANUCKS: Defenseman Bryan Allen was assigned to AHL Manitoba.

HURRICANES: Carolina began what could be a series of moves by trading two-time All-Star Sami Kapanen to the Flyers for former first-round pick Pavel Brendl. The defending Eastern Conference champion had lost 22 of 28 and was 10 points out of a playoff spot with 28 games left before playing the Kings. The 29-year-old Kapanen put up career-best numbers a season ago, scoring 27 goals and adding 42 assists for 69 points, second on the team. But the right wing slumped during last year's postseason, scoring once in 23 games. He has six goals this season.

PENGUINS: Owner and player Mario Lemieux expects the team to lose money this year, leading to tough financial decisions this summer. Coming off a stinging 6-0 loss to Florida on Thursday and his first ejection since 1996 after a fight with defenseman Brad Ference, Lemieux clearly was bothered that attendance is down by more than 1,000 fans a game this season. "I'm going to have to make decisions this summer," he said. "We've just got to make the numbers work. We can't allow this team to go back into bankruptcy."

RED WINGS: Forward Darren McCarty is expected to miss 2-3 weeks with an elbow infection. The 30-year-old has 10 goals and six assists in 53 games.

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