Bondra Does Trick For Caps

A change of uniform didn't help Guy Hebert against Peter Bondra and the Washington Capitals.

Making his New York Rangers debut, Hebert was the victim of Bondra's third hat trick of the season in the Capitals' 5-3 victory Friday night.

Hebert was claimed off waivers this week from Anaheim, and his last game with the Mighty Ducks was a 4-3 loss the Capitals nearly a month ago. Bondra scored twice in that game.

"I don't like those guys right now," Hebert said. "It wasn't what I was looking for. Peter Bondra got a couple of good shots, and I wish I could have some of those back. It's good getting my feet wet, and the more I get used to my defensemen, it'll get better."

Bondra scored back-to-back goals 26 seconds apart in the third period to break open a 2-2 game after the Rangers had rallied from 2-0 down. He now has 40 goals including a league-leading 19 on the power play in a season that began with a request to be traded before he reversed course and signed a four-year contract.

"To be honest with you, at the beginning I thought he'd get 40, but somewhere else," Washington coach Ron Wilson said. "Like if we did trade him, he'd be excited and he'd have a good year. I'm glad he's got the 40 goals for us."

"I told him I'm sorry on a couple of those goals," Leetch said. "I got out of position there with Bondra and he beat me wie."

In a game between the NHL's top power-play team and the league's worst penalty-killers, Bondra and teammate Adam Oates showed why they've been the best this season with a man advantage.

Oates assisted all three of Bondra's goals, moving him past Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr for the league lead with 59 assists and past Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom for tops in the NHL with 31 power-play assists.

Oates, 38, is seeking to become the oldest player in NHL history to lead the league in assists.

"It's great to see them get some recognition not 'there's the no-name Capitals and nobody in the scoring race.' You've got two of the best players in the league," Wilson said.

Trent Whitfeld added his first NHL goal and Sylvain Cote also scored for the Southeast Division-leading Capitals. Washington has won nine of the last 11 to move within a point of New Jersey for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Michal Grosek scored in his first game after a stint in the minors, and Radek Dvorak and Sandy McCarthy also netted for the Rangers, who have lost seven of eight. Hebert made 28 saves as he became the franchise-record sixth goaltender used by New York this season.

The Rangers were trailing 2-0 when Grosek scored on a power play with 9.1 seconds remaining in the second period and on Dvorak's goal 31 seconds into the third.

But Bondra soon settled things. At 2:10 of the third, he took a pass from Oates at the red line and raced past Leetch to put his shot on Hebert, yet was able to control his speed enough to gather the rebound and score.

Then, after Oates won a faceoff on a 4-on-3 power play, Bondra one-timed Jan Bulis' pass from the slot to make the score 4-2 at 2:36. Whitfield added his goal from the left circle on a 2-on-1 break, celebrating with arms raised after sliding hard into the boards.

McCarthy scored in the final minute for the Rangers.

Cote beat Hebert stick-side from high in the slot for the only goal of the first period, although the Rangers had the better chances in the first 20 minutes.

The Capitals opened the second period on the power play and needed just 47 seconds to score, with Bondra nailing the one-timer from the top of the right circle off a pass from Oates.

Notes