Capitals Close It Out

May 15, 1998 / 10:15 PM EDT / CBS/AP

With an impenetrable goaltender and a stifling defense, the Washington Capitals reached a milestone encountered only once before in franchise history: halfway to the Stanley Cup.

Olaf Kolzig made 29 saves for his second consecutive shutout and extended his scoreless run to 149:06 as the Capitals advanced to the Eastern Conference finals, defeating the Ottawa Senators 3-0 Friday night to win the best-of-7 series in five games.

"It's been a while for this team," defenseman Brendan Witt said. "We still have a long road ahead of us. If we didn't have a hot goaltender, we'd be golfing right now."

The victory sets up an intriguing matchup against the Buffalo Sabres and their super goalie and Olympic gold medalist, Dominik Hasek. In addition to Kolzig vs. Hasek, Washington and U.S. Olympic coach Ron Wilson gets another chance against the Czech goaltender that eliminated the Americans in February.

"Hasek's the best goaltender in the NHL," Wilson said. "I think our goalie is playing just as good. ... I'm just glad it's not a one-game elimination here, like it was in Nagano. I get to at least face him four times. Maybe if we beat him once, I'd be vindicated."

For the second straight game, the Capitals played as if they didn't have to try very hard on offense after scoring one goal such was their confidence that Kolzig would keep another clean slate. Washington had won Game 4 by a 2-0 score the second one was an empty-netter despite getting outshot 36-11.

This time, the Capitals got a second-period goal from Joe Juneau and didn't score again until the last 90 seconds of the game. Meanwhile, the Senators again applied all the pressure they could muster with a 29-21 shots advantage, but Kolzig was superb and the Capitals' defense helped out by negating Ottawa's speed in the offensive zone.

"Their defense did a great job of clearing second chances," said right wing Daniel Alfredsson, who managed only one shot. "If we could've scored first, it would've been a different game."

The loss ended the most successful playoff run for the Senators since their franchise was resurrected in 1992.

"We outchanced them but we just didn't capitalize," Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. "It's probably a reflection of our season. We are a young team going in the right direction."

The Capitals, who were swept by the Boston Bruins in their only previous conference finals appearance in 1990, took the lead when Juneau put back a rebound three seconds after a power play expired at 2:39 of the second period. Phil Housley, a healthy scratch for the three previous games, set up the goal with a slap shot from the blue line, and Brian Bellows also got an assist for keeping the puck alive by banking it twice off goaltender Damian Rhods.

The goal came on the Capitals' 12th shot, and then the home team's shooters went silent for a long stretch. Ottawa bombarded Kolzig with the next 15 shots, and Washington's only effort on goal for the rest of the period was a shorthanded attempt by Michal Pivonka. On a power play late in the period, the Capitals passed the puck around like a Dean Smith basketball team executing the Four Corners and never managed a shot on goal.

Wilson defended the style of play.

"When you've got a 1-0 lead and they don't score, you win," Wilson said. "We're defending, we're chipping things to the outside. Olie had to make three or four big saves. It looked scary at times, but I don't care. Once you get that lead, you're just sitting back waiting for the other team to make a mistake."

The second goal didn't come until 1:26 remaining in the game, when defenseman Sergei Gonchar who scored only five goals in the regular season got his seventh of the playoffs on a power play. Calle Johansson added an empty-netter with 17 seconds to play.

The Capitals' reluctance to pull the trigger reached its nadir on a bizarre play in the first period. Left wing Todd Krygier made a good effort to steal the puck in front, but, instead of taking a point-blank shot at Rhodes, he actually began skating away from the net and made it all the way to the blue line before passing off.

The Capitals were outshot 168-to-90 in the series and they haven't taken more than eight shots in a period in 11 periods. The Capitals' attack wasn't even helped by the return of 52-goal scorer Peter Bondra, who missed Game 4 suffering from a mild concussion.

"At times we've been lucky here," Wilson said. "We're lucky that Olie's playing as well as he is, but the old cliche, I'd rather be lucky than good."