Stars Top Capitals 2-1 In Overtime

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

April 9, 1998 / 2:23 AM EDT / CBS Sportsline

Jamie Langenbrunner's timing couldn't have been better for the Dallas Stars.

The slumping forward had scored only two goals in his previous 17 games before his wrist shot from the slot with 1:32 left in overtime gave the Stars a 2-1 victory over Washington on Wednesday night, ending the Capitals' five-game unbeaten streak.

"That's the first overtime game-winner I've ever had in my life," said Langenbrunner following his 22nd goal of the season and first against the Capitals in overtime this season. "I hope this does wonders for me and for the team."

The Capitals had tied it with 5:54 left in regulation on Andrei Nikolishin's fourth goal. But the Stars came out aggressively in the overtime and Langenbrunner's game-winner handed the Capitals their first overtime loss in two seasons.

The Stars, getting back on track following a 2-5-1 slump, improved to 101 points, two better than the Detroit Red Wings in the race for the best record in the Western Conference.

Dallas in now tied with New Jersey for the most points in the NHL. The Devils lost the the New York Islanders, 3-2 on Wednesday night.

"We were watching the scoreboard," Langenbrunner said. "We knew that New Jersey lost. It was nice to take advantage of it."

Washington is trying to hold on to the fourth seed and first-round home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Capitals maintained the position by one point over three teams, Montreal, Boston and Buffalo, a 3-1 winner Wednesday night over Carolina.

Washington tied it 1-1 when Petr Bondra stole the puck from defenseman Darryl Sydor and passed to Nikolishin, who stuffed a shot between the post and goaltender Ed Belfour.

But Dallas got its second straight victory when Brian Bellows' attempted clearing pass hit the skate of Dallas' Jere Lehtinen and bounced to Langenbrunner, who fired the puck past Olaf Kolzig.

"It's a big win for us," said Stars center Brian Skrudland, who scored Dallas' other goal in the second period. "It's something to build on. They scored, then we responded. It's a sweet victory for us."

Washington was 4-0-12 in overtime games this season.

"It would have been great to take that record (unbeaten in overtime) into the playoffs," Kolzig said. "But this is just a minor blemish."

Dallas took the lead at 4:26 of the second on Skrudland's first goal for the Stars. Skrudland, obtained on March 24 in a trade with the New York Rangers, notched his sixth on a slap shot from the top of the left circle that rolled into the net off the glove of Kolzig.

The Capitals were without three injured defensemen -- Mark Tinordi, Jeff Brown and Joe Reekie.