LANDOVER -- Three ties in three games would be enough to put anyone to sleep. So when Washington Capitals coach Jim Schoenfeld nearly collapsed into a chair and yawned after a 1-1 tie with the Tampa Bay Lightning, it was understandable.
But Schoenfeld wasn't really bored by what he saw yesterday.
The coach blamed his sleepiness on cold medicine and then went on to say how this tie, combined with a 5-5 standoff with the Ottawa Senators on Thursday and a 3-3 tie with the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, was a good sign for his team.
"A long time ago, I mentioned the deep hole we dug ourselves and how you have to scratch and claw to get out of it," said Schoenfeld, whose team is 3-9-5. "I think we're getting real close to the top. We've stopped the bleeding, which was losing, and now we're ready to take the next step, which is winning and moving up in the standings."
Yesterday's tie brought Washington its third point in three games over four days and it meant the Caps have lost only once in five games, going 1-1-3.
"I would have liked to win," said Schoenfeld. "But it was our third overtime game in three games and I was very pleased with the effort because I know how hard it is to keep going when you're playing as hard as we are [with] the mental baggage we're carrying, where wins are not coming easily."
This tie was easier to take than Saturday's tie with New Jersey, in which the Devils scored twice in the last four minutes to erase the Caps' 3-1 lead.
Washington has today off. Tomorrow it heads for Philadelphia in search of its first road victory of the season, and then it goes to Long Island to play the Islanders on Thursday.
If the Caps get that victory tomorrow, they will do it without defenseman Sylvain Cote, who was injured when ex-Capital Enrico Ciccone accidentally struck his right eye 53 seconds into the second period.
Cote received more than 20 stitches across his eyelid and under his eye. The eye was swollen closed when he left the arena, but X-rays showed no fractures. Schoenfeld said Cote will be out of tomorrow's game and could miss the Islanders game. In the meantime, the Caps will call up rookie Sergei Gonchar and move defenseman John Slaney into the lineup.
Despite being outshot 21-10 in the first two periods, Tampa Bay got on the board first with its ninth shot, a drive from the top of the circle by Ciccone that bounced off goalie Rick Tabaracci's glove and into the net.
Tabaracci, playing for the first time since injuring his groin muscle in a 5-3 loss at Philadelphia on Feb. 13, made big saves down the stretch. But he could not stop Ciccone's rolling shot from the point.
"As soon as it hit my glove and rolled over the top I knew it was in," said Tabaracci. "I'm disappointed."
With their own goal-scoring ability at a premium, the Caps need to prevent the odd, fluke goals. And Schoenfeld has said many times that he wants his goaltenders to make all the saves they should make and some of the ones they shouldn't.
"I'm sure Rick would like to have that goal back," said Schoenfeld, who has used three goalies in the past three games and does not want to be the first NHL coach with a three-man rotation. "But it's not an easy game when you face just 10 [total] shots in the first two periods. It's easy to lose your concentration. But he was active and was able to make the big saves in the third period."
A goal by Dave Poulin 32 seconds into the third period forged the tie. Poulin, a member of what Schoenfeld now refers to as the "Codger Line," which includes Dale Hunter and Kelly Miller, was in the right place after Hunter had fed defenseman Mark Tinordi for a shot that bounced out to Poulin for the put-back.
But after tying the score with better than 19 minutes left in regulation, Washington got only one more shot in the third period.
Poulin said that was because Tampa Bay increasingly played the neutral-zone trap to perfection, a situation that players on both sides said created a boring game to watch and to play.