WASHINGTON - For Washington's Jaromir Jagr, the game came together with 67 seconds left in overtime last night, as Jeff Halpern lofted the perfect lead pass and Valeri Bure came up on his left side to play a little defense.
"With the new rules, there is no one hooking you from behind anymore," said Jagr, who was about to score an NHL record-tying 11th overtime goal in the Caps' 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers.
"I have had so many chances and I'm used to the hooks, to guys coming up behind trying to pull me off my shot. Sometimes, I am so surprised to be so wide open, I miss the shot. It felt better with Bure there."
He saw Bure behind him on his left, and he put his body between the Panther and the puck. Bure, Jagr pointed out, has a short reach, and all Jagr was concerned about was making sure he didn't poke-check the puck away.
Then he was in on Florida goalie Jani Hurme, and the Panthers visibly flinched at the sight of Jagr one-on-one, deeking right and then scoring behind the goalie, who had gone for the fake.
Just like that, the Capitals had their second overtime victory in as many games and improved to 7-6-1. With goalie Olie Kolzig back in the net for the first time since injuring his wrist five games ago, Washington moved above .500. Now 3-1 in its past four contests, Washington will try to maintain the hot streak against the troublesome Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow night at MCI Center.
Philadelphia, 9-2-2, won the team's last meeting, 2-1, six days ago.
"You circle certain games on your calendar," Caps coach Bruce Cassidy said. "I've circled Philly. They've been much better than us the two times we've played, but our goalie kept us in the last game with them and this time I'd like to show that we're a better team than we've demonstrated to them so far.
"I hope our guys realize we have a chance this month to make up some ground."
Playing high-energy hockey, the Caps dominated possession of the puck most of the game. Scoring, however, was as difficult as ever.
Washington did take the early 1-0 lead, when their newest addition, center Michael Nylander, found Robert Lang in the slot on the power play with 7:53 gone in the first period.
That goal held up through two periods, as both Florida's Hurme (30 saves) and Kolzig (32 saves) frustrated the attempts of all but three shooters through the night.
But at 17:13, Kristian Huselius beat Kolzig one-on-one to tie the game. And that set up overtime. There, Washington failed to protect the puck early but showed its resilience when Halpern lofted his pass over the heads of two defenders to Jagr.
"Thinking about it," said Halpern, "they could have batted it down and kept it in the zone and then coach would still be yelling at me. But you know Jags has so much talent. I just wanted to let him race under it. He said the other day that he's not fast, but he looked pretty fast to me, and it was great he got that chance."
NOTE: Rookie goalie Sebastian Charpentier, 2-1 while filling in in Kolzig's absence, was returned to the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League. Veteran goalie Craig Billington will continue as Kolzig's backup.
Florida 0 0 1 0 - 1
Washington 1 0 0 1 - 2
First period - 1, Washington, Lang 5 (Nylander, Jagr), 7:53 (pp). Penalties - Sutherby, Was (high-sticking), 2:49; Johnson, Fla (ob.-hooking), 7:18; Lang, Was (tripping), 12:55.
Second period - None. Penalties - Nilson, Fla (charging), 3:01; Ozolinsh, Fla (tripping), 7:59; Dagenais, Fla (hooking), 13:48; Worrell, Fla (interference), 19:36.
Third period - 2, Florida, Huselius 6 (Bouwmeester, Yushkevich), 2:47. Penalties - Sutherby, Was (elbowing), 3:04; Ozolinsh, Fla (boarding), 16:45.
Overtime-3, Washington, Jagr 8 (Halpern, Johansson), 3:56 (sh). Penalty-Miller, Was (ob.-hooking), 3:34.
Shots on goal - Florida 10-8-8-6-33. Washington 7-13-11-1-32. Power-play opportunities - Florida 0 of 4; Washington 1 of 6. Goalies - Florida, Hurme 1-1-0 (32 shots-30 saves). Washington, Kolzig 5-2-0 (33-32). A - 15,604 (18,672).