WASHINGTON (AP) _ Six players scored on six consecutive shots against a goaltender who used to give the Washington Capitals fits.
Needless to say, they had studied the films and figured something out.
From the 9:46 mark of the second period, the Caps took only six shots on Ron Tugnutt and converted them all in Saturday night's 6-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators. The four in the second period were all high to the glove side of the goalie who had given up less than one goal per game in compiling a 7-1 record against Washington over the last two regular seasons.
"He's more of a butterfly goalie," said defenseman Brendan Witt, who was the first to solve Tugnutt with his first goal since October. "And once he's down, you've got to get it up. ... Six goals on him. I think it might have hurt his confidence a bit."
The victory gives Washington a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal. Only once before, when they advanced to the conference finals in 1990, have the Capitals been in such a favorable position in the NHL playoffs.
"This isn't the regular season by any stretch of the imagination," said coach Ron Wilson, referring to Washington's recent struggles against Ottawa. "We were focused, we waited and we took advantage of our chances. We got the puck upstairs where we wanted to score on him and we got some traffic in front of him so that he couldn't see anything."
Tugnutt got the start after Damian Rhodes, who led the Senators in their first-round upset of top-seeded New Jersey, took a 4-2 loss in Game 1 against the Caps. Coach Jacques Martin had hoped Tugnutt's past success against Washington would give his team a psychological boost.
"That was just a good old-fashioned butt-kicking," Tugnutt said. "I'd like to get another chance. Obviously I'm disappointed things didn't go my way."
Martin said he would decide Sunday on his starter for Monday's Game 3 in Ottawa.
"I think Ron was all right, but when we made a mistake they capitalized on it," Martin said. "Probably the highest percentage _ they had seven chances in the game and got six goals. There's not much you can do _ just regroup and be better the next game."
The Capitals do have one significant concern: 52-goal scorer Peter Bondra, who missed three games in the first round with a sprained ankle, did not return after being knocked woozy on a hard check by Lance Pitlick in the second period.
"I'm OK," Bondra said. Asked if he would play Monday, he said, "I think so."
The Capitals retaliated for the hit in the third period, taking 32 penalty minutes in scuffle after scuffle.
"We were answering the cheap shot to Peter Bondra," Wilson said. "You want to skate with us, we'll skate. You want to play hardball, we've got some heat we can throw at you."
While Tugnutt struggled and was serenaded to the derisive chant "Tug-nutt", Olaf "O-lie" Kolzig put on another dazzling performance for the Capitals. Among Kolzig's 30 saves were two nice glove-side stops on Alexei Yashin, one of which had the look of a shortstop lunging to backhand a low line drive.
Witt, Joe Juneau, Joe Reekie and Richard Zednik scored in the second period, while Brian Bellows and Adam Oates scored in the third for Washington. It was Reekie's first goal since December.
The Caps got strong games from their two late-season pickups. Bellows set up Washington's first two goals and scored another in the third, while Esa Tikkanen again frustrated Yashin by shadowing, checking, grabbing and otherwise getting in the way of the Senators' top scoring threat all over the ice.
Yashin did break free long enough to score the Senators' only goal in the second period. It happened when Tikkanen got blind-sided by Andreas Dackell, springing Yashin free for a clear shot at Kolzig. In the third period, Yashin took out his frustrations by trading punches with Dale Hunter after getting checked from behind by Reekie.
The game was nearly half over when three goals in less than 90 seconds gave Washington a 2-1 lead.
Witt got his first career playoff goal when Bellows' centering pass was accidentally deflected his way by Juneau. Witt, with no defender marking him, put in a shot home from the left circle.
After Yashin tied it, Bellows fed Juneau on a 2-on-1 break as the Caps regained the lead.
Tugnutt appeared screened on Reekie's slapshot from the left point that made it 3-1. Zednik put the lead at three goals when the defense gave him plenty of space in front of the net to maneuver before finding the upper right hand corner of the net.
In the third period, Bellows tipped in Calle Johansson's slapshot on a power play, then Juneau and Oates combined on a shorthanded 2-on-1 break to complete the scoring.
"We're pretty confident, but I don't think we're cocky," Witt said. "A lot of teams have been down 2-0 and come back."
#6 BUFFALO SABERS vs #7 MONTREAL CANADIENS
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Matthew Barnaby walked into a postgame news conference wearing a giant smile and a Buffalo Sabres' baseball cap thrown by a fan. On Sunday, he earned both.
Barnaby had his first career hat trick to lead the Sabres to a 6-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens, giving Buffalo a 2-0 series lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
"It's not even a dream," said Barnaby, who also added an assist. "I never even thought of (a hat trick). Growing up, I would have been happy to just get one shift in the Stanley Cup playoffs."
The Sabres have not had a 2-0 series lead in the second round of the playoffs since 1980, which also was the last time they reached the conference finals. Game 3 will be played Tuesday night in Montreal.
Buffalo, which won its fifth straight game, can thank Barnaby for its current position.
The guy who has been called a pest by his own teammates and a problem by his coach, the guy who threatened the well-being of star goaltender Dominik Hasek and asked to be traded just before the deadline, was easily the best player on the ice against the Canadiens.
"Once (the trade) didn't come through, it was time to get back to work," Barnaby said. "There was enough sulking going on. It was time to help these guys do something special. We have a pretty good team here, and I felt I wasn't contributing."
Montreal, which outplayed Buffalo in Game 1 only to lose in overtime, finds itself in a very difficult position as the series switches back to the Molson Centre. The Canadiens had a 15-17-9 home record during the regular season.
"The next game is a must-win for us," Canadiens forward Saku Koivu said.
The Canadiens made enough mistakes for an entire series in one game against the Sabres. Barnaby capitalized on a big one when he caught Montreal sleeping with 1:33 left in the second period and gave Buffalo a 4-3 lead.
Barnaby had the puck behind the Montreal net before breaking in front and sending a backhander between Andy Moog's legs. His second goal came 13 seconds into the third to break the game open and his third went into an empty net with 49 seconds left.
"Every time we were looking to gain some momentum, they took it away from us," Canadiens coach Alain Vigneault said. "That goal at the end of the end of the second definitely hurt us."
Barnaby, known more for being an agitator than a goal scorer, now has four goals in seven playoff games. He would have had four goals against Montreal had he converted a breakaway in the third period. All this from a guy who scored five goals in 72 games during the regular season.
"Matthew was in a different direction, and that's why he was having trouble," Sabres forward Donald Audette said. "Now, he's happy to be here. Right now, he's playing like I've never seen him play before."
Michal Grosek had a goal and two assists and set up Barnaby's second goal with a cross-ice pass that gave the Sabres a 5-3 lead seconds after the third-period faceoff. Dixon Ward and Audette had the other Buffalo goals.
Mark Recchi had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens. Montreal defensemen Igor Ulanov and Vladimir Malakhov each scored on slap shots from the point to keep the Canadiens in the game in the first two periods.
Moog allowed four goals on Buffalo's first 20 shots and left early in the third period after Sabres forward Vaclav Varada was tripped up and crashed into the net.
Hasek, who made 46 saves and led Buffalo to its 3-2 overtime victory in Game 1, allowed three goals on the first 15 shots he faced. Hasek stopped all six shots in the third.
"We've been a team where we found ways in the third period to win and tie games," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "(Sunday) was another example where we were the fresher team in the third period."
