They succeeded. The Capitals skated to their second scoreless tie in franchise history, and although the 0-0 overtime game wasn't exactly exciting, it accomplished Washington's goal of the evening: to leave Saddledome with one more point in the standings. The previous scoreless tie came on Dec. 10, 1988, against Montreal.
"I've never been in a 0-0 game and I'm not particularly proud of that – you want to score goals," Coach Ron Wilson said. "We had our chances, but the puck is just not going in. We did a very good job defensively, and after what happened the other night, I'm a realist. Out of 18 skaters, we're missing nine regulars who all play. That's not an excuse, but if we keep the other team from scoring in their own building, that's good."
The ninth missing player is center Andrei Nikolishin, who signed a contract Tuesday but had to travel from Moscow and could not join the team until hours after tonight's game. He will practice with the Capitals on Saturday and is planning to play Sunday at Vancouver.
His presence should give the Capitals more scoring punch, something that was sorely missing tonight as Washington dropped its usual offensive style. The Capitals are averaging just 1.66 goals a game.
"We changed from a pressure style, which we usually play, to a 1-4, where one guy goes in [to the opponent's zone], and if he doesn't get control of the puck right away, then everyone else gets back," General Manager George McPhee said.
Accordingly, the Capitals barely ventured past their opponent's blue line in the game's opening minutes, getting into the rhythm of the game by keeping a tight watch over their own zone. They didn't record a shot on net until after the six-minute mark, although they almost scored after defenseman Ken Klee took a shot from the left point midway through the second period. Center Mike Eagles, standing in front of the net, raised his stick and tipped the puck between goaltender Ken Wregget's pads, and Washington thought it had a goal at 9 minutes 4 seconds.
But referee Terry Gregson ruled that Eagles's stick was above the crossbar at the point of contact, and the score remained stuck at 0-0. Even worse for Washington, defenseman Dmitri Mironov appeared to hurt his shoulder when he collided with Flames center Jason Wiemer about 30 seconds after the nullified goal. A few heads began shaking on the Capitals' bench – Washington has been losing players to injury at the rate of one a game recently – but after a brief rest Mironov returned to the ice.
Neither team was able to score in overtime, and goaltender Rick Tabaracci, with 20 saves against his former team, was able to record his first shutout in a Washington uniform.
"It was an ugly game," defenseman Mark Tinordi said. "We think we should be able to beat Calgary if we play well, even with the injuries we have, but we played better defensively and we got the point, so I guess in that way it was a good night."
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