NHL ROUNDUP : Sharks Take to the Road for 2-1 Win Over Capitals

The San Jose Sharks, the NHL’s version of road kill, have finally earned a little respect.

The Sharks beat the Washington Capitals for the first time Tuesday night, 2-1, at Landover, Md., assuring themselves the most successful trip in franchise history.

Arturs Irbe stopped 17 shots for the Sharks, who improved to 6-3-3 since opening the season 0-8-1. Igor Larionov and Rob Gaudreau scored second-period goals for San Jose, now 1-5 against Washington in two-plus years.

The victory gave the Sharks five points after four games of a seven-game trip. The previous club record for points on a trip was three, set in 1991. San Jose got only seven points on the road all last season.

New York Rangers 4, Florida 2--Kevin Lowe, Tony Amonte and Adam Graves scored in a one-minute span late in the second period at Miami as the Rangers extended their unbeaten streak to 11 games. After pulling starting goaltender Mike Richter in favor of Glenn Healy midway through the period, the Rangers responded with three goals.

Richter was pulled after Dave Lowry tied the score, 1-1, at 9:53 of the period. At the time, the Rangers were still looking for their first shot on goal in the second period.

Pittsburgh 11, Philadelphia 5-- Jaromir Jagr had a goal and four assists at Pittsburgh.

The Flyers have lost three consecutive games for the first time this season. They are also 0-7-3 at Pittsburgh since Nov. 21, 1990.

In a span of 4:35 of the second period, Jagr set up goals by Ulf Samuelsson and Joe Mullen, then scored his 10th. Only 51 seconds into the third, Martin Straka rebounded Jagr’s shot for his first goal since Oct. 16.

Vancouver 3, St. Louis 0--Gino Odjick scored twice and Kirk McLean was flawless in goal at Vancouver. McLean and a tough defense kept St. Louis scoring star Brett Hull at bay after Hull had scored or assisted on the last nine goals by the Blues.