The Washington Capitals didn't let a little controversy spoil their feeling of accomplishment.
The Phoenix Coyotes put the puck in the net five times, but came away with just three goals -- not quite enough to keep Washington from a 4-3 victory Friday night.
"We worked hard from start to finish," Capitals coach Bruce Cassidy said. "We had a lot of penalty calls go against us, and they're upset that they had some goals disallowed, so in the end you've got two teams that are shaking their heads, maybe, over some of the calls."
PHOTO: AP
Mike Grier scored on a power play and short-handed and had an assist as the Capitals won for the second time in four road games after going 0-3-1 in the previous four.
``We've been up and down a lot this year,'' Grier said. ``We haven't been very consistent. So hopefully this win against a pretty good team, getting a hard-fought win in the third period, will lead to some good things for us.''
Steve Konowalchuk and Michael Nylander also scored for Washington, which won in Phoenix for the first time in six tries since Dec. 7, 1996. Sebastien Charpentier made 30 saves.
Todd Simpson, Ladislav Nagy and Teppo Numminen scored for Phoenix, and Shane Doan had three assists.
But Daymond Langkow and Daniel Briere felt robbed. Their goals were disallowed -- Langkow's early in the second period, and Briere's with 29 seconds to play.
Officials ruled that defenseman Paul Mara was guilty of a high stick before Briere's shot, which he took after the puck hit Charpentier in the chest, dropped onto his skate and kicked out to the Phoenix center.
Fans rained programs and plastic bottles onto the ice, stopping play for about five minutes.
``It takes guts on the official's part to make that call,'' Coyotes coach Bob Francis said. ``They probably made the proper call.''
Grier, who assisted on Konowalchuk's go-ahead goal 4:22 into the third period, scored short-handed 2:49 later when Doan lost the puck. Grier picked it up and scored on a breakaway.
It was the eighth goal for Grier, and his third multipoint game in the last 10.
The Coyotes scored twice in 10 power plays.
Islanders 3, Panthers 3
At Sunrise, Fla., Kristian Huselius scored the tying goal with 4:08 left in regulation for Florida.
Olli Jokinen and Ryan Johnson also had goals for Florida, and Kenny Jonsson, Shawn Bates and Jason Blake scored for New York. Florida's Roberto Luongo made 38 saves, 15 in the first period.
Blackhawks 1, Sabres 1
At Buffalo, New York, Miroslav Satan scored with 13.7 seconds remaining in regulation, lifting the Sabres into a tie.
Alexei Zhamnov scored on a penalty shot and Jocelyn Thibault made 26 saves -- four in overtime -- for Chicago, which had a three-game winning streak snapped.
It was the Blackhawks' first successful penalty shot since Wayne Presley scored in Boston on Feb. 9, 1991.
Martin Biron made 26 saves for Buffalo.
Stars 3, Thrashers 1
At Dallas, Bill Guerin scored his team-high 14th goal and Marty Turco stopped 21 shots to beat Atlanta.
Oilers 4, Avalanche 3, OT
At Edmonton, Alberta, Jason Chimera scored 3:21 into overtime to lift the Oilers.
Georges Laraque tied it for Edmonton less than 10 minutes into the third period of his first game since Nov. 30.
Mike York and Anson Carter also scored for Edmonton, which has lost just once since Nov. 16. Milan Hejduk, Eric Messier and former Dean McAmmond scored for Colorado.
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