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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Herb Brooks called a meeting 90 minutes before
his first game as the Pittsburgh Penguins coach. Introductions
weren't necessary.
|  | | Capitals goalie Olaf Kolzig turns aside a shot by Pittsburgh's Alexei Morozov. |
Brooks returned to the NHL as a winner after a six-year absence,
stepping off a plane a few hours before coaching the Penguins to a
3-0 victory over the Washington Capitals on Thursday night.
Defenseman Brad Werenka's third-period goal snapped a scoreless
tie and the Penguins' three-game losing streak in Brooks' first NHL
regular-season game since April 16, 1993, with New Jersey.
"Everybody knows who Herb Brooks is," Penguins defenseman Ian
Moran said. "Every player who is old enough remembers the U.S.
beating the Soviet Union in the Olympics in 1980. It's one of the
first things I remember in hockey. He's going to command respect."
What Brooks really hopes to command is more scoring from one of
the NHL's most talented but, lately, underachieving offenses.
"I loved their hearts tonight," said Brooks, who replaced the
fired Kevin Constantine hours before the game. "They picked it up
fast. They're not used to playing that full-court press, up-tempo,
attack, attack, attack, but that can be addressed. This was a big
win."
Jiri Slegr scored at 14:09 off Jaromir Jagr's setup and Robert
Lang added a late goal as the Penguins began what general manager
Craig Patrick called a critical five-game stretch with their second
victory in six games.
Jagr, who had several well-publicized run-ins with Constantine,
was consulted by Patrick before the change was made.
"I just said, I didn't feel the team was playing the way we
should play. I didn't know what was wrong," Jagr said. "But I
thought we had a lot better team than the way we played."
Goaltender Jean Sebastien-Aubin continued his strong play,
turning away all 24 Capitals shots. He has stopped 63 of 65 shots
in two games since Tom Barrasso drew a four-game suspension for
slashing Toronto's Yanic Perreault and has halted 192 of 200 shots
in his last six games.
"It's bad for Kevin," Aubin said. "But I'm happy for us."
Brooks, who has had NHL coaching stints with the Rangers, North Stars and
Devils and was a scout the last five years, was summoned from a scouting
trip to Moose Jaw to replace Constantine after the Penguins fell
six games under .500 and into 11th place in the Eastern Conference.
Patrick thought the players had quit listening to Constantine, a
demanding coach who held daily team meetings and film-watching
sessions, and would respond better to Brooks' more wide-open
European style.
"We weren't afraid to make mistakes out there, and we were
moving the puck well," right winger Matthew Barnaby said.
The Penguins didn't quickly shift gears, answering the Capitals'
tight checking and suffocating neutral zone defense with patience
and by taking few gambles on offense. Jagr, the NHL's leading
scorer most of the season, was held without a goal for the fourth
straight game.
But with Brooks making line changes suggested by new assistant
coaches Eddie Johnston, himself a two-time Penguins head coach, and
Rick Kehoe, the Penguins finally took the lead on Werenka's second
goal of the season.
Werenka, whose reluctance to gamble made him a favorite of
Constantine but may lead to less playing time under Brooks, put a
shot from the top of the right circle by Olaf Kolzig at 1:48 after Kip Miller stole the puck behind the net.
"I don't think we were thinking about their change. I don't
know what we were thinking about," Capitals defenseman Calle
Johansson said. "It wasn't this hockey game. We didn't do
anything. There are no excuses. It was just a terrible hockey
game."
Jagr put a pass directly on Slegr's stick in the low slot to
make it 2-0, and Lang's 11th goal and the Penguins' third of the
period pushed the lead to 3-0 at 18:36.
"I didn't think they played that great in the first two
periods," Capitals coach Ron Wilson said. "They didn't seem to
kick it up to another level until the third, but we never did."
Kolzig stopped 31 of 34 shots but got little help from an
offense that clearly missed Peter Bondra, who is out two to three weeks with a knee injury.
Pittsburgh won for the first time in six games against Southeast
Division teams, while the Capitals fell to 3-9-1 on the road.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Washington Clubhouse
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
'Miracle on Ice' coach takes over for Penguins
In the Corners: Brooks and the old-timer trend
Morganti: Brooks surfaces again with Pens
RECAPS
Edmonton 2
Boston 2
Montreal 4
NY Islanders 2
Philadelphia 4
Toronto 2
Pittsburgh 3
Washington 0
New Jersey 4
Chicago 0
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Brad Werenka scores on the slap shot.
avi: 900 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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