Capitals' Ciccarelli Celebrates His 31St Birthday With Hat Trick

LANDOVER, Md. - Dino Ciccarelli won't mind getting older, as long as each of his birthdays are as fun as the one he celebrated last night.

Ciccarelli observed his 31st birthday by scoring three goals and helping the Washington Capitals extend the Edmonton Oilers' losing streak to three games with a 6-3 victory.

``I don't mind this kind of a birthday,'' Ciccarelli said after notching his 17th career hat trick. ``I'm feeling pretty good right now.''

Ciccarelli, who on Tuesday became the 33rd player in NHL history to score 400 career goals, got the clinching goal with 2:22 left after the Oilers had cut a 4-1 deficit to 4-3. It was his first regular-season hat trick since Feb. 6, 1990.

``Well, it was Dino Ciccarelli's birthday party tonight,'' said Capitals Coach Terry Murray. ``He got three goals on his birthday. Very timely goals.''

Best of all, Ciccarelli did it with his parents in attendance. They were there for his milestone performance on Tuesday, too.

Edmonton, closing out a four-game road trip, had not lost more than two games in a row since dropping nine straight from Oct. 21 to Nov. 8.

``The third period we had Washington on their heels and then ... a couple of lucky bumps, they put it in and then that's that, the game's over,'' said Oiler Coach John Muckler.

Washington, which won a second straight game for the first time since Jan. 11, pulled within one point of fourth-place New Jersey in the battle for the final playoff spot in the Patrick Division.

After Washington scored three times in a 3:41 span of the second period to take a 4-1 lead, Petr Klima got his ninth goal in six games for the Oilers to make it 4-2 with 13:17 left. Craig MacTavish then got a shorthanded goal with 6:38 remaining, but moments later Ciccarelli converted a cross-ice pass from Mike Ridley to give Washington some insurance.

Dale Hunter's empty-net goal wrapped up the scoring with 11 seconds left.

With the score tied at 1, Dimitri Khristich gave Washington the lead for good at 2:08 of the second period when he fired a rising shot from 10 feet inside the blue line past Kari Takko.

It became 3-1 when Tim Bergland stole the puck from Edmonton's Craig Muni behind the net and skated in front to take a shot. Takko stopped Bergland, but the rebound deflected off Nick Kypreos and into the net.

Then, at 5:49, Ciccarelli scored on a wraparound for his 17th goal of the season to give the Capitals a three-goal cushion.

-- AT DETROIT 8, N.Y. ISLANDERS 4 - Rookie Sergei Fedorov, who defected from the Soviet national team during the Goodwill Games, had two goals and three assists as the Red Wings scored on half of their 16 shots.

Detroit outscored the Islanders 4-2 in the second period despite being outshot 22-6. New York held a 49-16 shots-on-goal advantage, but the Red Wings' Tim Cheveldae made 45 saves. Patrick Flatley scored twice for New York.

-- AT N.Y. RANGERS 8, VANCOUVER 1 - Kelly Kisio scored twice during a five-goal spree during a span of 8:11 in the first period.

The Rangers, who subjected Canucks goalie Troy Gamble to a season-high 51-shot barrage, improved their first-place lead over Pittsburgh in the Patrick Division to six points as they beat Vancouver for the ninth time in 10 games at Madison Square Garden.

-- LOS ANGELES 4, AT BUFFALO 4 - Grant Ledyard's second goal of the season rallied the Sabres, who rallied from a two-goal third-period deficit and snapped a six-game losing streak.

Bob Kudelski and Tomas Sandstrom each had a goal and assist and Daniel Berthiaume made 37 saves for the Kings. Alexander Mogilny, who scored Buffalo's first goal, left the game with a separated shoulder midway through the third period when he was tripped by Los Angeles' Rob Blake and smashed headfirst into the boards.

-- AT WINNIPEG 6, PITTSBURGH 2 - Pat Elynuik's goal and assist keyed the Jets' three-goal second period. Mark Osborne and Brent Ashton also scored in the second as Winnipeg took a commanding 5-1 lead. Mario Lemieux, playing for the first time in six days, and Mark Recchi each had a goal and assist for the Penguins.