ATLANTA - Olie Kolzig felt a bit of sympathy for his counterpart at the other end of the ice.
The Washington goalie watched Atlanta's Byron Dafoe face a three-on-one and a two-on-one in the first four minutes - both times with Jaromir Jagr carrying the puck for the Capitals.
Jagr scored a goal and set up another to spark a five-goal first period that carried Washington to a 5-1 victory Wednesday night.
``I can sympathize with Dafoe,'' said Kolzig, who cruised to his 23rd win after being handed the big lead. ``It's not fair when you have Jagr's line coming down on you 3-on-1.''
Jagr got the puck on both breaks after Kolzig kicked out long rebounds.
``When you score a couple of goals right away, that makes it perfect,'' said Robert Lang, who scored the second goal.
The Capitals had five goals on their first eight shots against Dafoe, who was booed lustily by the Philips Arena crowd and wound up being replaced by Pasi Nurminen at the start of the second period.
Dafoe, who won at New Jersey in his last start, didn't come up with any big saves against the Capitals. Of course, he didn't get much help from his teammates, either.
By the time the opening blitz was done, Washington also had scored on a breakaway and a deflection.
``It would have been great to make one save to rally the troops,'' Dafoe said. ``But it was not to be.''
Washington extended its domination of the Southeast Division, improving to 11-2-1 against Atlanta, Carolina, Florida and Tampa Bay.
The Thrashers lost their second in a row, once again missing a chance to surpass their win total for all of last season.
Jagr set the tone right away, scoring his 31st goal just 1:58 into the game. He broke down right wing with two teammates, played give-and-go with Kip Miller and fired a shot past the helpless Dafoe.
Just 2:02 later, the Capitals pushed the lead to 2-0. This time, Jagr passed at last possible moment to Lang, who put a shot through the legs of Frantisek Kaberle - the only defender back - and past Dafoe.
Washington wound up with the 2-on-1 advantage after Thrashers defenseman Andy Sutton went down at the other end with a high ankle sprain. He didn't return.
Right away, the Thrashers sent out toughman Jeff Odgers, who picked a fight with Alex Henry, but failed to inspire his teammates.
Dafoe gave up a truly dreadful goal at 8:09, failing to cover a shot in front of the net. The puck slid between his legs and Mike Grier banged it into the net.
Next, Dainius Zubrus stepped out of the penalty box after serving a tripping penalty, took a long pass from Ken Klee and wound up with a breakaway. He beat Dafoe with a low shot to the stick side to make it 4-0.
Michael Nylander completed the onslaught, scoring off a deflection at 15:41 as the Caps matched their highest-scoring period of the season.
Slava Kozlov deflected in a shot midway through the second period for Atlanta's only goal.
``We played better after (the first period),'' Dafoe said. ``Still, the game was over by then.''
NOTES: Atlanta fell just short of the team record for goals allowed in a 20-minute span. The Thrashers surrendered six goals to Ottawa in a game in their inaugural season. ... Washington also scored five goals in the second period of a 12-2 win over Florida on Jan. 11. ... The Thrashers activated D Uwe Krupp before the game, but he didn't dress.
Monday
March 17th, 2025
4:46AM
