Capitals send Penguins to sixth straight loss

Alexander Ovechkin (C) and goalie Tomas Vokoun of the Washington Capitals try to keep the puck out of the crease as Pittsburgh Penguins' James Neal closes in during their NHL hockey game in Washington January 11, 2012.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A first period goal from Jason Chimera and some brilliant goaltending by Tomas Vokoun helped the Washington Capitals blank injury-riddled Pittsburgh 1-0 on Wednesday, sending the Penguins to their sixth consecutive loss.

Pittsburgh outshot the Capitals 30-21 but could not solve Vokoun, who recorded his second shutout of the season with some acrobatic saves to improve his record to 17-10.

"Vokoun certainly made a couple of huge stops," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "Came up big in the third period. In a 1-0 game, obviously he's the guy that shined pretty bright for them."

Chimera scored with just over four minutes left in the first period, beating Marc-Andre Fleury on a breakaway high to the stick side following a turnover.

Penguins forward Pascal Dupuis said Vokoun, who faced 10 shots in the final period, was the "big difference."

"We kept peppering him with shots at the end of the game," he said. "We missed a couple of chances and he made some big saves. We were pretty confident we were going to win that one but we played (against) a good goalie."

Washington and Pittsburgh, two of the NHL's most dominant teams over the last decade but struggling this year, are tied with 46 points but the Capitals own the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference courtesy of having one more win.

"Everybody watches the standings and every point is huge," said Capitals coach Dale Hunter, whose club is 7-1 in its last eight home games. "We're all pretty bunched up there and you've got to win the one-goal games."

The Penguins, playing without Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal and Kris Letang due to injury, had not lost six in a row since a 10-game slide January 2006.

"It's a game where we were a shot away from tying it up," said Pittsburgh forward James Neal. "It was there. We did a lot of good things but still not enough to get the win."

Pittsburgh, shut out for the first time this season, has scored only six goals during its losing streak. Bylsma said he was pleased with the effort against Washington.

"We played hard and battled," he said. "We didn't come up with a goal. Certainly losing a game 1-0 is not something we like. But we're going to keep playing that way. And we'll get some wins playing just like that.

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)