clarinews@clarinet.com (01/13/90)
LANDOVER, Md. (UPI) -- The Pittsburgh Penguins planned to put early pressure on the Washington Capitals Friday night, but they did not expect results to come as quickly as they did. ``We knew they were struggling, so we wanted to get ahead right away,'' said right winger Phil Bourque, who notched two goals and an assist in the Penguins' 6-4 victory. The loss was the seventh straight for Washington, the club's longest stretch without a point since 1983-84. Pittsburgh has won four of its last five and is 10-7-1 under interim coach Craig Patrick. Bourque scored 1:14 after the opening faceoff on just the kind of play Washington set up its game plan to avoid -- a man-short situation with Bourque and Brian Cullen charging down ice on Bob Rouse. Then Tony Tanti and Mario Lamieux connected to give the Penguins an unsurmountable lead over the tentative Capitals. Lemieux's assist on Tanti's goal stretched his scoring streak to 33 games. Bourque and Paul Coffey scored in the second period for the Penguins. Coffey's goal was the 270th of his career, tying him with Bobby Orr for second place on the all-time list for defensemen. Mark Recchi scored into the empty net with 9 seconds to play to end the scoring. Mike Ridley scored twice in the third period for Washington, and Michal Pivonka and Steven Leach had single goals, both in the second period. ``We were very tentative in the first period,'' admitted Capitals' Coach Bryan Murray. ``We seemed to pick up the pace after we got behind, but since we've been losing, everybody's trying to do too much and we're making mistakes. ``The encouraging thing is that everybody is working hard and we're getting chances. Certainly we're getting plenty of shots -- 38 tonight.'' Bourque, who admitted he had the three-goal hat trick in mind but said he never got a real chance after the second goal, was very positive about the Penguins under Patrick. ``The whole team is playing better,'' he said. ``We're making things happen better than we were earlied, but that's because we've gotten Mario Lemieux going. But we're all working harder and it shows.''