NEW YORK, 16 January 2004 — The Calgary Flames and Washington Capitals combined for six goals in the final 5:37 to finish in a thrilling 3-3 tie on Wednesday.

It appeared the two teams might register the NHL’s fifth goaless stalemate of the season until Trent Whitfield broke the ice for the host Washington at 14:23 of the third period. Matthew Lombardi and Oleg Saprykin then scored for Calgary before Sergei Gonchar equalized.

After Jarome Iginla put the Flames ahead 3-2 with 38 seconds on the clock, Jaromir Jagr, the five-times NHL scoring champion, brought the Caps level again with a shot from behind the goal line in the last second.

Jagr, who was shaken up a few minutes earlier after being felled by Calgary’s Denis Gauthier, banked the puck off the body of Flames netminder Jamie McLennan and into the net. The last-place Capitals, who were out-shot 44-25, were looking for their first three-game winning streak of the season.

In Detroit, the Red Wings picked up goals from four different players to dump the Blackhawks 4-2 and extend Chicago’s road losing streak to 15 games (0-14-0-1). Chicago last won on the road Nov. 7 in Nashville. The Blackhawks dropped 16 straight away games in 1954-55 when they finished last in the-then six-team NHL.

Jason Woolley, Ray Whitney, Niklas Kronwall and three-times Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom scored for Detroit.

Brett Hull set up the first goal but failed to register one of his own for a career-worst 17th straight game.

In other NHL action, Montreal’s Mike Ribeiro was awarded the game-winning goal after an Atlanta player scored into his own net midway through the third period as the Canadiens edged the host Thrashers 2-1.

In St. Paul, Minnesota, the Los Angeles Kings failed to win for the 13th straight outing, recording a 2-2 tie with the Wild. Eric Belanger and Scott Barney tallied for the Kings, with Andrew Brunette and Nick Schultz replying for the hosts.