Montreal — Jose Theodore had more to celebrate than he thought.
Theodore gained his fourth shutout of the season, and Jan Bulis and Patrice Brisebois scored second-period goals to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 2-0 win over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.
After stopping 28 shots for his 12th career shutout, the 25-year-old goalie learned that he had been added to the North American team's roster for the All-Star game in Los Angeles on Feb. 2.
"I was just happy about the win, and then they told me about it right away," Theodore said. "It all happened so fast I'm still calming down."
Bulis scored 4:50 into the second to end Capitals goalie Olaf Kolzig's shutout streak at 164 minutes and 24 seconds.
Brisebois scored his second goal of the season on a power play with 3:00 left in the period.
"The guys played very well tonight," Brisebois said. "It was a team effort. Whenever you win by a shutout, it means that everybody did his job."
With several key players still out of the lineup including star right wing Jaromir Jagr and eight defensemen dressed for the game, Washington coach Ron Wilson once again employed a unique 2-1-2 alignment.
The Capitals, who entered the game unbeaten in their last four games (3-0-1), frequently used defensemen Ken Klee and Sergei Gonchar as rovers along with two forwards and two defensemen.
"We played a passive road game in the first half, and I don't know why," Wilson said. "I hope our guys don't have the impression that systems win games, and hard work and skating doesn't."
Sabres 3, Mighty Ducks 1
Anaheim, Calif. Vaclav Varada and Tim Connolly scored less than four minutes apart in the second period as Buffalo beat Anaheim. It was the only meeting of the season between the last-place teams in the Pacific and Northeast divisions.
Blue Jackets 2, Rangers 0
Columbus, Ohio Tyler Wright and Grant Marshall scored goals and Marc Denis stopped 31 shots for his first shutout in a Columbus uniform as the Blue Jackets beat New York.
Blackhawks 3, Panthers 0
Sunrise, Fla. Alex Zhamnov and Michael Nylander scored 4:36 apart in the third period to seal Chicago's victory over Florida. Jocelyn Thibault stopped 16 shots for his fifth shutout of the season and 26th of his career. Florida was held without a goal for the second straight game.
Stars 3, Red Wings 2
Dallas Joe Nieuwendyk scored two goals, the second while falling to the ice, as Dallas beat Western Conference-leading Detroit. Nieuwendyk made a backhanded shot while falling down, and the puck slid through the legs of Dominik Hasek 5:35 into the third period for a 3-1 Stars lead.
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