WASHINGTON — Scott Clemmensen ran his fingers over the indentation on the cage of his goalie’s mask, a battle scar from his first victory in 11 months.

Jamie Langenbrunner’s powerplay goal broke a third-period tie, Clemmensen won in his first appearance since December 14 and the Devils beat the Washington Capitals 3–2 yesterday.

“I was kind of hoping my first win (of the year) wouldn’t be in February, but so be it,” Clemmensen said.

Langenbrunner snapped a 2-all tie 16 seconds into a tripping penalty by Brian Pothier on Mike Rupp, chipping a high shot from between the circles with 9:56 left in regulation. The puck bounced by Brent Johnson as New Jersey’s Scott Gomez was being cross-checked into the goal by Shaone Morrisonn.

Washington had tied the game less than a minute earlier on Alex Ovechkin’s team-leading 35th goal, a blistering wrister that bent Clemmensen’s wire face protection, much to the goalie’s amazement.

“I’ve been hit in the mask a lot — the cage will bend, it takes the velocity off the puck and it will drop in front of you,” Clemmensen said. “I can’t believe it hit me, bent my cage and went in. It had to have been a really hard shot.”

Zach Parise and Travis Zajac each had a goal and an assist for the Devils, who have won four straight road games and four of five overall.

“The finish wasn’t quite there early on, but sure enough, we scored the winner on the power play on what you could probably call a garbage goal,” Devils coach Claude Julien said.

Brooks Laich also scored for the Capitals, who have lost six of seven and were bidding for a home-and-home weekend sweep of the Devils.

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The St. Louis Blues traded forward Keith Tkachuk to the Atlanta Thrashers on Sunday, getting forward Glen Metropolit, a firstround draft pick in 2007 and two other picks in return.

It was the second trade for Atlanta in two days. The Thrashers acquired defenseman Alexei Zhitnik from the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night for former firstround draft pick Braydon Coburn.

Tkachuk has 20 goals and 23 assists for 43 points, second most on the Blues, in 61 games. He waived a no-trade clause.

“We want to thank Keith for his time and dedication to the Blues organization over the past six years,” team president John Davidson said. “We wish him and his family nothing but the best for the future.”

The Thrashers were sixth in the Eastern Conference with 72 points, but four teams are within two points of them.

St. Louis also gets a third-round pick in 2007, a second-round pick in 2008. If Atlanta re-signs Tkachuk the Blues will also get a first-round draft choice in 2008.

Metropolit has 12 goals and 16 assists in 57 games with Atlanta this season, along with 20 penalty minutes. In 160 career games he has 22 goals and 53 assists while also playing for the Capitals and Lightning.

The Blues are rebuilding after finishing last overall last season and were 11th in the Western Conference, 12 points out of the final playoff spot with a .500 record and 61 points. St. Louis also was considering offers for Bill Guerin, who leads the team with 28 goals, although Davidson denied the team was dismantling.

The trade came one day after the Blues re-signed defenseman Eric Brewer and goalie Manny Legace to multiyear contracts. St. Louis had the worst record in the league last season after its previous owners traded most of its stars, including Chris Pronger and Doug Weight, to cut payroll and facilitate a sale.