WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Washington Capitals took a night off from the offensive fireworks that have characterized their unbeaten run.

Instead, the sizzling Capitals used defense and physical pressure to produce a familiar result.

	Washington's Steve Konowalchuk gets knocked on top of Calgary goalie Fred Brathwaite.

Ken Klee scored the winning goal as Washington beat Calgary 2-1 Wednesday night, extending the Capitals' unbeaten streak to a season-best nine games.

"This is probably the least dominating game we've had during the streak," said Olaf Kolzig, who made 26 saves. "But we know we're not going to win 8-2 every night. We know we're not going to dominate every team every night."

Brendan Witt also scored for Washington, 8-0-1 during the streak and 10-1-3 since dropping three consecutive road games in December. The nine-game streak is Washington's longest since late in the 1986-87 season.

Klee said the Flames are difficult to contain because of their speed.

"They're as quick a team as we've played," Klee said. "They have a lot of guys who can burn it up in a wide-open game. That's why it was more of a physical contest. We wanted to knock them off their fluidity."

On the decisive goal, Ulf Dahlen directed the puck to Richard Zednik off a faceoff. Zednik backpedaled before sliding a pass to Klee near the blue line, where he fired a rising slap shot that beat Fred Brathwaite with 6:29 left in the second period.

"They went straight by me," Brathwaite said. "The second was a save I should have had. Unfortunately, it was the game-winning goal."

Witt opened the scoring with 2:30 left in the first period, and Hnat Domenichelli tied it at 5:50 of the second.

Witt ended a streak of 55 games without a goal by fluttering a slap shot from the left point for his ninth career tally. His last goal was March 13, 1999, against the Flames.

"Tonight's hockey game was one we didn't deserve to lose," Flames coach Brian Sutter said. "What did we give them -- two goals from the blue line?"

Domenichelli skated unchecked through the slot to convert a centering pass from Benoit Gratton. Domenichelli's one-timer beat Kolzig, who has started every game during the streak and has a career-high eight-game unbeaten run.

Washington, 2-7-5 against Western Conference teams, has won the first two games of a four-game homestand. Calgary had a two-game winning streak broken. The Flames have lost four of five on the road.

"This is a good sign because we're not going to win every game," Kolzig said. "But the team that wins one-goal games is the kind of team that's going to do well in the playoffs."