Holtby, Capitals blank Devils 3-0 for 6th straight win
WASHINGTON (AP) — Andre Burakovsky and Nicklas Backstrom scored, Braden Holtby stopped 25 shots and the Washington Capitals extended their winning streak to six games with an ugly 3-0 victory over the last-place New Jersey Devils on Friday night.
Burakovsky ran his goal streak to three games after he wasn't traded at the deadline. With his 35th career shutout, Holtby tied Olie Kolzig for the most in franchise history.
New Jersey sent out a patchwork lineup with many players who started the season in the minors. Mackenzie Blackwood did his best to keep the Devils in the game by making 33 saves.
The Devils went 0 for 6 on the power play to drop to 0 for their last 24 and lost their fifth game in a row.
Lars Eller sealed it with an empty-netter.
JETS 8, HURRICANES 1
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Andrew Copp scored twice, Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and two assists, and Winnipeg rode a four-goal first period to an easy win over Carolina.
Kevin Hayes, Blake Wheeler, Kyle Connor and Ben Chiarot each had a goal and an assist. Adam Lowry also scored as Winnipeg posted its largest victory of the season.
The Jets scored three times in the first 10 minutes to jump ahead early and then three times in the final 10 minutes to turn it into a rout.
Laurent Brossoit made 28 saves and Winnipeg moved ahead of idle Nashville into first place in the Central Division.
Curtis McElhinney stopped only 21 of 29 shots for the Hurricanes. Greg McKegg scored their lone goal midway through the third period.
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Aleksander Barkov set a franchise record with five assists, and MacKenzie Weegar and Mike Matheson each scored twice as Florida beat Minnesota to snap a six-game losing streak.
Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and three assists, Mike Hoffman also scored and Evgenii Dadonov added three assists. Sam Montembeault made 26 saves in his second career start for his first NHL win.
Marcus Foligno and J.T. Brown scored for the Wild, who had their eight-game point streak stopped. Devan Dubnyk allowed three goals on seven shots before he was replaced by Alex Stalock to start the second period.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Adam Henrique scored twice, rookie Troy Terry had a goal and two assists, and Anaheim interrupted Carey Price's pursuit of Montreal's career wins record.
Corey Perry and Devin Shore had a goal and an assist apiece during the Ducks' highest-scoring performance of their miserable season. Daniel Sprong and Rickard Rakell also scored and John Gibson made 35 saves for the Ducks, who have won three of four for only the second time since mid-December.
Rookie Max Jones even scored his first NHL goal with 10.4 seconds to play.
Shea Weber had a power-play goal and an assist for the Canadiens, who have lost five of eight. Paul Byron also scored and Price stopped 21 shots as Montreal completed a three-game California road swing with two losses while giving up a whopping 14 goals.
After getting a rare night off Thursday in San Jose, Price was in position to become the Canadiens' career victories leader after tying Jacques Plante's record with his 314th win Tuesday in Los Angeles. Instead, Price gave up eight goals in a game for the first time this season behind his befuddled defense.
At least now the 31-year-old former NHL MVP will get a chance to make Canadiens history in front of his Montreal fans on Tuesday against the Red Wings.
Montreal and Carolina are in the two Eastern Conference wild-card spots with 79 points apiece — but the Hurricanes and the ninth-place Blue Jackets, who have 77 points, both have two games in hand on the Canadiens.
