Ovechkin's 2nd straight hat trick lifts Caps past Isles 6-4
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored three goals to tie Steve Yzerman for ninth on the career goals list Saturday, and the Washington Capitals rallied with five goals in the third period for a 6-4 victory over the New York Islanders.
Jakub Vrana scored the go-ahead goal with 2:30 left to help the Capitals extend their wining streak to four games. The Islanders lost for the fourth time in their last five games.
Ovechkin also passed Mario Lemieux for 10th place on the career list. His 692nd goal came late in the third period on an empty net to seal the victory. Washington's Ilya Samsonov made seven saves in relief of Braden Holtby, who allowed four goals on 22 shots.
Semyon Varlamov gave up four third-period goals and finished with 24 saves. Brock Nelson, Casey Cizikas, Jordan Eberle and Devon Toews had put the Islanders ahead 4-1 entering the third period.
OTTAWA (AP) — Marcus Hogberg made 40 saves and the Senators snapped a nine-game losing streak.
The Senators were outshot 42-21, but Hogberg’s performance kept the Flames at bay. It was the 25-year-old goalie’s second NHL win in 13 career starts.
Brady Tkachuk had a goal and assist and was on the winning side for the first time in four games against older brother Matthew. Chris Tierney, Connor Brown, Colin White and Vladislav Namestnikov had Ottawa's other goals.
Mark Jankowski and Noah Hanifin scored late for the Flames, whose six-game winning streak ended.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Alex Stalock posted his second shutout of the season, and Jason Zucker had a goal and two assists in Minnesota's rout of Dallas.
Stalock, playing his second straight game in place of Devan Dubnyk, made 27 saves for Minnesota, which has won back-to-back games to start a season-high, seven-game homestand. Mats Zuccarello and Ryan Hartman each had a goal and assist. Jared Spurgeon, Carson Soucy, Ryan Donato and Zach Parise also scored for the Wild.
Anton Khudobin started in goal for Dallas, but was pulled early in the second period after allowing four goals on 17 shots. Ben Bishop entered and made 12 saves as the Stars lost for the third time in four games.
DENVER (AP) — Cale Makar and Andre Burakovsky scored 22 seconds apart in the second period for the Avalanche to chase All-Star goaltender Jordan Binnington from the game and Colorado held on to beat St. Louis.
The Avalanche used a three-goal middle period to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 advantage. Tyson Jost also scored in the period. Nathan MacKinnon added a goal in the first and Gabriel Landeskog clinched it with an empty-netter. Makar's goal was his 11th, breaking the franchise record for most by a rookie defenseman.
Alex Pietrangelo, David Perron and Oskar Sundqvist had goals for the Blues, who lead the Central Division heading into the All-Star break.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Riley Sheahan had a goal and three assists and Connor McDavid scored twice as the Oilers rode a strong start to a victory over Arizona.
Josh Archibald, Sam Gagner, Kailer Yamamoto and Joakim Nygard also scored for the Oilers, who are 6-1-1 in their last eight games.
Taylor Hall, Christian Dvorak and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored for the Coyotes, who have lost five of six.
BLUE JACKETS 5, DEVILS 0
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Elvis Merzlikins made a career-high 41 saves in his third shutout in his last four starts, and the Blue Jackets cruised to their fourth straight win.
Cam Atkinson had two goals and an assist, helping the Blue Jackets improve to 14-2-4 in their last 20 games. Alexander Wennberg, Jakob Lilja and Nick Foligno also scored.
Devils goalie Cory Schneider started for the first time since Nov. 8 and was chased late in the second period.
FLYERS 4, KINGS 1
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Travis Konecny scored a pair of goals and James van Riemsdyk added a goal and two assists to lead the Flyers past the Los Angeles Kings.
Joel Farabee also scored and Brian Elliott made 34 saves for the Flyers, who improved to 16-4-4 at home.
Dustin Brown scored for Los Angeles, which enters a much-needed 10-day break after losing its fourth in a row and seventh in eight games. The Kings entered in the cellar in the Western Conference and tied for the third-fewest points in the league with 41. They ended a five-game road trip 1-3-1.
BLACKHAWKS 6, MAPLE LEAFS 2
TORONTO (AP) — Jonathan Toews had two goals and two assists, and Chicago won its fourth straight.
Dominik Kubalik added two goals and an assist for Chicago (23-20-6), which improved to 11-5 in its last 16 games. Drake Caggiula had a goal and an assist, and Brandon Saad also scored.
All-Star forward Patrick Kane extended his point streak to nine games with an assist on Saad's goal. Kane has 999 career points heading into Sunday night's home game against Winnipeg.
William Nylander and Alexander Kerfoot scored for Toronto, which has dropped five of six.
DETROIT (AP) — Evgenii Dadonov and Mark Pysyk scored late in the first period and Florida went on to win its fourth in a row.
Florida's Aleksander Barkov restored a two-goal lead with 6:55 left. Sergei Bobrovsky had 27 saves for the Panthers, who have won a season-high four straight.
Detroit has dropped four straight, giving the once-proud franchise an NHL-worst 12-33-4 record this season.
Dylan Larkin scored the 100th goal of his career with the Red Wings, and Jimmy Howard stopped 34 shots.
CANADIENS 5, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4, SO
MONTREAL (AP) — Tomas Tatar scored in the fourth round of a shootout to lift the Canadiens over Vegas.
Nick Cousins scored twice, and Ilya Kovalchuk and Joel Armia each scored once for the Canadiens, who have won four of their last five games. Carey Price made 31 saves for his fourth consecutive victory.
Jonathan Marchessault, Paul Stastny, Max Pacioretty and Reilly Smith scored for the Golden Knights in their second game under new coach Peter DeBoer.
PREDATORS 2, SABRES 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Craig Smith’s power-play goal with 6:29 remaining in the third period propelled the Predators past the Buffalo Sabres.
Ryan Johansen also scored for Nashville, which snapped a two-game skid.
With Sabres captain Jack Eichel in the penalty box serving a tripping penalty, Smith redirected Kyle Turris’ shot off the left post, then off the left leg of Buffalo goaltender Linus Ullmark and into the net for Smith's 11th goal of the season.
Nashville entered with the NHL’s 25th-ranked power play, and had failed to score on the man advantage in their last four games.
Sam Reinhart had the lone goal for Buffalo, which had won its previous three games.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Tanner Pearson scored on the power play and had an assist as the Canucks defeated San Jose.
Loui Eriksson, J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes also scored for the Canucks, who won for the 11th time in 14 games and extended their home winning streak to eight games. The victory also moved the Canucks into first place in the tight Pacific Division with 58 points, one more than Edmonton, Calgary, Vegas and Arizona.
Barclay Goodrow scored for the Sharks, who lost their third consecutive game.
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