Caps’ Ovechkin scores his 1st goal in 15 games
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Alex Ovechkin scored his first goal in 15 games with 53 seconds left on the clock in overtime Thursday night to lift the Washington Capitals to a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Ovechkin’s 828th career goal came on a 4-on-3 Capitals power play due to a roughing call against Columbus goaltender Elvis Merzlikins with 2:18 left in OT.
It was Ovechkin’s 26th overtime goal, extending his NHL record, and his 125th game-winner overall, second in NHL history behind Jaromir Jagr’s 135.
Lightning 5, Golden Knights 4
TAMPA, Fla. – Nicholas Paul scored the winning goal with 1:13 left and added two assists as Tampa Bay beat Vegas.
Paul put home a rebound for his second straight three-point game.
Lightning right wing and NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists. Brayden Point had two goals and an assist, and Alex Barré-Boulet also scored for Tampa Bay. Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside 30 shots.
Jiri Patera made 31 saves for the Golden Knights while filling in for injured Adin Hill (lower body) and Logan Thompson (upper body).
Penguins 2, Hurricanes 1, SO
PITTSBURGH – Sidney Crosby scored his 19th goal of the season in regulation and then beat Pyotr Kochetkov in a shootout to send Pittsburgh past Carolina for its fourth victory in five games.
Alex Nedeljkovic made 23 saves and turned away all three Carolina attempts in the shootout as the Penguins beat the Hurricanes for just the third time in 13 meetings.
Teuvo Teravainen scored his 12th of the season for the Hurricanes, and Kochetkov stopped 24 shots.
Avalanche 6, Senators 4
DENVER – Nathan MacKinnon scored four goals to extend his career-best point streak to 17 games, and Colorado rallied past Ottawa.
Mikko Rantanen had two goals for the Avalanche. MacKinnon scored into an empty net in the final moments for the first four-goal game in Avs history. Cale Makar had a pair of assists in his return from a lowerbody injury that sidelined him for three games.
Colorado killed three Senators power plays in the last eight minutes with the help of Alexandar Georgiev, who finished with 41 saves.
Sabres 9, Maple Leafs 3
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Jeff Skinner scored twice, including the go-ahead goal, and added an assist as Buffalo responded to its most embarrassing loss of the season by routing Toronto.
Tage Thompson had a goal and two assists and captain Kyle Okposo scored twice, two nights after a 9-4 loss to Columbus when the team was booed off the ice and fans chanted “Fire Donnie” in reference to coach Don Granato. Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Jordan Greenway and Jack Quinn also scored for Buffalo, which won for just the fourth time in 12 games.
Rookie goalie Devon Levi made 25 saves to improve to 4-0-2 in his past eight appearances.
Auston Matthews and Max Domi scored for the Maple Leafs, who lost consecutive games in regulation for only the second time this season. Calle Jarnkrok scored a short-handed goal, and William Nylander had an assist to extend his point streak to 10 games.
Ilya Samsonov allowed five goals on 19 shots before getting pulled. Martin Jones gave up four goals on 16 shots.
Blues 4, Panthers 1
SUNRISE, Fla. – Joel Hofer stopped 36 shots, Pavel Buchnevich scored twice and St. Louis topped sliding Florida.
Buchnevich added an assist, giving him a threepoint night. Robert Thomas had three assists, and Jordan Kyrou and Alexey Toropchenko also scored for the Blues.
Eetu Luostarinen scored the Panthers’ lone goal, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves.
St. Louis has won three of its last four games under interim coach Drew Bannister, matching its best stretch of the season. The Blues have won four straight against Florida and are 6-1-1 versus the Panthers in their last eight meetings.
The loss was the fourth in Florida’s last five games.
Oilers 6, Devils 3
NEWARK, N.J. – Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Adam Erne scored in a span of 69 seconds early in the third period as Edmonton beat New Jersey to snap a three-game losing streak.
Ryan McLeod had two goals for the Oilers while playing against his older brother. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored, and Calvin Pickard made 23 saves.
Dawson Mercer, Jonas Siegenthaler and Timo Meier scored for the Devils, who lost their third straight after winning eight of 10. Michael McLeod had two assists.
McDavid scored his 12th goal at 1:40 of the third to tie the game at 3.
Predators 4, Flyers 2
PHILADELPHIA – Philip Tomasino scored twice, including the go-ahead goal with 4:01 remaining, and Nashville beat Philadelphia.
Cole Smith also scored, Gustav Nyquist added an empty-netter and Colton Sissons had two assists for the Predators, who have won eight of 10.
Stars 4, Canucks 3, OT
DALLAS – Matt Duchene scored with 9.2 seconds remaining on the clock in overtime to give Dallas a win over Vancouver.
Duchene’s goal, his NHL-leading sixth game-winner, came seconds after Stars goalie Scott Wedgewood stoned Elias Pettersson on a 2-on-none at the other end.
Thomas Harley, who had the primary assist, scored in the third period to send the game to OT. Tyler Seguin and Roope Hintz also scored for Dallas, and Wedgewood made 17 saves.
Wild 4, Canadiens 3, OT
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Kirill Kaprizov scored with 4.9 seconds left in overtime to lift Minnesota over Montreal.
Kaprizov took a pass from Marcus Johansson and beat Canadiens goalie Sam Montembeault. It was Kaprizov’s third goal in two games, after scoring twice against Boston on Tuesday.
Brock Faber scored his second NHL goal, Matt Boldy also scored and Marco Rossi had a goal, two assists and a fight for a “Gordie Howe hat trick” to spark the Wild.
Flames 3, Ducks 0
ANAHEIM, Calif. – Elias Lindholm had a goal and two assists, Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves for his 200th career win and Calgary extended its winning streak to a season-best three games with a victory over Anaheim.
Nick DeSimone got his first NHL goal 2:24 into the opening period and A.J. Greer also scored as the Flames ended a four-game road losing streak.
Coyotes 5, Sharks 2
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Clayton Keller scored his third goal in three games and Arizona beat San Jose to extend its win streak to four.
Keller and Alex Kerfoot both had a goal and two assists. Michael Kesselring and Lawson Crouse also scored for the Coyotes, and Nick Schmaltz had a goal and an assist.
Karel Vejmelka made 29 saves.