WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored on the power play, Vitek Vanecek stopped all 36 shots he faced and the Washington Capitals snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the Eastern Conference-leading Carolina Hurricanes 4-0 Thursday night.
Ovechkin scored his 33rd goal of the season and his 763rd in the NHL to move three back of Jaromir Jagr for third place on the career list. Amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ordered by the president he has long supported, Ovechkin — the face of the hockey franchise in the U.S. capital and a Stanley Cup champion — was serenaded with familiar chants of “Ovi! Ovi!” after his latest goal.
The longtime captain’s goal and another one by countryman Dmitry Orlov late in the third period after a power play expired put an exclamation point on Washington’s first home victory since Jan. 22 and first in regulation since Dec. 29. Martin Fehervary also scored for the Capitals, who had lost six in a row at home as part of a slump that included defeats in 14 of their first 22 games in 2022.
Carolina has lost two in a row and had its point streak snapped at seven games.
WILD 5, FLYERS 4
PHILADELPHIA — Ryan Hartman had two goals, and Jonas Brodin and Matt Boldy scored 25 seconds apart in the third period to lead Minnesota to a comeback victory.
Frederick Gaudreau also scored and Kevin Fiala had a pair of assists for the Wild, who snapped a four-game skid. Cam Talbot made 26 saves. Minnesota won for just the second time in eight games and improved to 16-14 on the road.
Scott Laughton had a goal and an assist, and Patrick Brown, Travis Konecny and James van Riemsdyk also scored for Philadelphia. Carter Hart finished with 33 saves. The Flyers have lost 21 of their last 24 games and five of six on a club-record eight-game homestand.
PANTHERS 3, SENATORS 0
SUNRISE, Fla. — Patric Hornqvist and Ryan Lomberg scored 12 seconds apart in the third period, Sergei Bobrovsky made 18 saves for his 36th career shutout and Florida beat Ottawa to snap a three-game slide.
Mason Marchment had a goal and an assist for the Panthers, and Hornqvist also had an assist.
Anton Forsberg stopped 45 shots for Ottawa, including 37 of the first 38 he faced. But Hornqvist batted home a rebound for Florida’s second power-play goal of the night and a 2-0 lead early in the third, Lomberg got his goal after a shot squirted through Forsberg’s pads, and from there the only drama left was to see if Bobrovsky would get the shutout.
Ottawa won 8-2 in its other trip to Florida this season back in mid-December. This one was nothing like that — with the Senators needing almost two full periods just to get to eight shots.
PENGUINS 5, LIGHTNING 1
TAMPA, Fla. — Evgeni Malkin had a goal and two assists, Tristan Jarry made 20 saves and Pittsburgh beat Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper was given a game misconduct for arguing with officials with 53.7 seconds remaining in the second period after the Lightning received an extra minor penalty stemming from a scrum.
Sidney Crosby, Danton Heinen, Brock McGinn and Jake Guentzel had the other Pittsburgh goals as the Penguins improved to 19-6-3 on the road, including wins in eight of their last nine.
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 35 shots and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored for the Lightning, who had a five-game winning streak snapped. Steve Stamkos saw his five-game goal streak come to an end.
CANUCKS 4, ISLANDERS 3
NEW YORK — Nils Hoglander and rookie Vasily Podkolzin scored 45 seconds apart midway through the third period and Thatcher Demko made 24 saves as Vancouver edged New York.
Anthony Beauvillier had put the Islanders ahead 3-2 early in the third, flipping the puck past Demko at 1:49 for his ninth goal after the teams each scored twice in the second period. But the Canucks struck twice against the struggling Semyon Varlamov for their second win in New York-area games this week. Vancouver defeated the Rangers 5-2 on Sunday before losing 7-2 at Newark to the New Jersey Devils on Monday.
Vancouver has won seven of its last 10 games and is 19-8-4 since Bruce Boudreau replaced Travis Green as coach in early December.
Brad Hunt and J.T. Miller scored second-period goals for Vancouver, while Noah Dobson and Kyle Palmieri scored for the Islanders.
BLACKHAWKS 4, OILERS 3, OT
CHICAGO — Alex DeBrincat scored 2:23 into overtime, and Chicago beat Duncan Keith and Edmonton.
Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist for Chicago, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves. Dominik Kubalik and Sam Lafferty also scored.
With Edmonton star Leon Draisaitl in the penalty box for tripping Caleb Jones in overtime, Kane set up DeBrincat for the winning one-timer. It was DeBrincat’s 30th goal of the season.
Evander Kane scored twice for Edmonton, which closed out a 2-2-1 road trip. Draisaitl had a goal and an assist, and Koskinen made 28 stops.
It was Keith’s first game back in Chicago since he was traded to Edmonton in July. The 38-year-old defenseman won three Stanley Cup titles during 16 seasons with the Blackhawks.
BRUINS 5, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 2
LAS VEGAS — Craig Smith scored three goals to lead Boston past Vegas.
It was Smith’s third career hat trick and second with the Bruins. It’s the third consecutive season Smith has recorded a hat trick.
The Bruins improved to 4-1-0 on their six-game road trip, and 9-3-2 in their last 14 away from home. Overall, they’ve won six of their last seven games as they inch closer to third-place Toronto in the Atlantic Division.
David Pastrnak scored twice for Boston, and Jeremy Swayman stopped 34 shots. Pastrnak’s 23 goals since Jan. 1 lead the NHL.
Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault scored for Vegas, and Robin Lehner made 31 saves.
COYOTES 2, AVALANCHE 1
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Nick Schmaltz scored early in the third period, Karel Vejmelka stopped 42 shots and struggling Arizona beat NHL-leading Colorado.
Loui Eriksson also had a goal for the Coyotes, who entered the day trailing Montreal by a point for the fewest points in the league. The Coyotes now have 34, and they handed the Avalanche their first loss after scoring first this season. They had been 30-0-3.
Devon Toews scored the lone goal for Colorado, which still has the most points in the NHL with 84.
CANADIENS 5, FLAMES 4, OT
CALGARY, Alberta — Ben Chiarot scored his second goal of the game 1:03 into overtime to give Montreal a victory over Calgary.
Jeff Petry, Nick Suzuki and Mike Hoffman also scored for Montreal and Andrew Hammond made 30 saves.
Last in the Eastern Conference, the Canadiens improved to 6-4 since Martin St. Louis replaced Dominique Ducharme as coach Feb. 9.
Pacific Division-leading Calgary missed a chance to set a franchise record of 12 consecutive home victories. Blake Coleman, Johnny Gaudreau, Andrew Mangiapane and Elias Lindholm scored for the Flames. Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves.
