Alex Ovechkin scored the only shootout goal to lift the Washington Capitals over the Atlanta Thrashers 3-2 in the NHL on Friday.
Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk shot wide left, Marian Hossa fired wide right, and Capitals goalie Olaf Kolzig gobbled up Peter Bondra's attempt that would have prolonged the Thrashers' first shootout.
Ovechkin, Washington's first shooter, deked goalie Mike Dunham off his skates and then pushed the puck under his right leg.
Bryan Muir and Jakub Klepis on debut scored in regulation for Washington, which had lost six of eight.
Muir's goal broke a 47-game goal drought, dating to March 2002.
Bondra and Bobby Holik had goals for Atlanta.
Oilers 7, Blues 2
At St. Louis, Missouri, Jarrett Stoll had his first career two-goal game and added two assists to help Edmonton win its fifth straight and hand St. Louis its seventh consecutive loss.
Ryan Smyth also had two goals, including one on a penalty shot in the second period.
Edmonton has outscored opponents 25-9 during their streak that is the Oilers' longest since a five-game run from March 14-22, 2002. Alexei Semenov, Fernando Pisani and Jani Rita also scored.
Bryce Salvador scored at 13:32 of the first period to cut the Blues' deficit to 2-1. Lee Stempniak scored his first career NHL goal with 1:04 remaining.
Canadiens 3, Sabres 2
At Buffalo, New York, Niklas Sundstrom scored with just under three minutes remaining to lift Montreal over Buffalo.
Alexander Perezhogin and Michael Ryder also scored for the Canadiens, who won their third straight. The Canadiens improved to an NHL-best 6-0-1 on the road, and won for the first time in eight games in Buffalo.
Montreal has won eight of 10 one-goal games this season.
Rory Fitzpatrick and Adam Mair scored for Buffalo, which lost for the fourth time in five games.
Yann Danis made 24 saves for his second win of the season.
Stars 9, Blackhawks 1
At Dallas, Stu Barnes capped a hat trick with a short-handed goal and Jason Arnott scored twice and had an assist, as Dallas matched the most goals they've scored since moving to Texas.
Dallas, which hadn't scored more than three times in a period this season, had four goals in each of the first two periods. The game was so lopsided that when the Stars scored their sixth goal, the Blackhawks had taken six shots -- none of them going in.
Niko Kapanen scored with 2:52 left, giving the Stars their most goals since Feb. 1, 1995.
Bill Guerin, Jere Lehtinen and Brenden Morrow also scored for Dallas. Kapanen had three assists, while Guerin, Sergei Zubov, Philippe Boucher and Antti Miettinen each had two assists.
Canucks 5, Blue Jackets 3
At Vancouver, British Columbia, Anson Carter had a goal and two assists, lifting Vancouver over Columbus.
Henrik Sedin scored on a three-way passing play started by Carter to put Vancouver ahead 3-2 with 1:33 left in the second period. He also had an assist.
Defensemen Sami Salo and Mattias Ohlund both had power-play goals, and Markus Naslund scored into an empty net, as the Canucks remained perfect in seven home games this season.
One night after being a healthy scratch, Nikolai Zherdev had two goals and an assist for Columbus. David Vyborny also scored and Denis made 21 saves for the Blue Jackets, who were swept on their four-game road trip and have lost eight of nine away from home.
Sharks 1, Mighty Ducks 0, OT
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