Braden Holtby stopped 29 shots and Jason Chimera had a goal and an assist as the Washington Capitals beat the struggling Montreal Canadiens 3-1 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory.
Off to the best start in franchise history, Washington lead the Eastern Conference with a 26-6-2 record and have won eight in a row at home. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Jay Beagle also scored for the Capitals.
Holtby allowed only a second-period goal to Daniel Carr in earning his NHL-leading 22nd victory. He is 8-0-2 lifetime against Montreal with a goals-against average of less than 2.0.
Photo: AP
Montreal have been outscored 22-6 while losing their past six games and have dropped 10 of 11 since Dec. 1.
BLUES 3, STARS 2, SO
In St Louis, Missouri, David Backes scored in the ninth round of a long shoot-out to lift St Louis over Dallas.
Photo: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY
Alexander Steen and Robby Fabbri scored in regulation and Jake Allen made 22 saves for the Blues, who earned their second win over the Stars this season.
Tyler Seguin and Colton Sceviour scored in regulation and Antti Niemi stopped 35 shots for the Central Division-leading Stars, who had won three straight overall.
The teams were scheduled to meet again in Dallas yesterday.
SABRES 6, BRUINS 3
In Boston, Jack Eichel scored twice in his return to Boston and Jamie McGinn had the go-ahead goal with 5 minutes, 36 seconds left as Buffalo rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period.
Ryan O’Reilly also scored twice for the Sabres, who broke loose for five goals in the third to win for the fourth time in six games. Chad Johnson stopped 30 shots, and Evander Kane had the other Buffalo goal.
Matt Beleskey, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci scored for Boston, who lost their second straight in regulation after going 11-1-3 in their previous 15 games. Backup goalie Jonas Gustavsson made 23 saves.
Eichel, the No. 2 pick in the NHL draft last summer, also had two assists. He grew up about 56km north of Boston and starred for one season at Boston University. Eichel last played in TD Garden when Boston University lost the NCAA championship game to Providence last season.
LIGHTNING 5, BLUE JACKETS 2
In Tampa, Florida, Steven Stamkos had two power-play goals and an assist during the second period as Tampa Bay beat Columbus.
Mike Blunden, Nikita Nesterov and Jason Garrison also scored for the Lightning, and Jonathan Marchessault extended his point streak to six games with two assists. Tampa Bay are 2-1 halfway through a six-game homestand.
Tampa Bay were three for eight on the power play after going one for 10 in a 2-1 loss on Tuesday last week to Vancouver.
Columbus got goals from Rene Bourque and Scott Hartnell.
Ben Bishop made 30 saves for Tampa Bay. Stamkos had a pair of five-on-three goals to help the Lightning take a 3-2 lead.
KINGS 4, COYOTES 3, OT
In Glendale, Arizona, Anze Kopitar scored 36 seconds into overtime to give Los Angeles a victory over Arizona.
Kopitar saved the Kings on a night when they rallied from a one-goal deficit only to squander a two-goal lead. Drew Doughty, Tanner Pearson and Dustin Brown also scored for Los Angeles, who won for the second time in six games.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored twice and Antoine Vermette added a goal for the Coyotes. Arizona lost for just the second time in their past 10 home games.
Jonathan Quick made 23 saves for the Kings.
RED WINGS 3, PREDATORS 2
In Nashville, Tennessee, Brendan Smith had a goal and an assist to lead Detroit past Nashville.
Riley Sheahan and Luke Glendening also scored for the Red Wings, who moved into a tie with Montreal atop the Atlantic Division. Petr Mrazek made 24 saves in the victory.
Filip Forsberg scored twice and Mike Ribeiro had a pair of assists for the Predators.
PENGUINS 3, WILD 1
In St Paul, Minnesota, Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist in his return from a one-game injury absence as Pittsburgh defeated Minnesota.
Eric Fehr and Patric Hornqvist also scored for the Penguins, who won consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 17-19. Pittsburgh beat Columbus 5-2 on Monday last week without Crosby.
Matt Murray made 25 saves and Pittsburgh won for just the third time in 10 games. Kris Letang had a pair of assists after missing the past six games with an upper-body injury.
Minnesota have lost six of their past seven against Pittsburgh. Jason Zucker had the Wild’s goal, and Devan Dubnyk made 29 saves.
In other results, it was:
‧ Hurricanes 3, Devils 1
‧ Canucks 2, Oilers 1, OT
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If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
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