Alex Ovechkin scored the winning goal in his return from a one-game suspension for skipping the All-Star Game, as the Washington Capitals avoided a third straight loss by beating the New York Islanders 3-2 on Thursday night.
Ovechkin scored off a pass from Nicklas Backstrom with 2 minutes and 40 seconds left to help Washington end a rare two-game skid. The Capitals have not lost three games in a row all season.
T.J. Oshie and Andre Burakovsky also scored for the Capitals. Braden Holtby stopped 24 shots for the victory.
Photo: AP
Jaroslav Halak made 20 saves for the Islanders. Mikhail Grabovski and Josh Bailey had New York’s goals in a rematch of a first-round playoff series from last spring.
PANTHERS 6, RED WINGS 3
In Sunrise, Florida, Vincent Trocheck scored twice and added an assist, and Jaromir Jagr had a goal and two assists in the Panthers’ victory over Detroit.
Photo: AFP
Roberto Luongo stopped 36 shots for his ninth consecutive win on home ice for Florida, who have won five straight. Brandon Pirri had a goal and an assist for the Panthers, who have scored at least five goals in a franchise-record four consecutive games.
Aleksander Barkov and Derek MacKenzie also scored for the Panthers.
Rookie center Dylan Larkin had his first two-goal game for Detroit, both coming within a span of 67 seconds bridging the first and second periods. Mike Green added a power-play tally with 7:24 left.
Jagr’s first assist of the night was his 1,100th in regular-season play, a milestone reached by only five other players — Wayne Gretzky, Ron Francis, Mark Messier, Ray Bourque and Paul Coffey.
BLACKHAWKS 5, COYOTES 4, OT
In Glendale, Arizona, Jonathan Toews scored his second goal of the night in overtime in his return from a one-game suspension, lifting Chicago over the Coyotes.
The teams traded scoring chances in the three-on-three overtime, leaving players on both sides exhausted. Toews skated in with a burst of energy, beating Louis Domingue with a wrister with 29 seconds left in the extra period.
Toews, suspended for missing the All-Star Game, also scored in the second period. Patrick Kane scored his NHL-leading 31st goal in the second and Marian Hossa had a goal and an assist.
Michal Rozsival scored his first of the season for the Blackhawks.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson had a goal and two assists for the Coyotes. Mikkel Boedker and Jordan Martinook scored two quick goals in the second period, and Shane Doan scored in the third.
DUCKS 4, KINGS 2
In Los Angeles, California, David Perron had a goal and two assists, and Ryan Getzlaf added a goal and his 500th career assist to help streaking Anaheim defeat the Kings.
Ryan Garbutt scored his second goal in two games and Hampus Lindholm added a power-play goal in Anaheim’s fifth straight victory and 12th in 16 games since Christmas.
The Ducks chased Jonathan Quick while routing the Pacific Division-leading Kings, who have lost four of six in regulation for the first time this season.
John Gibson made 23 saves to win a duel of All-Star goalies. Quick yielded three goals on nine shots before getting replaced early in the second period by Jhonas Enroth.
Tyler Toffoli matched his career high by scoring his 23rd goal during a power play for the Kings, who have lost three straight home games for the first time since the first three games of the season. Alec Martinez scored in the final seconds.
SHARKS 3, BLUES 1
In St Louis, Missouri, Joonas Donskoi and Joe Thornton scored in the second period, Martin Jones made 26 saves as San Jose beat the Blues.
Matt Nieto added an unassisted goal late in the third to give San Jose insurance. The Sharks, who are 8-1-2 in their last 11 games, improved to 17-7-2 away from home and tied Washington for the most road wins in the NHL.
Jay Bouwmeester scored late in the second period for St Louis.
Donskoi’s goal snapped a shutout streak of 96 minutes, 59 seconds, for Blues goalie Brian Elliott.
BRUINS 3, SABRES 2, SO
In Buffalo, New York, Ryan Spooner scored in regulation and the shootout to lead Boston over the Sabres.
Brad Marchand helped the Bruins erase a two-goal deficit, and Tuukka Rask made 26 saves in the win.
Evander Kane and Sam Reinhart scored for the Sabres.
Spooner had the lone goal in the shoot-out. Rask denied Brian Gionta, Kane and Ryan O’Reilly.
RANGERS 4, WILD 2
In New York City, Derick Brassard set up the tying goal and scored the game-winner early in the third period as the Rangers rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat struggling Minnesota.
Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh and streaking J.T. Miller each had a goal and an assist as New York stretched their winning streak at Madison Square Garden to four games. Henrik Lundqvist made 16 saves, including two third-period stops on Marco Scandella after the Rangers took the lead. Chris Kreider added an empty-net goal with 1:48 to play.
Ryan Carter and Matt Dumba scored for the Wild, who lost their second straight after the All-Star break and fell to 1-8-1 in their last 10. All-Star goalie Devan Dubnyk made 26 saves.
STARS 4, AVALANCHE 3, OT
In Denver, Colorado, John Klingberg scored 35 seconds into overtime and Antti Niemi stopped a pivotal penalty shot in the third period as Dallas snapped an eight-game skid against the Avalanche.
Klingberg beat Calvin Pickard with a slap shot on a breakaway just moments into overtime.
The winner came after Jason Demers scored a power-play goal to tie it with 8:40 remaining in regulation. Before that, Niemi turned aside Nathan MacKinnon’s penalty shot.
Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky each had a goal for the Stars, who won in Denver for the first time since Feb. 4, 2013.
Nick Holden, Blake Comeau and Carl Soderberg scored for the Avalanche.
BLUE JACKETS 2, CANUCKS 1 SO
In Vancouver, British Columbia, Alex Wennberg scored the only goal in a shoot-out to lift Columbus over the Canucks.
Scott Hartnell had a power-play goal in the third period for the Blue Jackets (20-28-5), who are last in the NHL and were coming off a 5-1 loss in Edmonton on Tuesday.
Joonas Korpisalo stopped 37 shots for Columbus.
Linden Vey scored in the first period for Vancouver (20-19-12), which have lost three straight. Ryan Miller made 27 saves.
In other NHL action, it was:
‧ Oilers 7, Senators 2
‧ Flyers 6, Predators 3
‧ Maple Leafs 3, Devils 2, SO
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