Rookie Tom Kuhnhackl had a goal and two assists on his way to a career-best three points as the Pittsburgh Penguins denied the Washington Capitals a chance to lock up the Metropolitan Division with a dominant 6-2 win on Sunday night.
Matt Cullen, Trevor Daley, Justin Schultz, Chris Kunitz and Bryan Rust also scored for Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby picked up two assists to push his scoring streak to 12 games as the Penguins won their sixth straight. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 16 shots to move past the New York Rangers and into second place behind Washington in the Metropolitan.
The Capitals could have clinched the franchise’s ninth division title with a win, but instead gave up a season-high six goals. Braden Holtby finished with 21 saves before being pulled in the third. Jason Chimera and Andre Burakovsky scored for Washington.
Photo: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY
DUCKS 3, JETS 2, OT
In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Jakob Silfverberg scored at 4 minutes, 1 second of overtime to lift Anaheim past Winnipeg.
Silfverberg’s 13th goal of the season came as he was left all alone in front of Jets goalie Michael Hutchinson, who made a glove save on the first attempt, but could not corral the rebound, allowing Silfverberg to score.
Jamie McGinn and Ryan Kesler scored for the Ducks in regulation, and John Gibson made 27 saves for his 17th win.
Anaheim got their 40th win of the season and moved four points behind Los Angeles Kings for first place in the Pacific Division.
Paul Postma and Blake Wheeler scored for the Jets, who lost their third straight. Hutchinson finished with 30 saves.
DEVILS 2, BLUE JACKETS 1
In Newark, New Jersey, Devante Smith-Pelly scored the tiebreaking goal 8 minutes, 38 seconds into the third period and Scott Wedgewood made 27 saves in his NHL debut to lead New Jersey to the win.
Reid Boucher also scored as the Devils ended a six-game losing streak against the Blue Jackets (1-5-1), less than 24 hours after dropping a 6-3 decision in Columbus, Ohio.
Jared Boll scored for the Blue Jackets, while Joonas Korpisalo made 20 saves.
Smith-Pelly did most of the work on his seventh goal in nine games in New Jersey. His forecheck on Nick Foligno forced the Columbus forward to send the puck around the boards. Devils defenseman Adam Larsson stopped it at the point and sent it to Smith-Pelly on the edge of the crease.
Korpisalo stopped his backhander, but the Devils’ forward nudged the rebound into the net.
FLAMES 4, CANADIENS 1
In Montreal, Sean Monahan had two goals and an assist to help Calgary beat Montreal.
Joe Colborne and Johnny Gaudreau also scored for the Flames, who have points in four straight games. Niklas Backstrom, playing for the first time in more than a year, finished with 21 saves.
Michael McCarron scored his first NHL goal for Montreal, who have lost four of their past five. Michael Condon stopped 30 shots.
Backstrom, acquired from Minnesota on Feb. 29, appeared in his first NHL game since Jan. 13 last year.
One of Montreal’s best chances came when Flames defenseman Mark Giordano accidentally backhanded a shot at his own net in the first period.
In other results, it was:
‧ Wild 3, Blackhawks 2, SO
‧ Avalanche 3, Oilers 2
‧ Sharks 3, Coyotes 0
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