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.
PHOTO: AFP
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
At Anaheim, California, Marcel Goc scored a power-play goal 51 seconds into overtime and Nolan Schaefer made 21 saves for his first NHL shutout, helping San Jose snap Anaheim's six-game, home-winning streak.
Anaheim defenseman Ruslan Salei received an elbowing penalty with 55 seconds left in regulation, allowing the Sharks to break through against Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Goc deflected in Kyle McLaren's one-timed shot to extend San Jose's winning streak to five games.
Giguere finished with a 31-save loss in the first NHL game this season that was scoreless through regulation.
Schaefer is the first Sharks goalie to start a season 5-0.
Detroit Red Wings goalie Manny Legace had a spectacular October. Then the months changed on Tuesday and his fortunes plummeted. Yet, he isn't bitter about it.
"Thanks to Mr. Matthew Barnaby, I will not be playing ... the weekend," the injured Legace said. "It's a day-to-day thing."
In the first month of the NHL season, Legace set an October record with 10 wins, posted a 1.81 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. He allowed two goals or fewer in eight of 11 appearances, including his final seven starts. He also had shutouts at Phoenix and Columbus.
When November arrived on Tuesday, Legace was injured against the Central Division rival Chicago Blackhawks.
The Red Wings beat the Blackhawks for the third straight time, but lost Legace to a sprained left knee when the hard-charging Barnaby fell on his left leg in the first period. Legace made eight saves before being replaced by Chris Osgood.
"The man doesn't back down from nobody," Legace said of Barnaby, who entered the weekend with just under 2,300 career penalty minutes. "Crashes to the net hard. That's the way he has to play. That's the way he's going to stay in the league. I don't blame him for nothing.
"He had a little collision with [defenseman Jiri] Fischer right in front of the net, fell on top of me. That's his game. He's not going to change, and why should he? That's what he has to do for the Chicago Blackhawks to win. There are no hard feelings toward him. It's just part of the game."
Osgood got the start on Thursday against Edmonton and made 21 saves, but the Red Wings lost 4-3 in overtime to have their nine-game winning streak snapped.
Detroit fell one point shy of setting an NHL record for most points in the first 14 games of a season. The Red Wings opened 12-1-1 for 25 points, and Legace wasn't bitter about his absence.
HABS AND HABS NOT
The Montreal Canadiens entered the weekend with a perfect mark on the road and a so-so record at home.
Longtime Habs defenseman Craig Rivet has a theory why.
"I think there is a lot less pressure," Rivet said after the Canadiens improved to 5-1-0 away from home with a 4-1 victory over the New York Rangers. "Montreal ... you can call it a pressure cooker. These people live, sleep and die hockey.
"When we go on the road, guys get together and we seem to bond. We have an amazing team this year, awesome chemistry, and that makes things easier. We don't try to do special things to impress our crowd, we do things to win hockey games. Unfortunately, we should have that mind-set in Montreal."
The Canadiens rebounded on Monday to knock off the Rangers, who had their way in Montreal two nights earlier in a 5-2 win. New York jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, only to allow Montreal to get within a goal in the third period.
But the Rangers scored two of their own in the final period to pull away, much to the dismay of the tough critics in the stands as Montreal fell to 3-3 at home.
"In Montreal, the fans know the game so much," coach Claude Julien said. "It's easy to criticize, it's easy to get praised. They get really emotional.
"There's no doubt some players probably feel it a little more than others, but overall we're happy with our fans and we like them the way they are."
Rivet, an Ontario native, has been with the Canadiens since the 1994-1995 season. He has seen the ups and downs and feels a kinship with Yankees players and the scrutiny they fall under in New York.
STAYING AWAY
Sidney Crosby has never been to New York City, and the 18-year-old phenom can wait to get there.
In his first 13 NHL games, Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins made three visits to the New York metropolitan area (two trips to New Jersey and one to Long Island) but this year's No. 1 draft pick stayed out of Manhattan.
The Penguins will play the Rangers on the road four times this season, including this Monday, and back-to-back contests on Jan. 28 and Feb. 1.
"Madison Square Garden, I know the history of that building. But every place is fun to go to right now," Crosby said.
"It's all new and it's all a new experience. I really look forward to going to new places and seeing new cities."
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