Brian Pothier's slap shot with 15:30 remaining proved to be the winning goal in the Washington Capitals' 5-3 victory over Tampa Bay on Friday night.
Alex Ovechkin scored his 52nd and 53rd goals and added two assists for the Capitals, who blew a 3-1 first-period lead before holding on to beat the Lightning for the 10th straight time. Nicklas Backstrom scored his 20th and 21st goals. Ovechkin reached 100 points for the season with his second goal, an empty-netter with 7 seconds to play.
Pothier's career was in jeopardy after he was checked into the board by Boston’s Milan Lucic on Jan. 3 last year. The 31-year-old defenseman had headaches and dizziness for nearly a year and he wasn’t able to skate until a specialist fitted him with glasses that fixed his vision problems. He made his NHL return March 16.
PHOTO: AP
Martin St Louis, Steven Stamkos and Vaclav Prospal scored for the Lightning.
SABRES 5, MAPLE LEAFS 3
At Buffalo, New York, Paul Gaustad scored midway through the third period to help Buffalo down Toronto.
Ryan Miller stopped 33 shots — including the first 16 he faced — in his return after missing 13 games because of a sprained ankle.
Tim Connolly scored twice, Jochen Hecht had a goal and Daniel Paille also scored for Buffalo, 10th in the Eastern Conference.
BLACKHAWKS 3, DEVILS 2, OT
At Chicago, Brent Seabrook beat Martin Brodeur from the blue line at 3:36 of overtime to give Chicago its third straight victory.
Seabrook also had an assist while Martin Havlat had a goal and set up both Kris Versteeg’s power-play score in regulation and Seabrook’s winner.
Zach Parise scored his 42nd goal of the season and Paul Martin also scored for the Devils, 0-2-1 in their last three.
Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 28 shots to help Chicago end a 12-game winless streak against New Jersey. Brodeur had 39 saves.
OILERS 5, DUCKS 3
At Anaheim, California, Dustin Penner scored twice against his former teammates and Dwayne Roloson saved 51 as Edmonton passed Anaheim in the playoff race.
Ending a three-game losing skid and snapping the Ducks’ winning streak at five, Edmonton moved into seventh with 81 points in the race for the eight Western Conference playoff spots. Fernando Pisani, Kyle Brodziak and Ales Kotalik also scored for Edmonton.
ISLANDERS 2, RED WINGS 0
At Detroit, Michigan, Joey MacDonald made 42 saves for his first NHL shutout Frans Nielsen and Josh Bailey scored goals as New York blanked Detroit.
New York, which broke a three-game losing streak, has the worst record in the NHL.
CANUCKS 4, AVALANCHE 1
At Denver, Colorado, Jason LaBarbera made 22 saves and twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin scored goals to help Vancouver hand Colorado its sixth consecutive loss.
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