Alex Ovechkin scored twice to take the NHL lead in goals, Braden Holtby recovered from a mini-slump to get his fifth shutout of the season and Sidney Crosby had one of his worst faceoff nights as the Washington Capitals broke a four-game losing streak with a 4-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.
Ovechkin had a tip-in goal in the first period and then scored during a power play in the second. His 29 goals are one more than Rick Nash and Tyler Seguin. Eric Fehr and Mike Green scored in the third.
Holtby, who had allowed four goals in each of his last three starts, stopped 27 shots to blank the Penguins for the second time in a little over a month. Pittsburgh have not scored on Washington in 120 minutes this season.
Photo: USA Today
Crosby received an injection last week to treat a lower-body injury that caused him to miss one game, as well as the NHL All-Star game, and he was not the usual Sid.
He lost 15 of his first 18 faceoffs and lost 17 of 24 for the game. The Penguins also played their third straight without Evgeni Malkin, who also has a lower-body injury. Pittsburgh have lost five of six.
DEVILS 2, MAPLE LEAFS 1, SO
In Newark, New Jersey, Jacob Josefson and Patrik Elias scored in the shootout as New Jersey rallied late to extend Toronto’s losing streak to a season-high seven games.
Cory Schneider made 29 saves through overtime and handled both Toronto shootout attempts as the Devils won for the fifth time in eight games (5-2-1).
Defenseman Adam Larsson scored the tying goal with 2 minutes, 50 seconds left in regulation.
James van Riemsdyk scored on a breakaway in the third period, and Jonathan Bernier made 22 saves in Toronto’s loss.
Bernier made a pad save on Scott Gomez on the Devils’ first shootout attempt, but Josefson and Elias beat him with backhanders on the next two tries.
Mike Santorelli missed the net on Toronto’s first attempt, while Schneider stopped Tyler Bozak on the second.
KINGS 4, BLACKHAWKS 3
In Los Angeles, Jake Muzzin scored the tiebreaking goal with 3:37 to play, while Jeff Carter had two goals and an assist as Los Angeles roared back in the final minutes to snap their four-game losing streak with a victory over Chicago.
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