Alex Ovechkin pulled one goal closer to claiming the NHL all-time record and the visiting Washington Capitals used a three-goal first period to claim a 5-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
With a third-period tally that rounded out the scoring, Ovechkin deflected a point shot to net his 887th career goal. He needs seven goals to tie and eight to break the mark set by Wayne Gretzky. Ovechkin added an assist.
Dylan Strome, Aliaksei Protas, Taylor Raddysh and Trevor van Riemsdyk also scored for the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals, while Tom Wilson, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Lars Eller all collected two assists.
Macklin Celebrini scored for the Sharks, who sit at the bottom of the league standings and have just one win in five games. San Jose starting goalie Alexandar Georgiev was replaced after surrendering three goals on 17 shots in the first period. Georgi Romanov stopped nine of 11 shots in relief.
Lightning 6, Bruins 2
Anthony Cirelli started a two-goal performance with the game-winner during a dominant second period, propelling visiting Tampa Bay past Boston.
After the teams traded first-period goals, the Lightning rattled off three straight goals to break a 1-1 tie and held a 21-0 shots on goal advantage during the middle frame. Darren Raddysh and Nick Paul each registered one goal and one assist, while Victor Hedman and Brandon Hagel also scored for Tampa Bay, which broke a three-game skid (0-2-1).
Elias Lindholm registered a goal and an assist, and Marat Khusnutdinov also scored in the Bruins’ second consecutive loss. Boston’s Jeremy Swayman stopped 34 shots.
Senators 4, Maple Leafs 2
Claude Giroux scored the go-ahead goal in the second period and Ottawa defeated host Toronto for its sixth straight victory.
Jake Sanderson, David Perron and Michael Amadio also scored for the Senators, who have won their past five games against the Maple Leafs — three this season. Linus Ullmark stopped 21 shots.
William Nylander and Auston Matthews scored for the Maple Leafs, who have lost five of six. Anthony Stolarz made 21 saves.
Hurricanes 5, Flyers 0
Mark Jankowski continued his hot start with his new team by scoring twice as Carolina extended its winning streak to seven games with a crisp road victory over Philadelphia.
Since a stretch of six losses in eight games, the Hurricanes have held seven straight opponents to two goals or fewer. Pyotr Kochetkov (26 saves) did the heavy lifting in this one. Taylor Hall and Sebastian Aho each chipped in a goal and an assist, while Eric Robinson and former Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere each registered a pair of assists.
Samuel Ersson made 25 saves for Philadelphia, which wrapped up its homestand with a disappointing 1-6-0 record.
Kings 1, Predators 0
Quinton Byfield scored for the sixth straight game at 3:20 of overtime to lift host Los Angeles past Nashville for its fifth consecutive victory.
Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves for his second consecutive shutout for the Kings. He has four shutouts overall this season and 35 for his 13-year NHL career. Kuemper had not allowed a goal in seven straight periods entering the overtime, and Los Angeles finished it off when Adrian Kempe made a short centering pass to Byfield and he shot the puck into the net.
Justus Annunen made 20 saves for the Predators, who were coming off a 2-1 loss at the Anaheim Ducks on Friday that snapped a four-game winning streak.
Canadiens 3, Panthers 1
Cole Caufield had a goal with an assist, and Christian Dvorak netted his 100th career goal, as host Montreal beat Florida.
Caufield scored late in the first period, after assisting on Patrik Laine’s power-play goal for the Canadiens, who are in the mix for a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Dvorak, meanwhile, added some third-period insurance with his milestone goal, and Sam Montembeault made 21 saves for the Canadiens, who are amid a 7-1-2 stretch and have won a season-high four straight at home.
Mackie Samoskevich continued his stellar first full NHL season with a second-period goal for the Panthers, who lead the Atlantic Division but have lost two of three after winning six in a row. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 12
Rangers 4, Blue Jackets 0
Vincent Trocheck scored two third-period goals and New York beat host Columbus in a battle of Eastern Conference wild-card contenders.
Alexis Lafreniere and Artemi Panarin each had a goal and an assist for the Rangers, who moved ahead of the Blue Jackets into sole possession of the second wild-card spot. Igor Shesterkin made 21 saves for his fifth shutout of the season and second straight against Columbus.
Daniil Tarasov made 17 saves for the Blue Jackets, who have lost three straight — the past two by shutout — since beating the Rangers 7-3 last Sunday.
Canucks 6, Blackhawks 2
Conor Garland, Elias Pettersson and Pius Suter each had a goal and an assist as host Vancouver continued its mastery over road-weary Chicago with a dominant win.
Quinn Hughes, Tyler Myers and Nils Aman also scored for Vancouver, which swept the three-game season series by winning their 10th straight contest over the Blackhawks. Arturs Silovs stopped 17 of 19 shots.
Alex Vlasic and Wyatt Kaiser scored goals and Ryan Donato had two assists for Chicago, which has lost 10 of the last 11 games away from home. Goaltender Arvid Soderblom struggled, allowing three goals on his first nine shots and finished with nine saves on 15 shots.
Blues 5, Wild 1
Jordan Kyrou scored a hat trick to lead St. Louis Blues to a win over Minnesota in Saint Paul, Minn.
Brayden Schenn added a goal and an assist and Jake Neighbours also scored for St. Louis, which snapped a two-game skid. Jake Middleton scored the lone goal for Minnesota, which dropped to 1-3-1 in its past five games.
Blues goaltender Joel Hofer turned aside 17 of 18 shots to improve to 12-7-3. Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson allowed four goals on 26 shots to fall to 25-15-4.
Sabres 4, Golden Knights 3 (SO)
Jack Quinn and Alex Tuch scored in the shootout to give host Buffalo a come-from-behind win over Vegas.
Rasmus Dahlin scored on a one-timer from just inside the blue line with 14 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime. Former Sabre Victor Olofsson scored Vegas’ lone shootout goal.
Ryan McLeod and Jason Zucker each scored in regulation for the Sabres, while Bowen Byram had two assists and Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 16 shots. Brett Howden, Pavel Dorofeyev and Jack Eichel supplied the goals in regulation for the Golden Knights, while Hill finished with 34 saves.
Penguins 7, Devils 3
Connor Dewar scored twice and Philip Tomasino added a goal and an assist, leading host Pittsburgh to a victory over New Jersey.
The Penguins extended their win streak to four as Danton Heinen, Rickard Rakell, Erik Karlsson and Kevin Hayes also scored. Tristan Jarry made 24 saves, moving to 4-0-0 since being recalled March 3.
Cody Glass, Timo Meier, and Nico Hischier responded for the Devils, which had their three-game win streak snapped. Jesper Bratt added three assists and Jacob Markstrom stopped 16 shots.
