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NHL roundup: Alex Ovechkin ties Richard, Capitals beat Canadiens 4-1

Washington Capitals right wing Justin Williams, center, is taken out from in front of Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, left, by Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin during the second period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Jan. 9, 2016, in Montreal. (Paul Chiasson / Associated Press)
Associated Press

MONTREAL – Alex Ovechkin tied Canadiens great Maurice “Rocket” Richard with his 544th career goal and had two assists, leading the Washington Capitals to a 4-1 victory over Montreal on Monday night for their sixth straight win.

Ovechkin, who has won the Maurice Richard Trophy as the league’s goal-scoring leader six times, tied Richard for 29th place on the NHL’s all-time scoring list. His three points moved him with one of 1,000.

Evgeny Kuznetsov, Brett Connolly and Nicklas Backstrom also scored for Washington, and Braden Holtby finished with 22 saves. Holtby’s career-best shutout streak ended at 169 minutes 12 seconds when Tomas Plekanec scored at 7:18 of the third period.

Capitals coach Barry Trotz worked his 1,400th regular season game, tying Pat Quinn for eighth place all time and picked up his 684th win, tying Quinn for sixth. Trotz is now one behind Ron Wilson for seventh place with 1,401 games coached.

Florida 3, New Jersey 0: Roberto Luongo made 28 saves for his 73rd career shutout, leading the Panthers past the Devils in Newark, New Jersey.

Luongo, tops among active goalies in shutouts, got his first of the season to move three behind Ed Belfour and Tony Esposito for ninth all-time. Retired Devils great Martin Brodeur holds the NHL record with 125.

Reilly Smith, Jussi Jokinen and Vincent Trocheck scored for Florida, which won for the third time in five games.

New Jersey was shut out for the third time this season, and for the first time at home since a 1-0 loss to Washington last March 25th. Cory Schneider finished with 26 saves for the Devils, who lost their third straight.

Winnipeg 2, Calgary 0: Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Jets beat the Flames in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to win for the third time in four games.

Dustin Byfuglien and Blake Wheeler scored for the Jets. Hellebuyck now has five shutouts in his two-year NHL career.

Chad Johnson stopped aside 25 shots for the Flames, who had won five of their previious seven.

The Jets were playing for the first game since rookie star Patrik Laine was lost indefinitely due to a concussion suffered in Saturday’s 4-3 loss to Buffalo. Drew Stafford took Laine’s spot on the top line with center Mark Scheifele and right wing Nikolaj Ehlers, a trio that spent some time together last season.

Dallas 6, Los Angeles 4: Jiri Hudler scored the tiebreaking goal with 12:16 to play, and the Stars blew a late two-goal lead before hanging on for a wild win over the Kings ion Los Angeles.

Hudler, Tyler Seguin and Devin Shore had a goal and an assist apiece for the Stars, who snapped a three-game skid despite giving up four goals to the Kings in just over 10 minutes spanning the final two periods.

Drew Doughty scored the tying goal on the power play early in the third period, chasing Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen. But Hudler capitalized on a turnover behind the Kings’ net and scored the first goal of his first season the Stars moments later.

Goalie Peter Budaj also was pulled by the Kings in the third period.