NHL Capsules: Flyers overcome Patrick Laine’s 40th, beat Jets 2-1

PHILADELPHIA – Claude Giroux and Andrew MacDonald scored in the second period and the Philadelphia Flyers overcame Patrik Laine’s 40th goal of the season in a 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday that snapped a five-game losing streak.

Laine moved into a tie with Washington’s Alex Ovechkin for the most goals in the league when he scored on a one-timer on the power play at 8:58 of the third period. The 19-year-old Finn has 15 goals and six assists during an 11-game point streak.

Petr Mrazek stopped 27 shots for the Flyers, bouncing back from a stretch of 18 goals allowed in four games.

Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves for the Jets, who saw their four-game winning streak end.

Bruins 7, Blackhawks 4

BOSTON – Brian Gionta and Rick Nash each scored a power-play goal and Boston completed a 6-0-0 homestand.

Gionta and Nash got their goals during a double-minor penalty on Chicago’s Patrick Kane.

Jake DeBrusk set up two power-play goals by David Krejci. David Pastrnak scored, Noel Acciari had a short-handed tally and Sean Kuraly added an empty-netter for Boston. Tuukka Rask made 23 saves on his 31st birthday.

Erik Gustafsson had a goal and two assists, and Jonathan Toews, John Hayden and Matthew Highmore scored for Chicago, which lost for the fifth time in seven games. Highmore’s was his first in the NHL.

The Bruins had four power-play goals.

Lightning 3, Canadiens 2 (SO)

TAMPA, Fla. – Nikita Kucherov scored the deciding goal in the fourth round of the shootout, lifting Tampa Bay past Montreal.

Tyler Johnson scored his 20th of the season. Kucherov tied it late in the third with his 34th . Louis Domingue made 27 saves and stopped three of four attempts in the shootout.

Brayden Point also scored in the shootout for Tampa Bay, his 10th conversion in 15 career shootout attempts.

Artturi Lehkonen and Alex Galchenyuk scored for Montreal. Charles Hudon set a career high with two assists. Antti Niemi finished with 32 saves, including all three in overtime.

Golden Knights 2, Sabres 1 (SO)

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Erik Haula scored the decisive shootout goal and Vegas set an NHL record for road victories by an expansion team.

Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland forced overtime by scoring the tying goal from a bad angle with 4:14 left in regulation. Marc-Andre Fleury won his 399th career game by stopping 31 shots through overtime.

After both teams traded shootout goals, Haula scored in the fifth round by driving up the right side and beating goalie Robin Lehner on the short side.

Justin Bailey scored for Buffalo. Lehner finished with 31 saves in the loss.

The Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights improved their road record to 20-12-3, to beat the league record of 19 set by Anaheim in 1993-94, its inaugural season. The Golden Knights, 44-19-5, have already set NHL expansion-team records for most overall wins, home wins, points and longest winning streak – an 8-0 run from Dec. 14 to Jan. 2.

Avalanche 5, Coyotes 2

DENVER – Blake Comeau and Carl Soderberg each had a goal and an assist in a first-period burst, and Colorado goalie Jonathan Bernier won his ninth straight home game but left in the third period for an undisclosed reason.

Tyson Barrie also scored early as Colorado had three goals in the opening 4:22 to take a 3-1 advantage. The Avalanche rode the torrid start to another win at the Pepsi Center, where they’ve gone 14-1-1 since Dec. 29.

Tyson Jost and Mikko Rantanen scored in the third to seal the win and help Colorado snap a streak of three straight overtime losses. The team remains in the thick of the playoff chase a season after finishing last in the league.

Christian Dvorak and Richard Panik added goals for Arizona, a surging team that’s gone 9-3-2 in over its last 14 games.

Capitals 2, Sharks 0

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves for his fifth career shutout and Nicklas Backstrom scored late in the second period to help Washington salvage the final game of its California swing.

Washington was outscored 7-1 in losses to Anaheim and Los Angeles to open the trip before a narrow win in San Jose moved the Capitals one point ahead of Pittsburgh for first place in the Metropolitan Division, pending the Penguins’ game in Toronto.

Alex Ovechkin, two goals short of 600 for Washington, was held scoreless for the third straight game. Marc-Edouard Vlasic thwarted one chance for Ovechkin to get goal No. 599 with a strong back check and goalie Martin Jones robbed Ovechkin on a partial breakaway midway through the third period to keep San Jose’s deficit at 1-0.

Lars Eller’s empty-net goal sealed the win for the Capitals.

Blues 7, Kings 2

LOS ANGELES – The struggling St. Louis Blues got goals from seven players and handed Los Angeles its worst defeat of the season.

Robert Bortuzzo, Colton Parayko, Alex Pietrangelo, Ivan Barbashev, Vladimir Tarasenko, Kyle Brodziak and Jaden Schwartz scored for the Blues, who had lost nine of 10. Jake Allen made 40 saves.

The loss left Los Angeles one point back of Colorado for the second Western Conference wild card, and two points ahead of St. Louis. The Kings had not lost by more than four goals all season.

Drew Doughty and Dustin Brown scored for the Kings. Jonathan Quick made 29 saves before he was pulled after the second period. Jack Campbell stopped 14 of 17 shots in the third.

The Blues, shut out in their previous game against San Jose, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period.

Panthers 4, Rangers 3 (SO)

SUNRISE, Fla. – Vincent Trocheck scored the deciding goal in the shootout to lift Florida to a victory over New York for their franchise-record eighth straight home win.

Aleksander Barkov also scored in the tiebreaker for the Panthers, who have points in nine straight games. The Panthers pulled one point behind New Jersey for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, with three games in hand.

Frank Vatrano scored a goal in his Panthers debut, Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and an assist, and Jamie McGinn also scored. Trocheck had two assists. Roberto Luongo made 34 saves.

Maple Leafs 5, Penguins 2

TORONTO – Nazem Kadri scored twice and Toronto beat Pittsburgh to snap a four-game losing streak.

Kasperi Kapanen, Mitch Marner and Patrick Marleau also scored to help the Maple Leafs get their franchise-record 10th straight home win. Frederik Andersen, appearing in his 57th game this season, stopped 38 shots.

Sidney Crosby and Patrick Hornqvist scored for the Penguins, who had won three straight and nine of their last 12.

Devils 3, Predatos 2 (SO)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Brian Boyle scored in the fifth round of the shootout to lift New Jersey to a victory over Nashville.

Boyle beat Nashville goalie Juuse Saros with a quick wrist shot from the slot on the blocker side.

New Jersey’s Taylor Hall and Nashville’s Kyle Turris each scored in the fourth round of the tiebreaker after none of the first six shooters could solve the opposing goalie.

Oilers 4, Wild 1

EDMONTON, Alberta – Connor McDavid had two goals and an assist to lead Edmonton to a victory over Minnesota.

Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored for the Oilers, who have won three straight. Cam Talbot stopped 32 shots.

Charlie Coyle scored and Devan Dubnyk had 24 saves for the Wild, who snapped a three-game winning streak.