NHL roundup: Alex Ovechkin gets 27th hat trick, rallies Capitals past Kings
WASHINGTON – Alex Ovechkin recorded his 27th career hat trick and raised his career goal total to 698 during a five-minute stretch of the third period, rallying the Washington Capitals to a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.
Ovechkin, who is closing in on becoming the eighth player in NHL history to reach the 700-goal plateau, moved into the NHL lead with 40 on the season. He singlehandedly overturned a 2-1 deficit inside the final 6:10 of regulation. He has 14 of those 40 goals in his last seven games.
Ovechkin one-timed a feed from T.J. Oshie to tie the game at 2-all . Seventy seconds later, he rebounded his own miss off goaltender Jonathan Quick’s pads and put Washington in front.
He added an empty-netter with 1:46 to play, moving within 10 goals of Mike Gartner for seventh on the NHL’s all-time goals list.
John Carlson added his 14th goal and 50th and 51st assists for Washington, which rebounded after opening a four-game homestand with a loss to Pittsburgh. Braden Holtby made 29 saves in the win.
Jeff Carter scored his 15th and 16th goals for the Kings.
Islanders 4, Stars 3, OT
NEW YORK – Anthony Beauvillier scored his second goal of the game 2:52 into overtime and the Islanders rallied to beat Dallas.
Mathew Barzal and Derick Brassard also scored for the Islanders, who are 2-0-2 in their last four games. Semyon Varlamov made 28 saves to earn his 16th career win against the Stars.
John Klingberg, Denis Gurianov and Jason Dickinson scored for the Stars. Ben Bishop made 37 saves.
Blue Jackets 1, Panthers 0
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Zach Werenski scored 1:54 into overtime and Columbus extended its points streak to nine games with a win over Florida.
Werenski picked up the puck off the right boards, circled around to the bottom of the circle and beat former teammate Sergei Bobrovski, who had made 45 saves to that point.
Both teams had some good looks, especially late in the game, but both goalies were outstanding.
Elvis Merzlikins had 32 saves in picking up his fourth shutout of the season. Columbus has won eight of nine and hasn’t lost in regulation since Jan. 9, a streak of 8-0-1.
Lightning 4, Golden Knights 2
TAMPA, Fla. – Steven Stamkos tipped in his 24th goal of the season in the third period and led Tampa Bay Lightning over Vegas.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves and extended his streak of consecutive games without a regulation loss to 16 games, matching the franchise record set by Nikolai Khabibulin in 2002-03.
Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli also scored, and Nikita Kucherov had two assists as Tampa Bay won its seventh consecutive home game. Alex Killorn added an empty net goal with 44.7 seconds remaining.
Paul Stastny and Willilam Carrier scored for Vegas, which lost for just the second time in regulation in six games under new head coach Peter DeBoer. Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 13 saves.
Avalanche 6, Sabres 1
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Andre Burakovsky had a goal and three assists for a career-best four points in Colorado’s rout of spiraling Buffalo.
Samuel Girard sparked the rout with the opening goal in a game the Avalanche scored six times on their first 14 shots.
Valeri Nichushkin had a goal and two assists, while Nikita Zadorov, Nazem Kadri and Mikko Rantanen also scored. Burakovsky’s goal was his 17th to match a career high, and he extended his point streak to five games.
Philipp Grubauer stopped 23 shots in helping Colorado improve to 4-1-2 in its past seven.
Buffalo’s Sam Reinhart deflected in Jake McCabe’s point shot in the final second of the first period.
Bruins 4, Canucks 0
BOSTON – Charlie Coyle had a goal and an assist, Tuukka Rask stopped 25 shots for his third shutout this season and Boston extended its winning streak to four games.
Brad Marchand, David Krejci and Karson Kuhlman also scored. Charlie McAvoy had two assists as Boston won for the fifth time in six games.
Jacob Markstrom made 38 saves for Vancouver.
The Canucks lost in regulation for the first time since Jan. 14, when they were shut out at Winnipeg 4-0. Vancouver had surged since then, winning five straight before a 4-3 shootout loss at Carolina on Sunday.
Canadiens 5, Devils 4, SO
NEWARK, N.J. – Ilya Kovalchuk scored the only shootout goal and Montreal rallied from a three-goal deficit to beat New Jersey.
Montreal’s Charlie Lindgren had 20 saves filling for an ill Carey Price, and easily handled muffed chances by Nikita Gusev, Kyle Palmieri and Jack Hughes in the shootout.
Joel Armia, Nate Thompson, Nick Cousins and Christian Folin scored in regulation for the Canadiens.
Palmieri scored two-power-play goals for New Jersey, including the game-tying tally with 20 seconds left in regulation.
Miles Wood and Jesper Bratt also scored for the Devils. Louis Domingue had 32 saves for New Jersey, which has played in four straight overtime games since the All Star break.
Ducks 3, Senators 2, SO
OTTAWA, Ontario – Rickard Rakell scored the shootout winner and Anaheim beat Ottawa.
Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase scored in regulation for Anaheim, which has won four of its last five.
John Gibson made 30 saves as the Ducks improved to 2-0-0 on their five-game road that started with a 3-1 win in Los Angeles against the Kings.
Drake Batherson and Artem Anisimov scored for Ottawa. Marcus Hogberg stopped 26 shots.
Blues 6, Hurricanes 3
ST. LOUIS – Brayden Schenn had two goals and an assist, Zach Sanford scored twice and St. Louis beat Carolina.
It was Schenn’s first three-point game since Feb. 19, 2019, against Columbus, a stretch of 79 games. Jordan Binnington stopped 25 shots, and Colton Parayko and Sammy Blais also scored.
The reigning Stanley Cup champion Blues were 1-4-1 in their previous six games but hadn’t played at home in nearly three weeks due partly to a bye week and the All-Star break.
St. Louis improved to 10-0-1 in its last 11 games at home.
The Hurricanes fell to 0-5-0 over their last five games away from home.
Carolina’s Petr Mrazek looked rusty in just his third start since Jan. 13, allowing six goals on 26 shots. Sebastian Aho, Brock McGinn and Martin Necas scored for the Hurricanes.
Wild 3, Blackhawks 2, OT
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Matt Dumba scored with 2:39 remaining in overtime to lift Minnesota past Chicago.
Kevin Fiala scored twice for Minnesota and Alex Stalock made 27 saves. Dumba snapped a 33-game goal-scoring drought with his fourth of the season as the Wild won for the second time in three games.
Adam Boqvist and Olli Maatta scored in the third period for Chicago. Corey Crawford made 31 saves for the Blackhawks, who had won six of their previous seven games.
Predators 2, Jets 1, OT
WINNIPEG, Manitoba – Mikael Granlund scored 1:11 into overtime, lifting Nashville past Winnipeg.
Granlund’s blast went high past goalie Connor Hellebuyck and gave the Predators their third win in the last four games.
Nick Bonino also scored for Nashville, which is 4-2-0 in its past six games.
Juuse Saros made 33 saves for the Predators, who were beginning a four-game trip.
Mason Appleton scored for the Jets, who have one win in their last eight games (1-6-1).
Hellebuyck stopped 34 shots for Winnipeg, which ended a three-game homestand 1-1-1.
Coyotes 3, Oilers 0
GLENDALE, Ariz. – Conor Garland and Lawson Crouse scored two minutes apart in the second period, Antti Raanta stopped 30 shots and Arizona ended a five-game losing streak.
Arizona was without two of its top defensemen, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Jason Demers, due to lower-body injuries.
The Coyotes made up for the big holes in their lineup with a solid all-around game and Raanta’s 13th career shutout, second of the season. Todd Dvorak added an empty-net goal to cap Arizona’s second win in 10 games.
Edmonton scored 26 goals during a five-game winning streak before arriving in the desert on Sunday. The Oilers missed on some good chances early and couldn’t solve Raanta, getting shut out for the fourth time this season.
Mikko Koskinen stopped 25 shots for Edmonton, which had won five straight.
Sharks 3, Flames 1
CALGARY, Alberta – Joe Thornton had two assists to reach 1,500 career points and San Jose beat Calgary.
Evander Kane, Brent Burns and Kevin Labanc scored for the Sharks, who have just two wins in their last seven games. Aaron Dell, from nearby Airdrie and who played his Junior A hockey in Calgary, stopped 30 shots. San Jose is 8-11-2 since interim coach Bob Boughner replaced the fired Peter DeBoer on Dec. 11.
Johnny Gaudreau scored for the Flames, who are 1-3-1 in their last five. David Rittich finished with 23 saves.
Calgary captain Mark Giordano left the game in the second period. The defenseman injured his right leg lunging to launch a sharp-angled shot. After testing his leg with a short skate during a timeout, last season’s Norris Trophy winner headed to the dressing room.