Caps hand Canucks fifth straight loss
WASHINGTON — Philipp Grubauer conserved his energy during a lull in the second period and needed every bit of it in the third to keep the Washington Capitals’ streak alive.
Grubauer made 20 of his 37 saves in the third period to help the Capitals beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 on Tuesday night for their fifth consecutive victory and NHL-best 10th in a row at home.
Washington’s backup goaltender picked up his third win of the season and had only one regret afterward: not shooting at the empty net to try to score.
“I’m not looking to score a goal, but I had so much time and I should have shot it,” Grubauer said. “I wanted to maybe play it safe, [which] is the right thing to do.”
The Capitals did a lot of things right to hand the Canucks their fifth consecutive loss. John Carlson, Lars Eller and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored against Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom, who stopped 33 of the 36 shots he faced.
Markstrom stopped 17 of 18 shots in the second to keep his team in the game.
“The game should have been over after the second. We were so bad,” captain Henrik Sedin said.
“If he wouldn’t have been there, it wouldn’t have been a game. He gave us a chance to at least play in the third and come back.”
Daniel Sedin scored the Canucks’ only goal on a 5-on-3 power play. Vancouver has gone 2-11-2 in its past 15 games to go from third in the Pacific Division to 14th in the 15-team Western Conference.
Washington is on the opposite track, now leading the Metropolitan Division by four points. Tuesday’s effort wasn’t the sharpest, but the Capitals again found a way to pick up two points.
“Has this game been our best of the year? I don’t know,” Eller said. “Definitely this stretch has been our best of the year.”
The Capitals haven’t lost at home since Nov. 30 and are 18-2-0 in their past 20 games in Washington.
“Hopefully, it’s something that we can bring on the road with us,” Capitals winger Devante Smith-Pelly said. NASHVILLE — Viktor Arvidsson had a goal and an assist, helping the Nashville Predators top the Edmonton Oilers 2-1.
Craig Smith also scored and Pekka Rinne made 25 saves in Nashville’s 11th consecutive win against Edmonton.
The free-falling Oilers have lost seven of eight. Connor McDavid scored, and Cam Talbot had 22 stops.
Edmonton appeared to tie the game with 5:04 left when Mark Letestu found a loose puck in front of Rinne and swatted it in through traffic. Nashville challenged the goal and a video review determined that the play was offside. BUFFALO, New York — High-octane offence continues to fuel the surging Winnipeg Jets.
Kyle Connor had two goals and an assist, Nikolaj Ehlers also scored twice, and the Jets defeated the Buffalo Sabres 7-4 on Tuesday night for their third straight victory.
The Central Division-leading Jets are 6-0-1 in their past seven games.