Blue Jackets’ win streak ends
WASHINGTON: Columbus delivered a clunker in its try for a historic win. The Blue Jackets lost 5-0 to the Washington Capitals on Thursday night, ending their winning streak at 16 games, one shy of the NHL record. Columbus lost for the first time since Nov 26, ending a captivating run for coach John Tortorella’s team that fell short of the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins’ record of 17 consecutive wins. The Capitals kept the Blue Jackets’ league-leading power play off the board in five chances, and Daniel Winnik, John Carlson, Nate Schmidt, Andre Burakovsky and Justin Williams scored to chase goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.
Bobrovsky had been rock solid during the streak but stopped just 18 of 23 shots Thursday. A game after being pulled himself, Vezina Trophy winner Braden Holtby made 29 saves, giving Columbus just its second shutout defeat this season. The Capitals moved within five points of the Blue Jackets for the top spot in the ultra-competitive Metropolitan Division.
WILD 5, SHARKS 4
Mikko Koivu scored back-to-back goals midway through the third period and Minnesota overcame a late two-goal deficit to beat San Jose. The teams combined for five goals in the third, with Joel Ward and Patrick Marleau putting San Jose ahead 4-2 in the first five minutes before Eric Staal scored once and Koivu twice to bring the Wild back. Koivu scored twice in 1:55, with the go-ahead goal coming with 9:42 left. Minnesota got its seventh straight victory on the road. Staal also had two goals and Zach Parise scored for the Wild, who were playing their first game since their 12-game winning streak was snapped by Columbus. Devan Dubnyk saved 30 shots in his first appearance in San Jose in over two years, when he was with the Phoenix Coyotes. Joonas Donskoi and Joe Pavelski also scored for the Sharks, who lost their third straight, matching a season high. Martin Jones made 21 saves.
OILERS 4, BRUINS 3
Patrick Maroon had a hat trick and also squared off in a fight with 6-foot-9 defenseman Zdeno Chara, helping Edmonton beat Boston. Cam Talbot stopped 33 shots for the Oilers. He took a 4-2 lead into the final four minutes before David Krejci scored on a rebound of Patrice Bergeron’s shot in the last two seconds of a 5-on-3 power play. But Talbot killed off the rest of the power play with the Oilers one man down. He then blanked Boston for another minute with goalie Tuukka Rask pulled for an extra skater. Bergeron and Colin Miller also scored for the Bruins, and Rask stopped 21 shots.
BLACKHAWKS 4, SABRES 3, OT
Patrick Kane scored 56 seconds into overtime, Artem Anisimov had two goals and Chicago beat Buffalo. Jonathan Toews set up Kane’s 12th goal when he forced Anders Nilsson to make a left pad save. The rebound went right to Kane, who knocked it into the open side of net before Nilsson could recover. Ryan Hartman also scored for the Blackhawks, who had dropped five of six. Kane also had two assists against his hometown team and Corey Crawford made 17 stops in Chicago’s 10th consecutive victory against Buffalo.
RED WINGS 4, KINGS 0
Thomas Vanek scored twice during a three-goal first period, Jared Coreau stopped 34 shots for his first career shutout and Detroit beat Los Angeles. Andreas Athanasiou also scored in the first period, and Coreau turned away Tanner Pearson on a penalty shot during the opening frame. Anthony Mantha added a goal in the third period to help the Red Wings end a twogame skid. Vanek scored in the first two minutes and last two minutes of the first for his 53rd career multi-goal game, giving him nine goals this season. Jeff Zatkoff made 18 saves for the Kings, who had a two-game winning streak halted as they kicked off a critical seven-game homestand.
HURRICANES 4, BLUES 2
Jeff Skinner put Carolina ahead in the third period and Derek Ryan scored twice to beat St Louis. Skinner scored a power-play goal with 6:08 remaining to make it 3-2, and then Ryan added an empty-netter for his second of the game with 1:19 left. Skinner’s goal was his 14th of the season. Jay McClement also scored for Carolina, which ended a two-game losing streak. Cam Ward made 21 saves. Joel Edmundson and Vladimir Tarasenko scored for St. Louis, which was coming off a 4-1 win over Chicago in the Winter Classic on Monday. Jake Allen made 25 saves but lost to Carolina for the first time in four starts.
PREDATORS 6, LIGHTNING 1
Colton Sissons ended a 12-game goal drought with his first career hat trick, Pekka Rinne made 27 saves and Nashville beat Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay pulled its goalie for an extra skater with seven minutes left in the third, and Sissons got his second of the game a minute later before completing the trick from close with three minutes remaining. He entered with two goals this season and seven overall in 78 career games. Nashville also got goals from Mike Fisher, Filip Forsberg and Ryan Ellis. Rinne improved to 7-0-1 against Tampa Bay. Tyler Johnson scored for the Lightning, who went 2-2-1 on a five-game homestand. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 13 shots. — AP