Capitals spree continues in 11th straight win
WASHINGTON: TJ Oshie scored twice and set up John Carlson’s go-ahead goal in the third period as the NHL-leading Washington Capitals beat the Detroit Red Wings 6-3 on Thursday night for their 11th consecutive home victory. Detroit’s Henrik Zetterberg made it 3-all less than 1 1/2 minutes into the final period. But Oshie stole the puck deep in the offensive end, skated out front and slid it over to Carlson, whose slap shot sailed past goalie Petr Mrazek at the 4:15 mark.
Marcus Johansson, Brett Connolly and Nicklas Backstrom also scored for the Capitals. They have at least five goals in each of their past 10 home games. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, they are only the second NHL team to do that, joining the 1970-71 Boston Bruins, who did it in 11 straight home games. Andreas Athanasiou had two goals in the first period for the Red Wings.
BRUINS 6, SHARKS 3
David Pastrnak scored two power-play goals while Patrice Bergeron had a goal and three assists as Boston beat San Jose in Bruce Cassidy’s coaching debut. Cassidy was named Boston’s interim coach after Claude Julien was fired Tuesday. Cassidy joined the Bruins as an assistant last May after spending five seasons coaching Providence in the AHL. David Backes added a goal and an assist, and Tim Schaller and Brad Marchand also scored to help Boston end a two-game skid. Tuukka Rask made 23 saves. Joe Thornton, Justin Braun and Timo Meier scored for San Jose. Martin Jones allowed three first-period goals before backup Aaron Dell relieved him to start the second.
PENGUINS 4, AVALANCHE 1
Patric Hornqvist scored twice while Sidney Crosby was held in check and Matthew Murray made 27 saves to help Pittsburgh beat Colorado. Crosby remained stuck on 998 career points in his bid to become the 86th player in NHL history to reach 1,000. Phil Kessel and Chris Kunitz also scored for Pittsburgh. Gabriel Landeskog finally solved Murray on a power play with 3:16 remaining.
BLUES 2, MAPLE LEAFS 1, OT
Vladimir Tarasenko scored 20 seconds into overtime and St. Louis kept rolling under new coach Mike Yeo, beating Toronto. Tarasenko snapped his 26th goal of the season past Frederik Andersen to lift St. Louis to 4-1-0 since Yeo replaced Ken Hitchcock as coach last week. Patrik Berglund also scored, and Jake Allen stopped 31 shots. Morgan Rielly scored for Toronto, and Andersen made 38 saves.
CANADIENS 5, COYOTES 4, OT
Alex Galchenyuk scored 2:13 into overtime to lift Montreal past Arizona. Max Pacioretty had two goals and two assists, one on the winning play. Montreal had lost four straight and was shut out in its two previous games. Christian Dvorak scored twice for Arizona, his second tying it at 4-4 with 4:52 to play in regulation. Andrei Markov had a goal and an assist for Montreal. Max Domi had a goal and assist for Arizona.
RANGERS 4, PREDATORS 3
JT Miller scored two goals and New York rallied to beat Nashville for its fourth consecutive victory. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 34 shots in the win. Coming off a 43-save performance Tuesday against Anaheim, the star goaltender is 7-1 in his past eight appearances and needs one win for 400 in his career. Michael Grabner and Chris Kreider also scored for the Rangers, and Kevin Hayes added three assists. Cody McLeod opened the scoring, and Calle Jarnkrok and Roman Josi each had a powerplay goal for the Predators.
ISLANDERS 3, FLYERS 1
Jason Chimera scored the go-ahead goal early in the second period, and Thomas Greiss made 34 saves to lead New York past Philadelphia. Anders Lee and Casey Cizikas also scored for the Islanders. They have won nine of their last 13 games to move closer to a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Wayne Simmonds scored for Philadelphia. The Flyers have lost three straight.
DUCKS 5, SABRES 2
Corey Perry scored twice and added an assist to help Anaheim beat Buffalo and snap a three-game skid. Rickard Rakell scored to break a 1-1 tie 55 seconds into the third period, Antoine Vermette and Andrew Cogliano, with an emptynetter, also scored for the Ducks. Jack Eichel and Rasmus Ristolainen scored for Buffalo.
CANUCKS 3, BLUE JACKETS 0
Daniel Sedin had a goal and an assist and Ryan Miller stopped 33 shots in Vancouver’s victory over Columbus. Loui Eriksson and Jayson Megna also scored. Sergei Bobrovsky had 21 saves for the Blue Jackets.
KINGS 6, PANTHERS 3
Jeff Carter had two goals and two assists as Los Angeles beat Florida. Dwight King, Tanner Pearson, Tyler Toffoli and Dustin Brown also scored for the Kings, and Peter Budaj made 36 saves. Carter’s four points were a season high. Jussi Jokinen, Jonathan Marchessault and Aleksander Barkov scored for Florida. —AP