Capitals rally for 5-4 overtime victory against Hurricanes

RALEIGH: Alex Ovechkin scored the tying and winning goals as the Washington Capitals rallied for a 5-4 overtime victory against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night in Raleigh, N.C. Ovechkin’s 26th goal of the season came unassisted 1:57 into overtime as the Metropolitan Division-leading Capitals snapped Carolina’s six-game, home-ice winning streak. Ovechkin tied the game at 4-4 with 7:15 to play in regulation. Alex Chiasson, Devante Smith-Pelly and Dmitry Orlov also scored for the Capitals, who were playing in their only game of the week. Carolina (18-13-8) lost its second game in a row following a season-high, four-game winning streak. Victor Rask collected two goals for the Hurricanes, and Elias Lindholm and Teuvo Teravainen also scored.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3, PREDATORS 0

Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves and recorded his 46th career shutout as red-hot Vegas blanked visiting Nashville. It was the eighth straight win for the Western Conference-leading Golden Knights, matching the longest win streak in the NHL this year by the Los Angeles Kings (8-0-0 from Nov. 25-Dec. 9). It also was the 13th consecutive game in which Vegas garnered a point, as the Golden Knights are 12-0-1 over that stretch. Reilly Smith, Shea Theodore and Jonathan Marchessault scored goals and Alex Tuch had two assists for the Golden Knights, who haven’t lost a game in regulation since a 7-4 defeat at Winnipeg on Dec. 1.

LIGHTNING 2, MAPLE LEAFS 0

Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded his second consecutive shutout and NHL-leading sixth of the season to lead Tampa Bay to a 2-0 road win over Toronto. Vasilevskiy turned aside 29 shots. Cedric Paquette scored his first goal of the season and Alex Killorn also tallied for the Lightning. Frederik Andersen stopped 34 shots for the Maple Leafs, who lost their third game in a row.

PENGUINS 5, FLYERS 1

Pittsburgh exploded for four goals in the second period to defeat the Flyers in Philadelphia. Phil Kessel, Ryan Reaves, Conor Sheary, Tom Kuhnhackl and Jamie Oleksiak each scored, while Riley Sheahan and Evgeni Malkin each added a pair of assists for Pittsburgh. The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins had dropped seven of their previous 10 games. Jordan Weal scored for the Flyers, who opened their four-game homestand in shaky fashion.

SHARKS 4, CANADIENS 1

Timo Meier scored twice and Marc-Edouard Vlasic added a goal and an assist as visiting San Jose defeated Montreal. The Sharks improved to 7-2-2 in their past 11 games. San Jose goalie Aaron Dell finished with 30 saves while winning his sixth consecutive start. Joe Thornton scored the other San Jose goal and Kevin Labanc added two assists. Andrew Shaw had a power-play goal for the Canadiens.

BRUINS 5, ISLANDERS 1

Five players scored a goal apiece for Boston, which remained red hot with a win at New York. Danton Heinen scored in the first, Patrice Bergeron scored the go-ahead goal in the second, and Brad Marchand, Tim Schaller and Noel Acciari added to the lead. Boston has won seven of its past 10 (7-1-2). Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask recorded 25 saves in winning his sixth consecutive start. Jordan Eberle scored for the Islanders, who have lost three straight (03-0) and seven of 10 (3-6-1). Goalie Jaroslav Halak made 33 saves.

DUCKS 5, CANUCKS 0

Ryan Getzlaf scored a goal and added two assists as visiting Anaheim won for the fifth time in six games, shutting out Vancouver. Rikard Rakell added a goal and an assist, and Josh Manson was credited with three assists. Ducks goalie Ryan Miller turned away all 31 shots that got to him for his second shutout of the season. Canucks goalie Anders Nilsson stopped 15 of 19 shots before getting the hook. Jacob Markstrom saved seven of eight shots in relief.

KINGS 5, OILERS 0

Scoring three man-advantage markers in a 2:58 span early in the third period, visiting Los Angeles turned a close game into a rout and blanked Edmonton. The teams played 40 minutes of tight hockey. Only a rare Andy Andreoff goal, his second of the season, in the second period separated the teams. Then Edmonton’s Patrick Maroon delivered a hit to the head of Drew Doughty at 19:55 of the second period, earning a five-minute major and a game misconduct. Los Angeles took full advantage of the ensuing time with the man advantage. Power-play goals by Trevor Lewis, Dustin Brown and Adrian Kempe put the game out of reach, and Brown scored again late in the third period. Jonathan Quick stopped all 32 shots he faced for his third shutout of the season.

BLUE JACKETS 2, STARS 1

Oliver Bjorkstrand scored a pair of third-period goals in a less than a two-minute span, and visiting Columbus snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over Dallas. After giving up 15 goals over the three-game skid, the Blue Jackets put together a dominant defensive performance against the Stars. Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 21 saves. After neither team could capitalize on several scoring opportunities, Dallas’ Devin Shore finally broke through 44 seconds into the third period off a nifty passing sequence.

WILD 5, PANTHERS 1

Matt Cullen and Eric Staal each scored two goals, and Jared Spurgeon had three assists to lead Minnesota past visiting Florida. Devan Dubnyk 25 saves and Charlie Coyle also scored for Minnesota, which won for the third time in four games and snapped Florida’s season-high, five-game winning streak. James Reimer stopped 23 of 26 shots and backup Harri Sateri stopped 13 of 14 for Florida.—Reuters