Backstrom scores on a breakaway as Capitals down Blues
WASHINGTON: Nicklas Backstrom scored on a breakaway at 4:17 of overtime Sunday as the Washington Capitals downed the St. Louis Blues 4-3 at Capital One Arena in Washington. T.J. Oshie took the puck away from Colton Parayko at the Washington blue line and zipped a diagonal pass to Backstrom near the St. Louis blue line. Joel Edmundson couldn’t catch Backstrom, and he roofed a wrist shot over Carter Hutton for his ninth goal. The Capitals extended their Metropolitan Division lead over New Jersey to three points, while the Blues lost for the second time in as many days but picked up a point to edge ahead of Nashville for second place in the Central Division. St. Louis forced overtime with Carl Gunnarsson’s first goal in 27 games, a point shot at 15:51 of the third period that deflected off Alex Ovechkin and eluded goaltender Braden Holtby.
PENGUINS 6, BRUINS 5 (OT) Evgeni Malkin scored the game-winning goal 2:51 into overtime to help Pittsburgh edge Boston, 6-5, in a thriller at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. Malkin finished with two goals and has 17 on the season. Jamie Oleksiak, Phil Kessel, Kris Letang and Riley Sheahan also scored for the Penguins (22-19-3). Boston (23-10-7) snapped a threegame winning streak but extended its points streak to 11 straight games (8-0-3).
BLUE JACKETS 3, PANTHERS 2 (SO) Artemi Panarin, Jack Johnson and Josh Anderson scored in an eight-round shootout as host Columbus defeated Florida, 3-2. Aleksander Barkov and Mike Matheson scored for the Panthers in the shootout. Barkov also scored with 1:34 left in the third period to help send the game to overtime.
BLACKHAWKS 4, OILERS 1 Chicago received goals from four different players and goaltender Anton Forsberg turned aside 32 shots to record just his second win of the season in a 4-1 victory over Edmonton at the United Center in Chicago. Nick Schmaltz, Alex DeBrincat and Brandon Saad scored goals in the opening two periods and defenseman Jordan Oesterle scored against his former team to complete the win for the Blackhawks.
JETS 4, SHARKS 1
Mathieu Perreault scored twice while Matt Hendricks and Marko Dano both lit the lamp once to give Winnipeg a 4-1 victory over San Jose at the Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, Manitoba. That offense was more than enough to combine with a 31-save outing from goalie Connor Hellebuyck for the Jets to strengthen their hold atop the National Hockey League’s Central Division.
ISLANDERS 5, DEVILS 4 (SO)
Brock Nelson scored the only goal of the shootout Sunday as New York came back from a two-goal, thirdperiod deficit to beat New Jersey, 5-4, in a shootout at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Nelson scored in the fifth round, as the Islanders snapped a five-game losing streak heading into their “bye week.”
FLYERS 4, SABRES 1
Sean Couturier scored two goals and Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov each scored one goal, leading Philadelphia past Buffalo, 4-1, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Backup goaltender Michal Neuvirth started for the first time since Nov. 28 and earned the win with 30 saves on 31 shots on goal. Brian Elliott had started the previous 16 games.
CANADIENS 5, CANUCKS 2 Brendan Gallagher scored the winning goal and added an assist as Montreal beat Vancouver, 5-2, in Montreal. The Canadiens (18-20-4) earned their second straight win, while the Canucks (16-20-6) have lost four straight games and 12 of the past 14.
LIGHTNING 5, RED WINGS 2
Yanni Gourde had two goals, Nikita Kucherov scored his league-leading 27th goal and Tampa Bay snapped host Detroit’s four-game winning streak. Louis Domingue made 34 saves in his Lightning (30-9-3) debut. Gustav Nyquist and Justin Abdelkader scored for the Red Wings (17-17-7).—Reuters