Backstrom delivers winner to Caps in OT
Nicklas Backstrom scored at 4:17 of overtime and Alex Ovechkin had a power-play goal and an assist to help the Capitals beat the St.Louis Blues, 4-3, yesterday in Washington.
Recognizing a change of possession in Washington’s end late in overtime, Backstrom headed down ice, received a long pass from T.J. Oshie and beat goalie Carter Hutton for his ninth goal of the season.
Ovechkin tied it at 2 on the power play 8 eight minutes into the third with his 27th goal, and Lars Eller gave the Capitals the lead with 9:11 left. The lead did not last long, with Carl Gunnarson credited with a goal after his shot into pack of players evaded goaltender Braden Holtby with 4:09 remaining.
Holtby made 30 saves for the Capitals. They have won four in a row and nine consecutive home games.
Golden Knights 2, Rangers 1 — William Karlsson scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the third to lift host Vegas past New York.
James Neal also scored and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28 shots to improve to 9-2-1 in front of a seasonhigh 18,234 in attendance.
The Golden Knights own the top home record in the league, moving to 18-2-1 in the first 21 contests at T-Mobile Arena. Vegas is 9-0-1 in its past 10 at home, including nine straight wins.
Jets 4, Sharks 1 — Matthieu Perreault scored twice, Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves and host Winnipeg beat San Jose to extend its home winning streak to five games.
Matt Hendricks and Marko Dano also scored to help the Central Division-leading Jets improve to 16-3-1 at home and 25-11-7 overall.
Blackhawks 4, Oilers 1 — Anton Forsberg made 32 saves, Nick Schmaltz and Alex DeBrincat scored in the first period, and host Chicago beat slumping Edmonton.
Brandon Saad and Jordan Oesterle also scored for the Blackhawks, who got their first home win since a 4-1 victory against Minnesota on Dec. 17.
Flyers 4, Sabres 1 — Sean Couturier scored the goahead goal in the second period and added an emptynetter to put it away as Philadelphia beat visiting Buffalo. It was the Flyers’ third straight victory.
Couturier has four goals in two games and 42 points, three more than his previous career-best season.
Islanders 5, Devils 4 — Brock Nelson scored the only goal in the shootout to lift New York over New Jersey at Barclays Center.
The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for the Islanders, who trailed 4-2 early in the third period.
Blue Jackets 3, Panthers 2 — In Columbus, Ohio, Josh Anderson scored the deciding goal in the eighth round of the shootout, lifting Columbus to a over Florida.
Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky stopped Jared McCann’s attempt to secure the win for the Blue Jack- ets, who also got goals from Artemi Panarin and Jack Johnson in the tiebreaker. Aleksander Barkov, who tied the score with 1:34 left in the third period, and Mike Matheson scored in the shootout for Florida.
Lightning 5, Red Wings 2 — Dan Girardi scored and assisted on a goal in the first period before blocking a shot above the shoulders in the second period and leaving Tampa Bay’s win over host Detroit.
Girardi turned his head to the left when Detroit’s Martin Frk took a shot on a power play and the puck appeared to hit the defenseman in the neck. He lay face down on the ice while a doctor evaluated him on the ice and was eventually able to sit up. Girardi later skated slowly off the ice with team- mates at his side. Initial reports were he was OK.
Canadiens 5, Canucks 2 — Brendan Gallagher broke a tie midway through the third period, and Carey Price made 34 saves in Montreal’s victory over visiting Vancouver. Karl Alzner, Alex Galchenyuk, Paul Byron and Max Pacioretty also scored for Montreal.