Ovechkin’s 35th lifts Capitals past Sabres
Alex Ovechkin can stop fretting about what the Washington Capitals captain described as the worst game of his career. He and the Capitals were much better in a 3-2 win against the Sabres yesterday in Buffalo, two days after a 7-1 meltdown at Chicago.
After being held without a shot against Chicago, Ovechkin responded by scoring his NHL-leading 35th goal, and Washington reclaimed the top spot in the Metropolitan Division
“Yeah, I think the last game I didn’t play my game. I think it was the worst play of my career by myself. I take the blame,” Ovechkin said. “We moved forward. We got two points.”
John Carlson had a goal and assist and Philipp Grubauer stopped 32 shots in a game Washington led 2-0 after two periods.
Evgeny Kuznetsov sealed the victory by scoring into an open net with 26 seconds remaining to put Washington up 3-1, and the Capitals ended a four-game road trip at 2-1-1.
Wild 5, Islanders 3 — Matt Cullen and Tyler Ennis scored in the team’s threegoal second period, and Minnesota won in New York.
Jason Zucker added two goals and Joel Eriksson Ek also scored for the Wild, who have earned at least a point in six of their past seven games (4-1-2). Devan Dubnyk stopped 32 shots.
Ross Johnston, Anders Lee and Tanner Fritz scored for the Islanders. Jaroslav Halak, coming off a 50-save shutout of the Rangers last Thursday, made 27 stops.
New York began the day tied with idle Carolina at 64 points but held the second wild card spot in the East because of more regulation and overtime wins. However, the Hurricanes now hold the tiebreaker with a game in hand on the Islanders.
Predators 5, Senators 2 — Viktor Arvidsson scored twice to reach 20 goals this season, and Nashville beat visiting Ottawa.
Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis and Craig Smith also scored for Nashville, which ended a two-game skid and tied Winnipeg for first place in the Central Division.
Pekka Rinne made 36 saves to earn his 30th win of the season.
Kings 3, Blackhawks 1 — Torrey Mitchell and Andy Andreoff scored during Los Angeles’ dominant first period in a win over host Chicago.
Dion Phaneuf added his second goal in three games since joining Los Angeles in a trade with Ottawa, and Jonathan Quick made 27 saves in the Kings’ second straight win since a three- game slide.
It was the first game at the United Center since the Blackhawks banned four fans from their home games for directing a racist taunt toward Washington’s Devante Smith-Pelly. The team also apologized to the forward and the Capitals.
Also, Chicago traded de- fenseman Michal Kempny to Washington for a conditional third-round pick.
Ducks 2, Golden Knights 0 — In Las Vegas, Jakob Silfverberg and Ryan Getzlaf scored to lead Anaheim over Vegas.
Anaheim regained sole possession of third place in the division, two points ahead of Los Angeles and Calgary. The Ducks are a point behind second-place San Jose.
Elsewhere in the NHL — Columbus Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno will miss 1-2 weeks because of a lower-body injury.