Point leads Lightning over Caps
WASHINGTON » Brayden Point scored two first-period goals, Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 35 shots to earn his NHL-leading 35th victory and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Washington Capitals 4-2 Tuesday night in a matchup between division leaders.
Chris Kunitz also scored in the opening period, which ended with Tampa Bay up 3-0. That was enough of a cushion for Vasilevskiy, an All-Star who came in with a 2.34 goals-against average.
After Alex Ovechkin notched his NHL-high 36th goal for Washington to make it 3-2 at 11:02 of the third period, Nikita Kucherov clinched it with a breakaway goal with 7:02 remaining.
The victory improved Tampa Bay’s NHL-best record to 40-17-3 and kept the Lightning ahead of surging Boston in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference. BLUE JACKETS 2, DEVILS 1 » Defenseman Scott Harrington broke a second-period tie with his second goal of the season, and slumping Columbus snapped a three-game losing streak and ended New Jersey fourgame winning streak.
Boone Jenner also scored as the Blue Jackets moved into the second wild-card position in the Eastern Conference with 65 points, one ahead of Carolina and the Islanders. Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves in helping the Blue Jackets win for the fifth time in 15 games (5-9-2).
Taylor Hall scored for the Devils to extend his point-scoring streak to 12 games, tying David Pastrnak of the Bruins for the league-high this season. He also pushed his personal point-scoring streak to 19 games. He missed three games with a thumb injury, so the league does not consider that to be part of his current streak.
Keith Kinkaid had 17 saves for New Jersey, which holds the first wild-card spot in the conference.
Bruins acquire defenseman Holden from Rangers
NEW YORK » The Rangers have traded defenseman Nick Holden to the Boston Bruins for a minor league defenseman and a thirdround pick in the 2018 draft.
Holden skated in 135 games with the Rangers over parts of two seasons (2016-17 and 2017-18). He had 14 goals and 32 assists for 46 points, along with 49 penalty minutes. He will be an unrestricted free agent after this season.
Defenseman Rob O’Gara went to New York in Tuesday’s deal with Boston, which entered the day in a tight race with Tampa Bay for first place in the Atlantic Division.
The Rangers might deal other players such as forward Rick Nash and defenseman Ryan McDonagh before Monday’s trade deadline
Sabres’ McCabe to have season-ending surgery
BUFFALO, N.Y. » Buffalo Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe will miss the remainder of the season to have surgery to repair a shoulder injury that has nagged him for much of the year.
McCabe was already on injured reserve and had missed seven games after having thumb surgery. General manager Jason Botterill says the team elected to have McCabe also address his shoulder injury so that he can be fully healthy for the start of next season. The Sabres did not disclose the nature of the injury.
The third-year player had three goals and nine assists for 12 points in 53 games this season.