Ovechkin’s hat trick helps Capitalsroutredwings

Alex Ovechkin scored his 21st hat trick and first this season to lift the Washington Capitals past the Detroit Red

Wings 6-2 on Tuesday.

Ovechkin entered the night as the NHL’S goal leader and stretched his total to 25 through 30 games, halfway to a potential eighth 50-goal season.

Nicklas Backstrom had four assists to help Washington get its third straight victory and 10th in 12 games. T.J. Oshie added a goal in his return from an 11-game layoff due to a concussion, and Travis Boyd and Brett Connolly also scored early.

At Boston, Brad Marchand scored two goals and assisted on another during a four-goal, second-period flurry to lead Boston past Arizona for the 14th time in a row.

At Buffalo, N.Y., Jeff Skinner scored a power-play goal 1:49 into overtime, and the Sabres overcame a 3-1 deficit in the third period to beat Los Angeles.

Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist, and the Sabres snapped an 0-3-2 skid that immediately followed their franchise recordtying 10-game winning streak.

At Raleigh, N.C., William Nylander had two assists, and Morgan Rielly scored the go-ahead goal to lift Toronto over Carolina.

The assists were the first points of the season for Nylander, who missed the first 28 games on a holdout before signing a six-year deal worth $41.7 million. At Nashville, Tenn., Ryan Ellis scored his first game-winning goal of the season, Pekka Rinne made 25 saves, and the Predators improved to 9-0-0 against Eastern Conference opponents this season.

At Columbus, Ohio, Jake Virtanen scored the tiebreaking goal with less than two minutes remaining, and Jacob Markstrom stopped 34 shots as Vancouver rallied to beat the Blue Jackets, who have lost four of their last five.

At

St. Paul, Minn., Matt Dumba scored twice, Devan Dubnyk made 29 saves, and Minnesota took out some recent frustrations on Montreal. The Wild scored four times in the second period to recover from a lousy swing through Western Canada, when Minnesota dropped two of three and lost captain Mikko Koivu to injury.

At Denver, Ryan Nugent-hopkins scored twice as part of Edmonton’s four-goal second period, Mikko Koskinen stopped 39 shots, and the Oilers extended their winning streak to four. Connor Mcdavid added a goal and an assist as Edmonton improved to 8-2-1 since coach Ken Hitchcock took over Nov. 20.

At Winnipeg, Manitoba, Kyle Connor scored twice, and the Jets handed Chicago its eighth straight loss, all in regulation.

At

St. Louis, Brayden Schenn capped a four-goal third period, and the Blues beat Florida.

David Perron had two goals, and Ivan Barbashev also scored for St. Louis, which had lost three of four and eight of its last 11.