Ovechkin scores 717th goal as Caps top Sabres
Ties Esposito for sixth on NHL career list
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Alexander Ovechkin matched Phil Esposito for sixth on the NHL’S career list with his 717th goal as the Washington Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres 6-0 on Monday night.
Ovechkin scored in the third period, helping send the Capitals to their fifth straight win. He has 1,299 career points, one shy of becoming the 35th player to reach 1,300. Vitek Vanecek stopped 23 shots and improved to 4-0-1 against the Sabres. Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom, Richard Panik, Daniel Sprong and Garnet Hathaway also scored for Washington, which used three goals in the second period to move to within two points of the New York Islanders in the Eastern Division.
After Kuznetsov gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 18:46 of the first period for his 400th NHL point. Backstrom’s 11th goal this season came in his 984th game with the Capitals, passing Calle Johansson for second-most games in franchise history.
Hutton made 24 saves for Buffalo, which is 0-9-2 in its past 11, the third-longest skid in team history. The Sabres are 0-8-1 in their past nine home games, the second-longest winless streak in franchise history behind the 12-game slump when they went 0-6-1 with five ties between Jan. 10 to March 27, 1991.
■ Flyers 5, Rangers 4 OT:
At New York, Claude Giroux, Joel Farabee and Ivan Provorov each had a goal and an assist and Jakub Voracek scored at 3:47 of overtime.
■ Panthers 6, Blackhawks 3:
At Sunrise, Fla., Aleksander Barkov scored a tiebreaking short-handed goal in the third period to back Sergei Bobrovsky, who stopped 26 shots and won his sixth straight start.
■ Canucks 3, Senators 2 OT:
At Ottawa, Ontario, J.T Miller scored in overtime backing Thatcher Demko, who made 44 saves.
■ Penguins 4, Bruins 1:
At Pittsburgh, Evgeni Malkin scored on a power play for his 1,100th career point. Malkin is the third Russian-born player to reach 1,100 points in the NHL
*Predators 4, Lightning 1:
At Tampa, Fla., Calle Jarnkrok had a short-handed goal and three assists. Pekke Rinne stopped 38 shots and picked up his 14th career assist.
■ Canadiens 4, Jets 2:
At Winnipeg, Manitoba, Tyler Toffoli had two goals, including an empty-netter in the final minute. Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Josh Anderson also scored for the Canadiens. Carey Price, playing in his 700th game, made 34 saves.
■ Flames 4, Oilers 3:
At Calgary, Alberta, Elias Lindholm, Dillon
Dube and Andrew Mangiapane each had a goal and an assist. Mikael Backlund had two assists and Jacob Markstrom stopped 28 of 31 shots.