Kuznetsov scores twice to lift Capitals

Evgeny Kuznetsov scored twice, Alex Ovechkin kept his hot streak going with the 721st goal of his NHL career and the host Washington Capitals brushed off some rust to beat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 on Thursday night for their eighth victory in nine games.

Kuznetsov, Ovechkin and fellow Russian Dmitry Orlov have all heated up offensively in recent weeks after missing time earlier this season for violating pandemic protocol. Their contributions Thursday snapped New Jersey’s winning streak at two.

Ovechkin has scored eight times in his past nine games after what counted as a slow start for a player who has more goals than all but five players in league history. His teamleading 15th goal this season put him 10 back of Marcel Dionne for fifth place and helped Washington shake off some cobwebs after an unusually long break in a condensed schedule.

Rangers 8, Flyers

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3: Mika Zibanejad had three goals and three assists, Adam Fox had five assists and New York routed host Philadelphia.

Pavel Buchnevich added two goals, and Ryan Strome, K’Andre Miller and Filip Chytil also scored as the Rangers won their third straight and fifth in their last seven games.

Penguins 4, Sabres 0: ●

Jared McCann scored a pair of power-play goals, Casey DeSmith made 36 saves and host Pittsburghextended Buffalo’s winless streak to 16 straight.

Radim Zohorna picked up a goal on his first shot in the NHL for the Penguins. Jake Guentzel added an empty-netter and Sidney Crosby had three assists to raise his career point total to 1,300 as Pittsburgh swept a pair from the NHL’s worst team with relative ease.

Buffalo’s bizarre season took another strange turn when general manager Kevyn Adams found himself on the bench serving as head coach after interim Don Granato and assistant Matt Ellis were placed in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol a few hours before the opening faceoff.

Hurricanes 4, Blue

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Jackets 3 (OT): Sebastian Aho scored 1:26 into overtime to give Carolina the win over host Columbus and earn a split of a four-game series. Aho had a wide-open net after Martin Necas’ shot off a rush was stopped by Joonas Korpisalo, but the goalie’s momentum forced him out of the crease. Oliver Bjorkstrand scored from the doorstep to tie the game for Columbus with 16 seconds left in regulation.

Maple Leafs 3, Senators

● 2 (OT): Justin Holl scored at 4:42 of overtime to give Toronto the win at Ottawa. Holl scored after Toronto star Auston Matthews broke up an Ottawa 3-on-1 in the neutral zone. Matthews wasn’t able to finish himself, but the puck found its way to Holl for his second goal.