Point scores twice to help Lightning beat Capitals
WASHINGTON — The plan was simple: Score early against a weary opponent and ride the momentum the rest of the way.
The Tampa Bay Lightning carried out the strategy perfectly, turning a big first period into a huge 4-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night in a showdown between division leaders in the Eastern Conference.
Washington had played in Buffalo one day earlier, and that played significantly into the game-plan of Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper.
Brayden Point sandwiched two goals around a tally by Chris Kunitz to make it 3-0 after the first period. That proved to be enough of a cushion for goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who stopped 35 shots to earn his NHL-leading 35th win.
Jakub Voracek scored the tying goal with 1:25 left in regulation and then got the game-winner 1:26 into overtime to lift the Philadelphia Flyers to a victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Voracek also had an assist and Nolan Patrick had the other goal for Philadelphia, which improved to 7-0-2 in its last nine games. The Flyers, third in the Metropolitan Division, pulled two points behind second-place Pittsburgh and three behind first-place Washington. Paul Byron and Jeff Petry scored for Montreal, which lost its sixth straight. The Canadiens’ NHL-worst road record fell to 8-19-2.
Viktor Arvidsson scored his third goal in two games and the Nashville Predators ended their seven-game losing skid against Detroit with a win over the Red Wings. Scott Hartnell and Kyle Turris also scored, and Juuse Saros stopped 34 shots for the Predators, who ended a three-game losing streak in Detroit since a win on Nov. 19, 2013. Andreas Athanasiou and Tomas Tatar scored for the Red Wings, and Jimmy Howard finished with 26 saves.
Frederik Andersen made 40 saves and James van Riemsdyk scored the only goal as the surging Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Florida Panthers. The shutout was Andersen’s career-best fifth of the season. The 28-year-old goalie has reached 30 wins for the third time. Toronto (37-20-5) has won 11 of 12 and improved to 14-4-2 since Jan. 4.
Logan Couture and Mikkel Boedker each had a goal and an assist, sending the San Jose Sharks to a victory over the slumping St. Louis Blues. Joonas Donskoi also scored and Martin Jones made 30 saves for San Jose, which has won five of its last six games. Ivan Barbashev and Vladimir Tarasenko had the goals for the Blues, who have lost a season-high four straight.
Dion Phaneuf scored on the power play for his third goal in four games with Los Angeles, helping the Kings cap a seven-game road trip with a victory over the Winnipeg Jets. Alec Martinez also scored on the power play, Dustin Brown’s goal late in the third period stood as the winner and Torrey Mitchell had the other goal for the Kings. Darcy Kuemper stopped 30 shots to win his fifth straight start.
David Krejci broke a tie with 1:04 remaining and the Boston Bruins rallied for three goals in the third period to beat the Edmonton Oilers. Noel Acciari and Matt Grzelcyk also scored for the Bruins (37-13-8), who have won seven of nine and are one point back of Tampa Bay for first place in the Atlantic Division and overall NHL standings.