Ovechkin scores goal No.715to lift Capitals

Alex Ovechkin scored his 715th career goal to help the Washington Capitals win their third straight game, 5-3 over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.

Ovechkin moved two goals shy of matching Phil Esposito (717) for sixth on the NHL’s career goals list. He scored his fourth goal against the Flyers in just three games this season. The three-time MVP has 38 goals in 60 career games against the Flyers.

Conor Sheary, John Carlson and Nic Dowd scored three straight goals to build a 4-1 cushion and help the Capitals win for the seventh time in the last eight games.

ISLANDERS 5, DEVILS 3 >> Matt Martin and Adam Pelech scored first-period goals, rookie Ilya Sorokin made 19 saves and New York welcomed fans back to Nassau Coliseum by beating New Jersey for its seventh straight win.

BRUINS 4, RANGERS 0 >> Jake DeBrusk returned after being benched one game for lack of effort and scored his first goal in almost a month, chasing New York goalie Alexandar Georgiev early in the second period and leading Boston to victory.

PENGUINS 5, SABRES 2 >> Evgeni Malkin had a goal and assist and Pittsburgh beat free-falling Buffalo for its fourth straight victory.

PANTHERS 5, BLUE JACKETS 4 >> Frank Vatrano scored 2:48 into overtime, Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves and Florida won at Columbus to sweep a two-game series. The Panthers scored three times in the third period to erase a 4-1 deficit before Vatrano tipped in a rebounded shot from Jonathan Huberdeau to win it.

MAPLE LEAFS 4, JETS 3 >> Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 21st goal of the season 59 seconds into overtime and Toronto beat Winnipeg to snap a three-game losing streak.

HURRICANES 5, PREDATORS 1 >> Morgan Geekie scored his first two goals of the season and Carolina used a rapid-fire scoring spree in the first period to defeat Nashville.

RED WINGS 6, LIGHTNING 4 >> Anthony Mantha scored a tiebreaking goal late in the first period, Jonathan Bernier stopped a season-high 40 shots and Detroit beat Tampa Bay.