Ovechkin moves up points list as Capitals blow out Penguins
Alex Ovechkin scored his 840th career goal and added an assist as the Washington Capitals drilled the reeling Pittsburgh Penguins 6-0 on Thursday night.
Ovechkin's two points pushed him past Hall of Fame defenseman Paul Coffey and into 15th on the NHL's career scoring list. The Russian superstar has 1,532 career points, one shy of Hall of Fame forward Mark Recchi in 14th.
The 38-year-old's 10th goal in his last 15 games — a rebound early in the second period that put visiting Washington firmly in control — moved him to within 54 goals of Wayne Gretzky's NHL record career total of 894.
DEVILS 4, BLUES 1 >> Timo Meier scored three goals and added an assist on an empty-net goal by Erik Haula and the Devils beat visiting St. Louis, giving New Jersey interim coach Travis Green his first win since replacing Lindy Ruff earlier this week. Linemates Nico Hischier and Ondrej Palat each had two assists as the underperforming Devils snapped a three-game losing streak and won for only the fourth time in 11 games.
BRUINS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 1 >> Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves and Boston beat a weary Toronto team. David Pastrnak, Trent Frederic, Morgan Geekie and Brandon Carlo scored to help Boston win for the 20th time at home ice this season. At 37-13-15, the Bruins trail Atlantic Division rival Florida by a point for the NHL lead.
BLUE JACKETS 4, OILERS 2 >> Matthew Olivier, Alex Nylander and Dmitri Vornkov scored in the first period and Columbus snapped Edmonton's five-game winning streak. Jack Roslovic had an emptynetter with 20 seconds left and Daniil Tarasov stopped 29 shots for Columbus, which has won three of its last four but remains last in the Metropolitan Division.
FLAMES 6, LIGHTNING 3 >> Yegor Sharangovich had two goals and two assists, Jacob Markstrom made 18 saves and Calgary won at Tampa Bay, its sixth win in seven games.
HURRICANES 4, CANADIENS 1 >> Brady Skjei scored two goals, Frederik Andersen made 24 saves after a fourmonth absence and Carolina beat visiting Montreal. The Hurricanes were on the verge of making a high-profile deal. Carolina forward Michael Bunting was scratched because of what the team called “trade-related reasons.”
FLYERS 2, PANTHERS 1 >> Garnet Hathaway scored off a rebound with 22 seconds left to give Philadelphia a victory at Florida. The Panthers had won seven in a row.
PRE-DEADLINE DEALS >> With one sleep left before the NHL trade deadline, the Toronto Maple Leafs joined the party Thursday by bulking up on defense, while two Western Conference Stanley Cup contenders made more moves to improve in crucial areas.
Colorado acquired a pair of versatile forwards from Central Division rivals, Brandon Duhaime from Minnesota and Yakov Trenin from Nashville, Edmonton got defenseman Troy Stecher from Arizona and Toronto received Joel Edmundson from Washington.