Capitals claim 13th-straight home win
Williams’ strike sees Washington beat Edmonton to tie franchise record for consecutive victories
>> WASHINGTON: Justin Williams and Tom Wilson scored as the Washington Capitals beat the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 on Friday to tie the franchise record with their 13th consecutive home victory.
Williams’ game-winner in the third period was his 19th of the season. Washington’s streak of home games with five-plus goals ended at 11, but Braden Holtby made 30 saves to pad the team’s lead atop the NHL.
Evgeny Kuznetsov didn’t have a point but was arguably the Capitals’ best player against Edmonton. They have now outscored opponents 64-20 during their home winning streak.
Leon Draisaitl scored his teamleading 23rd goal of the season for Edmonton, who got 24 saves from goaltender Cam Talbot.
HURRICANES 3, SENATORS 0
In Raleigh, Eddie Lack stopped 34 shots for his ninth career shut-out to help Carolina snap a five-game skid.
Jordan Staal, Elias Lindholm and Viktor Stalberg scored, and Phillip DiGiuseppe had two assists as Carolina, 0-4-1 in their last five, moved out of last place in the Eastern Conference.
Lack (2-3-1) was making just his sixth start of the season due to concussion issues.
Craig Anderson finished with 41 saves for Ottawa, who snapped a three-game road winning streak. The Senators squandered a chance to move into first place in the Atlantic Division.
Ottawa captain Erik Karlsson moved past Kyle Turris into sole possession of second place on the franchise’s consecutive games played list with 308.
FLAMES 4, PANTHERS 2
In Sunrise, Chad Johnson made 36 saves during his first start in five games to lead Calgary to their third consecutive victory.
Troy Brouwer, Mikael Backlund, Deryk Engelland and Sam Bennett had the goals for the Flames, who scored three straight in less than five minutes midway through the first period.
Aleksander Barkov and Nick Bjugstad scored for the Panthers. Roberto Luongo stopped 24 shots in his first start in three games.
The Panthers, coming off the first five-game road sweep in franchise history, have lost two in a row.
STARS 5, COYOTES 2
In Denver, Jamie Benn scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period, and Dallas beat Arizona.
Jordie Benn sent a long pass to his brother at the left side of the net. Jamie Benn took the puck behind the cage and scored on a wraparound before Arizona goalie Louis Domingue could move across to the right.
Radim Vrbata scored in the first period for the Coyotes, and Martin Hanzal in the second on an assist from Vrbata. Domingue stopped 32 shots.
Dallas replied with a goal by Devin Shore in the first period and another by John Klingberg on the power play to tie the game at 2 after two periods.
Lauri Korpikoski and Cody Eakin added third-period goals for Dallas. Kari Lehtonen made 25 saves.
Jamie Benn and Shore each had a goal and an assist. Esa Lindell had two assists.
FIVE CANUCKS QUARANTINED
The Vancouver Canucks said on Friday that defenceman Troy Stecher was diagnosed with mumps and several other National Hockey League players have shown symptoms of the virus.
The players with symptoms are undergoing tests and quarantined in isolation for a five-day period from the onset of symptoms.
“We’re taking this very seriously given how easily mumps can spread,” said Canucks general manager Jim Benning.
“At this point, Troy Stecher is the only player with a confirmed test result. Chris Tanev, Nikita Tryamkin, Mike Chaput and Markus Granlund have each presented symptoms.
“We’ll continue to follow all protocols in accordance with [health] guidelines in order to prevent further infection.”
In 2014, nine NHL players were diagnosed with the mumps, but there have been no cases since until Friday’s discovery.
Mumps is a virus that causes swollen and tender glands, particularly the salivary gland. It also causes flu-like symptoms such as fever and body aches.