Ovechkin’s hat trick lifts Capitals over Red Wings
Bruins rally to beat Coyotes; Canucks top Blue Jackets
WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin scored his 21st hat trick and first this season to lift the Washington Capitals over the Detroit Red Wings 6-2 on Tuesday night.
Ovechkin entered the night as the NHL’s goal leader and stretched his total to 25 through 30 games, halfway to a potential eighth 50-goal season.
Nicklas Backstrom had four assists to help Washington get its third straight victory and 10th in 12 games.
BRUINS 4, COYOTES 3: In Boston, Brad Marchand scored two goals and assisted on another during a four-goal, second-period flurry to lead Boston over Arizona.
Arizona led 2-0 before Boston scored four times in five minutes, starting when Danton Heinen and David Pastrnak delivered 33 seconds apart. Marchand gave the Bruins the lead two minutes later, and then added another two minutes after that to make it 4-2.
CANUCKS 3, BLUE JACKETS 2: In Columbus, Ohio, Jake Virtanen scored the tie-breaking goal with less than two minutes remaining and Jacob Markstrom stopped 34 shots as Vancouver rallied to beat Columbus.
Elias Pettersson got credit for a goal that went in off his skate to tie it with about 3:04 left, and Virtanen’s goal put the Canucks ahead 78 seconds later. WILD 7, CANADIENS 1: In St. Paul, Minn., Matt Dumba scored twice, Devan Dubnyk made 29 saves and Minnesota took out some recent frustrations on Montreal.
The Wild scored four times in the second period to recover from a lousy swing through Western Canada, when Minnesota dropped two of three and lost captain Mikko Koivu to injury.
JETS 6, BLACKHAWKS 3: In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Kyle Connor scored twice and Winnipeg gave Chicago its eighth straight loss.
Mark Scheifele and Tyler Myers each had a goal and assist, Mathieu Perreault scored and Brandon Tanev added an empty-net goal for Winnipeg (19-9-2).
BLUES 4, PANTHERS 3: In St. Louis, Brayden Schenn capped St. Louis’ fourgoal third period as the Blues beat Florida.
David Perron had two goals, and Ivan Barbashev also scored for St. Louis, which had lost three of four and eight of its last 11. Jake Allen stopped 22 shots to improve to 2-4-0 in his career against Florida.
PREDATORS 3, SENATORS 1: In Nashville, Tenn., Ryan Ellis scored his first game-winning goal of the season, Pekka Rinne made 25 saves and Nashville defeated Ottawa.
OILERS 6, AVALANCHE 4: In Denver, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored twice as part of Edmonton’s four-goal second period, Mikko Koskinen stopped 39 shots and the Oilers extended their winning streak to four games with a victory over Colorado.
MAPLE LEAFS 4, HURRICANES 1: In Raleigh, N.C., William Nylander had two assists and Morgan Rielly scored the goahead goal to lift Toronto over Carolina.
SABRES 4, KINGS 3, OT: In Buffalo, N.Y., Jeff Skinner scored a power-play goal 1:49 into overtime and Buffalo overcame a 3-1 deficit in the third period to beat Los Angeles.