SCOREFEST IN D.C.
Laughton’s hat trick propels Flyers to win over Capitals
WASHINGTON — Scott Laughton scored his first career hat trick, Sean Couturier had two goals in his first game back following a rib injury and the Philadelphia Flyers pulled away for a 7-4 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
James van Riemsdyk added a goal and an assist, running his points streak to seven games, while helping Philadelphia overcome an early 2-0 deficit.
Robert Hagg scored his first goal of the season in Philadelphia’s first win in regulation in five games, and first win overall in three. Joel Farabee had three assists, and Carter Hart made 33 saves.
“It’s a big win after losing those two games the way we did to Boston,” Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said regarding blown third-period leads.
Alex Ovechkin scored two goals and had two assists for Washington, which lost its third straight despite outshooting Philadelphia 37-23.
“I thought we generated enough chances, I thought we could’ve scored more. There’s a few that didn’t bounce our way,” Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. “I don’t think it was a barrage coming at us defensively, but they capitalized on the chances that they did get.”
Tom Wilson added a goal and recorded three assists for the first time in his career, and Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and two assists for the Capitals.
Vitek Vanecek stopped 10 of 14 shots before he was pulled for Craig Anderson after van Reimsdyk gave Philadelphia its first lead late in the second period.
BLACKHAWKS 2, STARS 1 (OT): In Dallas, Alex DeBrincat scored both Chicago goals, including the winner 2:56 into overtime, as the Blackhawks handed Dallas its first home loss this season.
DeBrincat has four goals and two assists in three games since his return after missing four games because of COVID-19 protocols. He initially passed to Patrick Kane,
and got it back to poke into the net past rookie goaltender Jake Oettinger. Kane also assisted on DeBrincat’s power-play goal in the second period.
Dallas won its first four games, all at home, after the start of its season was delayed because of COVID-19 issues.
HURRICANES 6, BLUE JACKETS 5: In Columbus, Ohio, six Carolina players scored, James Reimer had 17 stops and the Hurricanes outdueled Columbus.
Brett Pesce, Vincent Trocheck, Jordan Staal and Dougie Hamilton each recorded a goal and an assist. Brock McGinn and Warren Foegele also scored for the Hurricanes.
The game was tied four times until Staal’s power-play goal put Carolina up 5-4 at 5:33 of the third period, and Hamilton’s floater over Joonas Korpisalo midway through gave the Hurricanes a two-goal lead. Patrik Laine’s second goal, with 57 seconds left in the game, got the Blue Jackets within one again.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4, KINGS 3: In Las Vegas, Nev., Chandler Stephenson scored twice, including the winner early in the third period, as Vegas beat Los Angeles.
The Golden Knights improved to 7-1-1 and moved into a first-place tie with St. Louis and Colorado in the West Division.
Reilly Smith and Zach Whitecloud also scored for Vegas. Robin Lehner overcame a wild first period and made 29 saves, including all 11 he faced on four penalty kills.
RED WINGS 4, PANTHERS 1: In Sunrise, Fla., Givani Smith had a goal and an assist as Detroit beat Florida for its first win in nine games.
Marc Staal scored for the first time with Detroit, Robby Fabbri and Vladislav Namestnikov added goals and Troy Stecher had two assists. Thomas Greiss stopped 36 shots.
Alex Wennberg scored for the Panthers. Florida (6-1-2) became the last NHL team to lose in regulation.