Ovechkin, Capitals take down Crosby and Penguins
PITTSBURGH — Alex Ovechkin scored a power-play goal during Washington’s fast start, and the Capitals beat Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Ovechkin and Crosby faced off for the 67th time in the regular season. Crosby finished with a goal and an assist, but Washington held on after racing out to a 4-0 lead.
It was the 10th time that Ovechkin and Crosby scored in the same game, and first since a Capitals win on Nov. 7, 2018.
Martin Fehervary, Tom Wilson and Beck Malenstyn also scored for Washington, which had dropped four in a row. Darcy Kuemper made 33 saves.
Ovechkin got his eighth of the season and No. 830 for his career, which is 65 from passing Wayne Gretzky’s league record of 894 goals.
The Russian winger also surpassed Ray Bourque for the seventh-most points by a player with one franchise in NHL history.
Crosby scored his 21st of the season, a power-play goal in the second period. He has 1,540 points, passing Joe Thornton for 12th on the NHL’S career points list.
Washington has points in 11 of its last 14 games overall. It improved to 11-1-6 in games decided by one goal.
Jake Guentzel scored his 17th goal for Pittsburgh, and Rickard Rakell picked up his third. The Penguins had won three in a row.
Tristan Jarry allowed three goals on seven first-period shots before he was replaced by Alex Nedeljkovic. Nedeljkovic stopped 14 shots.
■ Canadiens 4, Stars 3: At Dallas, Kaiden Guhle and Jordan Harris added to Montreal’s league-leading 30 goals from defensemen and Sam Montembeault stopped 31 shots.
■ Bruins 4, Blue Jackets 1: At Columbus, Ohio, James van Riemsdyk scored on a power play and added two assists for Boston, which extended its win streak to four games.
■ Jets 4, Lightning 2: At Winnipeg, Manitoba, Nikolaj Ehlers and Morgan Barron scored in the third period as Winnipeg extended its point streak to nine games.
■ Predators 3, Blackhawks 0: At Nashville, Tenn., Gustav Nyquist and Ryan O’reilly each had a goal an an assist to back Juuse Saros, who made 21 saves.
■ Canucks 6, Senators 3: At Vancouver, British Columbia, Elias Pettersson and Pius Suter each scored twice as Vancouver led 5-0 after the first period.
■ Avalanche 5, Islanders 4: At Denver, Nathan Mackinnon scored a power-play goal 32 seconds into overtime to score his 20th of the season.
■ Oilers 5, Flyers 2: At Edmonton, Alberta Connor Mcdavid had a goal and four assists as Edmonton extended its win streak to six games.
■ Maple Leafs 3, Kings 0: At Los Angeles, William Nylander had two goals to back Martin Jones, who earned his 30th career shutout.
■ Flames 3, Wild 1: At St. Paul, Minn., Andrew Mangiapane and Jonathan Huberdeau each scored first-period goals for Calgary.
■ Panthers 4, Coyotes 1: At Tempe, Ariz., Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk scored 42 seconds apart in the third period.
■ Hurricanes 6, Rangers 1: At New York, Andrei Svechnikov scored twice to back Pyotr Kochetkov, who made 28 saves.
■ Red Wings 5, Sharks 3: At San Jose, Calif., Former Golden Knights player David Perron scored two goals for Detroit.