NHL ROUNDUP

Capitals 4, Bruins 2

Nicklas Backstrom scored in the third period after missing a game, helping Washington win its 14th straight over Boston with a victory Thursday night. Backstrom, who sat out Wednesday’s game against Philadelphia with an illness, glided in to the Bruins’ zone and ripped a left-circle wrister past Jaroslav Halak for the go-ahead goal with 14:14 remaining. Alexander Ovechkin netted his NHL-leading 31st and 32nd goals of the season, and also had the highlight hit of the game when he sent Zdeno Chara — the NHL’s tallest player ever at 6-foot-9 — flipping head over heels into the Capitals’ bench on a shove late in the first period. The TD Garden crowd gasped, but play continued and there was no immediate on-ice retaliation. The Bruins captain tumbled back onto the ice quickly and rejoined the play. Jakub Vrana also had a goal for the Capitals, whose streak against the Bruins dates to March 29, 2014. Ryan Donato and David Krejci each had goals for Boston. The Bruins suffered a season-opening 7-0 blowout loss at Washington on Oct. 3 when the Capitals celebrated last season’s Stanley Cup title. Braden Holtby made 39 saves, improving to 12-0-0 against Boston during the Capitals’ streak, and 16-2 in his career against the Bruins. Halak had 18 saves for Boston, which had its five-game win streak snapped. Washington led 1-0 after the first period despite being outshot 17-5. T.J. Oshie grabbed a giveaway by the Bruins and flipped the puck from the Capitals’ end to a wide-open Vrana, who beat Halak with 13:22 to play. Tensions boiled over in the second when Washington’s Lars Eller and Boston’s Brad Marchand got tangled up during a play. Eller, whose celebration in front of the Boston bench after scoring the Capitals’ seventh goal in the opener drew postgame criticism from Marchand, was sent to the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct. Donato tied it at 1 with 5:49 to play in the second. But, Ovechkin quieted the TD Garden crowd 39 seconds later when he converted after a feed from behind the net to make it 2-1. Krejci ripped the tying power-play goal past Holtby from the right circle with 15:23 remaining in the third. Ovechkin scored into an empty net with 1:35 left to seal the victory. Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy missed his seventh straight game with a foot infection. He participated fully in Wednesday’s practice and could return for Saturday’s game against Toronto.

Islanders 4, Rangers 3

Josh Bailey scored with 1:26 remaining to lift the Islanders over the Rangers. Cal Clutterbuck found Bailey cutting to the back post, and he beat Henrik Lundqvist to help the Islanders improve to 13-2-0 in the last 15 meetings between the Big Apple rivals. Matt Barzal had a goal and two assists, and Robin Lehner made 27 saves. Jordan Eberle and Anders Lee also scored for the Islanders, and Johnny Boychuk had two assists. Ryan Strome, Kevin Shattenkirk and Jesper Fast scored for the Rangers, who dropped their fifth straight to open 2019. Lundqvist stopped 16 shots. Fast tied it 3-3 midway through the third period by knocking the puck out of the air and past Lehner. That came after Lee put the Islanders ahead 3-2 by redirecting Nick Leddy’s slap shot on the power play early in the second period. Former Islander Strome opened the scoring 1:38 into the game with a power-play goal, but Barzal answered just 53 seconds later with a nifty deke past Lundqvist. The speedy forward has been terrific against the Rangers, recording 14 points in seven games. Barzal will represent the Islanders at All-Star weekend in San Jose. Eberle made it 2-1 five minutes later after mishandling a puck but recovering to snap a wrist shot by Lundqvist. Shattenkirk tied it 2-2 when he scored his second of the season at 1:11 of the middle frame. Lundqvist appeared in his 837th career game, tying Jacques Plante for 12th place on the NHL’s career list. Forward Kevin Hayes missed his fourth straight game with an upper-body injury for the Rangers, and defensemen Tony DeAngelo and Brendan Smith were scratched. The Islanders scratched forwards Michael Dal Colle and Tom Kuhnhackl along with defenseman Lucas Sbisa.