Ovechkin gets 45th in Capitals win over Rangers
Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals used a fast start to end a perfect road trip.
Ovechkin scored his NHLleading 45th goal and the Capitals extended their winning streak to four games with a 4-2 victory over the New York Rangers on Monday night.
T.J. Oshie, Matt Niskanen and Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored for Washington, which went 3-0 at Detroit, Montreal and Madison Square Garden.
Nicklas Backstrom, who had four assists in a win over Montreal on Saturday, added two more to give him 44 this season. Philipp Grubauer made 28 saves.
“Tonight we got really loose in the second two periods there, they really took it to us,” Oshie said. “Without Grub, we might be in overtime right now.”
Washington increased its lead to five points over twotime defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
“We’ve still got to keep going and keep getting points every night,” Oshie said.
Lias Andersson scored in his NHL debut and Mats Zuccarello added a goal for the Rangers.
Andersson, at 19 years, 164 days, became the youngest player in team history to score in his NHL debut. He broke the mark set by Mike Allison (19 years, 195 days) on Oct. 9, 1980, at Boston.
“It feels good, obviously,” Andersson said. “It’s always fun to score and especially in your first NHL game, so it was fun.”
The Capitals scored four goals in the first period and cruised from there.
PANTHERS 3, ISLANDERS 0
NEW YORK — Evgenii Dadonov had a goal and an assist, and James Reimer stopped 32 shots for his fourth shutout of the season as Florida moved closer to a playoff spot by blanking the reeling New York Islanders.
COYOTES 4, LIGHTNING 1
TAMPA, Fla. — Clayton Keller had a goal and an assist to lead Arizona over Tampa Bay.
The Lightning played without captain Steven Stamkos, who missed the game with an undisclosed lower-body injury.
CANADIENS 4, RED WINGS 2
MONTREAL — Brendan Gallagher scored twice, including his 30th goal of the season, and Carey Price snapped a seven-game losing streak as Montreal defeated skidding Detroit.
Paul Byron and Alex Galchenyuk also scored for the Canadiens in a matchup of Original Six franchises already eliminated from playoff contention.
HURRICANES 4, SENATORS 1
RALEIGH, N.C. — Warren Foegele had a goal and an assist in his NHL debut, and Carolina beat Ottawa.
SABRES 3, MAPLE LEAFS 2
TORONTO — Jack Eichel scored his second goal of the game midway through the third period to help last-place Buffalo end Toronto's clubrecord home winning streak at 13 games.
Casey Nelson had the other goal for Buffalo, which got 39 saves from Chad Johnson.
Patrick Marleau had a goal and an assist, and Nazem Kadri scored for Toronto. Frederik Andersen made 24 stops for the Leafs.