Thursday, December 31, 2015

Recaps of last night's NHL games

CAPITALS 5, SABRES 2

WASHINGTON - Alex Ovechkin scored twice during a four-goal rally in the third period and the Washington Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 on Wednesday night to extend their winning streak to nine games and overtake the Dallas Stars for the NHL points lead.

Marcus Johansson put Washington ahead 8:32 into the final period, and Andre Burakovsky scored 1:24 later. Evgeny Kuznetsov had two assists during the third period. Justin Williams had the Capitals' other goal, in the second.

The Capitals improved to 28-6-2 and moved ahead of Dallas with 58 points.

Kuznetsov set up Ovechkin's tying goal 1:24 into the third with a perfect pass, then set up Johansson for a re-direct during a power play.

Ovechkin's last goal was an empty-netter.

Braden Holtby finished with 25 saves and improved to 16-0-1 in his last 17 games. He has not lost in regulation since Nov. 10.

Brian Gionta and Zemgus Girgensons scored for Buffalo.

SHARKS 4, FLYERS 2

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) Joe Pavelski scored twice in the third period to help San Jose snap a four-game home losing streak by beating Philadelphia.

Pavelski scored the tiebreaker just after a power play with 6:15 left and added a power-play goal in the final minute. Brent Burns and Joe Thornton added power-play goals for the Sharks, who entered with the worst home record in the league at 4-10.

Martin Jones made 17 saves.

Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux scored for the Flyers. Philadelphia has one win in its past 19 meetings against San Jose.

Steve Mason got the late nod to start in goal in place of the sick Michal Neuvirth. He made 29 saves.

RANGERS 5, LIGHTNING 2

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Dominic Moore put New York ahead early in the third period, Dan Boyle had a goal and an assist and the Rangers ended an eight-game road losing streak.

Henrik Lundqvist made 20 saves and moved past Rogie Vachon for 17th place on the NHL's career wins list with 356.

New York was 0-6-2 during the skid. Dan Boyle scored in the first period and Mats Zuccarello in the second. Viktor Stalberg and Rick Nash added empty-netters.

Jonathan Marchessault and Anton Stralman scored for the Lightning. Ben Bishop lost for the first time to the Rangers after winning his first nine games against them. Tampa Bay is 2-2-1 during a six-game homestand.

Moore gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead on a backhander 3:16 into the third after a defensive zone turnover by Tampa Bay. Two of his four goals this season have come against the Lightning.

MAPLE LEAFS 3, PENGUINS 2 (SO)

PITTSBURGH (AP) P.A. Parenteau and Peter Holland scored in the shootout to help Toronto beat Pittsburgh.

Parenteau won it by beating Matt Murray to the glove side with a wrist shot.

David Perron scored for Pittsburgh in the shootout, but Jonathan Bernier stopped Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang. Bernier finished with 39 saves while playing for the second consecutive night.

Dion Phaneuf and Jake Gardiner both scored, and the Maple Leafs rebounded from a 6-3 home loss to the New York Islanders on Tuesday night. Toronto was 0-6-2 in the second game of back-to-backs prior to this win.

Crosby scored his eighth and Chris Kunitz his fifth, and Murray made 34 saves for Pittsburgh.

DEVILS 3, SENATORS 0

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) Mike Cammalleri scored twice, Cory Schneider made 36 saves and New Jersey beat Ottawa.

Andrew Hammond made 18 saves. The Senators lost for the seventh time in 10 games despite outshooting New Jersey 28-11 over the final two periods.

The Devils jumped one point ahead of the Senators and into the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 45 points.

Lee Stempniak had a short-handed empty-net goal with 16 seconds left. Cammalleri scored both his goals in the first period.

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