NHL roundup: Alex Ovechkin reaches 800-goal mark to make history as Caps blast Blackhawks
Washington extended its winning streak to five games while sending the Blackhawks to their 12th loss in the last 13 games.
Superstar Ovechkin achieved the 800-goal plateau in dramatic fashion, and notched his 29th career hat trick and became just the third player in NHL history to reach 800 goals.
Ovechkin scored twice in the first period and netted No. 800 in the third. He now sits one behind Gordie Howe for second on the all-time goals list. Wayne Gretzky is the leader with 894.
Just 24 seconds into Tuesday's game, Ovechkin got Washington on the board with his 18th goal of the season. About eight minutes later, Ovechkin doubled the visitors' lead with a power-play tally. He completed the hat trick - goal No. 800 - to give the Capitals a 5-2 lead at the 6:34 mark of the final period.
Ovechkin reached the 800-goal mark in his 1,305th game, while Gretzky achieved the feat in 1,116 games. It took Howe 1,748 games.
Ovechkin stands alone in sixth with his 29 hat tricks, 21 behind Gretzky, the all-time leader. The Capitals' captain has reached the 20-goal mark in each of his 18 seasons.
Washington's other goals came from Trevor van Riemsdyk, Nic Dowd, Anthony Mantha and Dmitry Orlov. Tyler Johnson, Jonathan Toews and Maxi Domi scored for Chicago.
Bruins 4, Islanders 3 (SO)
Jake DeBrusk had two goals and one assist and set the stage for David Pastrnak's shootout winner as Boston edged visiting New York.
Derek Forbort also scored, and Pavel Zacha had two assists for Boston, which is 15-0-1 on home ice this season and 3-1 in its last four games. Linus Ullmark made 23 saves and stopped the last two shootout attempts. Josh Bailey had the final try stopped after Pastrnak snapped in his third-round winner.
Bailey and Noah Dobson led the Islanders with a goal and an assist apiece, while Brock Nelson dished out two helpers. Casey Cizikas also scored. Semyon Varlamov stopped 30 shots, including nine in the third period and six in overtime.
Sabers 6, Kings 0
Craig Anderson made 40 saves, and Buffalo exploded for six third-period goals in a shutout of visiting Los Angeles.
The game was scoreless until Tage Thompson's power-play marker at 1:21 of the third period. That tally opened the floodgates for the 14th six-goal period in Sabres history, and the second such outburst within the last week. Thompson had two goals and an assist and Dylan Cozens recorded three assists.
In other multi-point efforts, Victor Olofsson and Alex Tuch each collected a goal and an assist and Rasmus Asplund had two assists. Peyton Krebs and JJ Peterka scored Buffalo's other goals. Pheonix Copley stopped 25 of 31 shots.
Maple Leafs 7, Ducks 0
Ilya Samsonov made 28 saves to earn his second shutout of the season and Alexander Kerfoot scored twice as Toronto defeated visiting Anaheim.
It was the second straight shutout for Samsonov and the eighth of his career. The Maple Leafs have recorded three shutouts in their past four games, the other backstopped by Matt Murray.
The Ducks were shut out for the second consecutive game. They've lost the first two games of a five-game road trip that started Monday against the Ottawa Senators. Mitchell Marner had two assists to extend his team-record point streak to 23 games (11 goals, 21 assists).
Lightning 6, Kraken 2
Corey Perry, Brayden Point and Ross Colton scored on three straight shots in the second period as Tampa Bay blasted visiting Seattle.
Point and Colton each finished with a goal and an assist, while Ian Cole, Erik Cernak and Steven Stamkos also scored for Tampa Bay, which improved to 8-2-0 in its past 10 home contests. Nikita Kucherov eclipsed the 400-assist plateau with three helpers. Mikhail Sergachev had two assists to pass 200 points. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 36 shots.
Seattle's Jared McCann and Ryan Donato scored. Philipp Grubauer allowed four goals on 20 shots before being pulled at 14:12 of the second. Martin Jones made eight saves in relief.
Panthers 4, Blue Jackets 0
Sam Reinhart had one goal and two assists and Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves to lead Florida to a victory over Columbus in Sunrise, Fla.
Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk each added one goal and one assist for Florida. Brandon Montour also scored for the Panthers, who got two assists from Gustav Forsling. The Panthers broke their two-game skid.
Bobrovsky, who led the NHL with 39 wins last year but has struggled this season, improved to 6-8-1. It was his first shutout of the season and the 38th of his career. He is also 9-2-1 against Columbus, his former team. Elvis Merzlikins made 22 saves for the Blue Jackets, who had their two-game winning streak snapped.
Stars 4, Devils 1
Scott Wedgewood made 35 saves against his former team and Roope Hintz scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period as Dallas beat New Jersey in Newark, N.J.
Wedgewood, who appeared in 23 games over parts of three seasons for the Devils, made 19 saves in the second before stopping two Jesper Bratt backhanders early in the third. He also denied Jack Hughes twice as the New Jersey star saw his career-high eight-game point streak stopped.
Ty Dellandrea also scored for the Stars, while Esa Lindell and Mason Marchment added empty-net goals. Miles Wood scored the tying goal for the Devils, who are on their first three-game losing streak (0-2-1) after blowing a pair of two-goal leads in Monday's 4-3 overtime loss to the host New York Rangers.
Hurricanes 1, Red Wings 0
Pyotr Kochetkov became the first rookie in franchise history to record back-to-back shutouts as Carolina edged host Detroit.
Kochetkov made 27 saves in his third shutout of the season. Brady Skjei scored the only goal on a power play late in the first period as the Hurricanes finished a six-game road trip with a 5-0-1 mark.
Ville Husso stopped 26 shots for Detroit. Red Wings center and team captain Dylan Larkin missed the third period due to a hand injury.
Oilers 6, Predators 3
Zach Hyman recorded his first career hat trick and added an assist, while linemates Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid combined for nine points, as visiting Edmonton won its eighth straight over Nashville.
Draisaitl topped the 20-goal mark for a seventh straight season, with two goals plus three assists Tuesday. McDavid posted a goal and three assists to extend his point streak to 10 games.
Cody Glass, Ryan Johansen and Dante Fabbro each scored for the Predators, who are stuck in an 0-3-1 rut. Nashville showed some offense after totaling four goals in its previous three contests, but it went 0-for-5 on the power play. Jack Campbell made 29 saves for the Oilers, while Kevin Lankinen had 31 for Nashville.
Golden Knights 6, Jets 5
Jonathan Marchessault scored two power-play goals, including the go-ahead score with 2:16 remaining, and Mark Stone also scored twice to lead visiting Vegas to a victory over Winnipeg.
It was Stone's 23rd career two-goal game. Defenseman Daniil Miromanov scored his first career goal and had two assists, Chandler Stephenson finished with four assists and William Karlsson had a goal and an assist for Vegas. Reilly Smith added two assists and Adin Hill made 29 saves as the Western Conference-leading Golden Knights improved to 13-2-1 on the road.
Mark Scheifele scored his sixth career hat trick for Winnipeg, which lost its second straight game. Morgan Barron and Sam Gagner also scored goals and Brenden Dillon added two assists while Connor Hellebuyck finished with 27 saves.
Avalanche 3, Flyers 2
Artturi Lehkonen and J.T. Compher had a goal and an assist each, Devon Toews also scored and Colorado beat Philadelphia in Denver.
Pavel Francouz had 26 saves for the Avalanche, who kicked off a five-game homestand with their second straight win.
James van Riemsdyk and Cam York scored, and Felix Sandstrom turned away 22 shots for Philadelphia, which has lost four in a row.
Sharks 3, Coyotes 2
Tomas Hertl and Nick Bonino scored in the first five minutes and San Jose held on for a win against visiting Arizona.
Nico Sturm also scored, Scott Harrington had two assists and James Reimer made 20 saves in his first game for San Jose since sustaining an undisclosed injury against the Los Angeles Kings on Nov. 25.
Lawson Crouse and Nick Bjugstad scored, and Karel Vejmelka made 30 saves for the Coyotes, who were trying to win three in a row.