WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored his 888th career goal to continue his pursuit of the NHL record, and the Washington Capitals moved to the verge of clinching a playoff berth by beating the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Thursday night.
Ovechkin beat Samuel Ersson with 5:35 left in the first period to move eight goals back of of 894. Chants of “Ovi! Ovi!†filled the arena as the goal counter in one corner flipped from 887 to 888.
Brandon Duhaime and Andrew Mangiapane also scored and Charlie Lindgren made 27 saves for the Capitals, who awaited other results from around the league to see if they become the first team to wrap up a playoff spot this season. Washington has won eight of its last nine games to reach 100 points and pass Winnipeg atop the standings.
The Flyers have gone the other way, losing nine of 11 to plunge into last place in the Metropolitan Division. Ryan Poehling and Sean Couturier scored, and Ersson allowed three goals on 16 shots.
PANTHERS 1, BLUE JACKETS 0, OT
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Aleksander Barkov scored a power-play goal 29 seconds into overtime and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 shots for his 49th career shutout to lead Florida to a victory over Columbus.
The win snapped a two-game road losing streak and kept Florida level with Toronto atop the Atlantic Division.
Florida swept the season series between the teams and has won eight straight against Columbus since Dec. 13, 2022.
Elvis Merzlikins, back in the lineup after missing two games for the birth of his second child, made 27 saves for Columbus, which has lost five straight and has fallen out of the Eastern Conference wild-card race.
MAPLE LEAFS 4, RANGERS 3
NEW YORK (AP) — John Tavares scored twice and an added an assist, and Anthony Stolarz made 27 saves as Toronto defeated the New York Rangers.
Bobby McMann and Matthew Knies also scored to help Toronto win its third straight game. Jake McCabe had three assists and William Nylander contributed two.
Will Borgen, Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider scored for the Rangers, who lost their third game in a row at home in regulation and fell to 2-5-2 in their last nine overall.
AVALANCHE 5, SENATORS 1
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon, Brock Nelson, Cale Makar and Joel Kiviranta all scored in Colorado’s first-period barrage and the Avalanche cruised to a victory over Ottawa.
Nelson finished with two goals — his first two since being acquired by Colorado from the New York Islanders — and Scott Wedgewood made 15 saves.
Wedgewood’s shutout bid being ended by Dylan Cozens’ power-play goal with 4:41 left in the game.
The Avalanche chased Linus Ullmark from the game just 17:29 in after he allowed four goals on 13 shots.
It was the Senators’ second straight loss following a six-game winning streak.
Nelson scored his second of the night on the power play 1:54 into the middle frame after tipping Artturi Lehkonen’s shot to beat Anton Forsberg, who allowed one goal on 19 shots in relief of Ullmark.
FLAMES 5, DEVILS 3
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jonathan Huberdeau scored with 3:20 left to play to lift Calgary to a come-from-behind 5-3 victory over New Jersey.
Matt Coronato, Connor Zary, Daniil Miromanov and Nazem Kadri also had goals for Calgary, which erased a two-goal deficit in the third period with four unanswered goals for its second straight road win.
Rookie Dustin Wolfe made 26 saves in the victory.
Nico Hischier recorded a goal and an assist for the Devils, extending his points streak to five straight games. Erik Haula and Paul Cotter also scored and Jacob Markstrom stopped 23 shots.
With the Flames trailing 3-2, Miromanov tied it with his second goal of the season on assists from Blake Coleman and Joel Farabee with 4:20 left. Huberdeau’s unassisted snap shot one minute later put Calgary up with his 26th goal of the season.
Kadri closed it out for the Flames with an empty-netter with 12 seconds left.
BLUES 4, CANUCKS 3, OT
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Philip Broberg scored 3:42 into overtime and St. Louis beat the Vancouver for their fourth straight victory.
Tyler Tucker and Dylan Holloway scored 24 seconds apart for the Blues in the third period. Zack Bolduc also had a goal, and Jordan Binnington made 15 saves as St. Louis moved two points ahead of Vancouver for the second wild card in the Western Conference.
Brock Boeser scored twice and Kiefer Sherwood also had a goal in the third period for the Canucks. Boeser’s second goal tied it 3-all with 4 seconds left in regulation.
Kevin Lankinen stopped 25 shots for Vancouver, which is 8-8-0 in its last 16 games.
Lankinen was pulled for an extra attacker when Boeser scored his 22nd goal of the season to tie it at 3.
St. Louis pulled ahead 3-2 when Holloway scored his 23rd goal 9:52 into the third, just 24 seconds after Tucker tied the game with his third of the season. Holloway has three goals and five assists during a five-game point streak. Jordan Kyrou’s assist gave him at least one point in four straight games.
Boeser scored his first goal of the game 6:35 into the third period to put Vancouver ahead 2-1. Boeser has scored four goals over his last two games after snapping a 12-game drought Tuesday night against Winnipeg.
LIGHTNING 3, STARS 2, SO
DALLAS (AP) — Gage Goncalves scored Tampa Bay’s third goal in the fourth round of the shootout and the Lightning beat Dallas.
Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli had a goal and an assist each for the Lightning, who have won three consecutive games. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves through overtime and two in the shootout.
Oskar Back and Mason Marchment scored for the Stars, whose eight-game home winning streak was snapped. Casey DeSmith tied a season high with 36 saves through overtime but his career-long six-game winning streak came to an end.
Goncalves scored his first shootout goal this season after Vasilevskiy made a glove save on Mikko Rantanen.
Cirelli followed Hagel’s first-period goal scoring on a rebound at 7:20 of the second period to give the Lightning a 2-0 lead. Back’s deflection 38 seconds later started Dallas’ comeback. Marchment tied the score about six minutes later with a jab over the goal line with one second left on a power play.
KINGS 3, BLACKHAWKS 1
CHICAGO (AP) — Trevor Moore and Alex Turcotte scored in the first period, and Los Angeles held on to beat Chicago Blackhawks for their sixth win in seven games.
Joel Edmundson fired from deep in the Kings’ zone and scored into an empty net with 19 seconds left to seal the win.
Darcy Kuemper made 17 saves in his fifth straight start to help Los Angeles tighten its grip on a playoff spot. Kuemper has allowed just four goals and has two shutouts in his five-game run.
Connor Bedard scored for the second straight game, netting his 19th goal, as the Blackhawks lost their season-high sixth straight (0-5-1). Chicago has been outscored 25-9 during its slide. Spencer Knight stopped 30 shots.
Los Angeles outshot Chicago 19-7 in a dominant first period and took a 2-0 lead on goals by Moore and Turcotte 59 seconds apart.
ISLANDERS 4, CANADIENS 3, OT
NEW YORK (AP) — Bo Horvat scored his second goal of the game 3:37 into overtime to lift the New York Islanders past Montreal for their third straight victory.
Ilya Sorokin made 38 saves and had his first two assists of the season, the first Islanders goalie with multiple points in a game. Anthony Duclair and Simon Holmstrom also had goals for the Islanders, who moved within two points of the Canadiens for the second wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
New York is 7-3-1 in its last 11 since a four-game skid and has won three in a row for the first time since a 7-0 run spanning Jan. 18 to Feb. 1.
Brendan Gallagher tied it for Montreal with 14:16 left after the Canadiens trailed 3-1 early in the third period. Patrik Laine had a goal and an assist and Joshua Roy also scored for the Canadiens. Sam Montembeault made 21 saves.
DUCKS 4, PREDATORS 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Trevor Zegras had a goal and an assist on his 24th birthday, John Gibson made 33 saves and Anaheim defeated Nashville.
Jackson LaCombe, Troy Terry and Alex Killorn also scored for the Ducks. Mason McTavish added two assists.
Steven Stamkos gave Nashville a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal in the first period. It was the 578th goal of Stamkos’ career, passing Mark Recchi for 22nd place in NHL history.
Gibson made his first start after missing seven games with a lower-body injury. It was just his fourth appearance since a 26-save performance in a 2-1 victory over Dallas on Feb. 4.Â
UTAH HOCKEY CLUB 5, SABRES 2
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Dylan with 5:47 to play to put the Utah ahead to stay in a win over Buffalo.
Guenther’s team-leading 25th goal of the season gave Utah a 3-2 lead before the team added a pair of empty-netters.
Mikhail Sergachev had two goals, including one of the empty-netters, and Logan Cooley also scored a goal. Karel Vejmelka stopped 25 shots.
JJ Peterka scored a goal for the Sabres in his return to the lineup after missing three games with a lower-body injury. His power-play goal came with 11 seconds left in the first period.
Ryan McLeod also scored a short-handed goal for Buffalo and James Reimer had 27 saves.
JETS 4, OILERS 3, OT
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Kyle Connor scored 1:13 into overtime to lift Winnipeg to a victory over Edmonton, and Stuart Skinner to injuries.
Cole Perfetti, Josh Morrissey and Brandon Tanev also scored for the Jets, who have won four of their last five. Connor Hellebuyck made 20 saves.Â
Jeff Skinner had a pair of goals and Zach Hyman also scored for the Oilers, whose three-game winning streak was snapped.
McDavid suffered a lower-body injury and was ruled out by the team from playing in the third period. He appeared to get hurt while attempting to chase down the puck in the Jets’ zone .
In the second period, McDavid assisted on Skinner’s goal to extend his point streak to 13 games.
Skinner made 13 saves for the Oilers before being involved in a late-game collision and removed due to concussion protocols. Calvin Pickard stopped three shots in Skinner’s place.
The injuries came with the Oilers already playing without Leon Draisaitl, the NHL’s leading goal scorer who’s day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 5, BRUINS 1
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Pavel Dorofeyev scored three times for his second career hat trick and Las Vegas beat Boston.
Dorofeyev’s first hat trick came in a 5-3 loss at Nashville on Jan. 14.
Brett Howden and Ivan Barbashev also scored for Vegas, which extended its Pacific Division lead to three points over Edmonton. Adin Hill made 18 saves.
Hill came close to his fifth shutout this season, but Morgan Geekie scored his 24th goal for Boston with 2:11 left.
Jeremy Swayman stopped 27 shots for the Bruins, who lost their fourth in a row. With 12 games remaining, the Bruins are five points back of the second wild-card slot in the Eastern Conference.
HURRICANES 3, SHARKS 1
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis and Sean Walker each scored a goal, Frederik Andersen made 24 saves and Carolina extended their winning streak to eight games with a victory over San Jose.
The Hurricanes broke a 1-all tie on Aho’s 26th goal less than five minutes into the third period. Walker scored at 14:18 to make it 3-1.
The Sharks took an early lead on William Eklund’s short-handed goal 13 minutes into the first. Carolina tied it midway through the second on Jarvis’ 27th goal.
San Jose goalie Georgi Romanov stopped 26 shots in his first NHL start.
Luca Cagnoni made his debut for San Jose, becoming the first defenseman from the 2023 draft to appear in an NHL game.
Carolina forward Mark Jankowski played in his 400th NHL game.
