NHL Capsules

 

WASHINGTON (AP) -Nicklas Backstrom and Jeff Schultz scored a minute apart in the first period, and the Washington Capitals got two goals from Mike Green in a 6-3 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday night.
Alex Ovechkin had a goal and an assist for the Capitals, whose previous four games were decided by one goal. It was only the second time Washington scored as many as six goals; the other was in a 7-1 rout of Toronto on Oct. 29.
Of the Capitals’ NHL-low 10 wins this season, four have been by at least three goals.
Matt Pettinger scored his second goal for Washington, and Backstrom had two assists. The Capitals improved to 4-3-1 under coach Bruce Boudreau.
Todd White had two goals for the Thrashers, who were seeking to move two games over .500 for the first time this season. It was the only time in five games this month that Atlanta failed to earn a point.
Sabres 7, Sharks 1
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Ales Kotalik, Tim Connolly, Michael Ryan and Paul Gaustad scored in the second period and Buffalo added to San Jose’s home woes.
Gaustad scored twice and Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek also added goals for Buffalo, which enjoyed its best offensive showing on the road this season, two nights after losing 8-2 in Los Angeles.
The seven goals allowed were a season high for San Jose.
Sandis Ozolinsh scored for the Sharks, who had a four-game winning streak snapped, in the first meeting between the two teams in San Jose in nearly five years.
Penguins 2, Canucks 1
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) – Defenseman Kris Letang scored his second straight shootout winner in the sixth round, lifting Pittsburgh over Vancouver.
Former Canucks backup Dany Sabourin made 35 saves for the Penguins in regulation and overtime, then stopped five of six in the shootout as Pittsburgh won for the seventh time in eight games.
Petr Sykora scored in regulation for the Penguins, who completed a three-game sweep of their first trip through Western Canada since Sidney Crosby joined the team. Crosby was held pointless for a second straight game for the first time this season.
Roberto Luongo made 31 saves, but Erik Christensen and Letang both beat him with dekes in the shootout.
Ryan Kesler tied the game early in the third period for the Canucks, who lost for just the second time in seven games.
Bruins 2, Maple Leafs 1
TORONTO (AP) – Chuck Kobasew and Dennis Wideman scored goals and Alex Auld earned his first victory with Boston.
Toronto, which had won four in a row, outshot the Bruins but solved Auld just once. He made his first start since being acquired from Phoenix on Thursday, to fill in for the injured Tim Thomas, and allowed only Jason Blake’s goal.
Auld finished with 25 saves.
Vesa Toskala played well for the Maple Leafs, making 18 saves in the loss.
Coyotes 4, Kings 2
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Radim Vrbata scored on a power play after Kings captain Rob Blake was ejected, and Phoenix ended a four-game road losing streak.
Defenseman Keith Ballard scored the go-ahead goal with 7:16 remaining and Ilya Bryzgalov made 22 saves for the Coyotes, who beat the Kings for the fourth straight time.
Mathias Tjarnqvist also scored for the Coyotes and Fredrik Sjostrom had three assists. Captain Shane Doan scored into an empty net with 14 seconds remaining.
Anze Kopitar and Michal Handzus scored for Los Angeles and Jean-Sebastien Aubin stopped 20 shots, including a breakaway by rookie Daniel Carcillo with 4:45 to play.
Hurricanes 5, Canadiens 1
MONTREAL (AP) – Ray Whitney scored twice and Matt Cullen had three assists to lead Carolina over Montreal.
Whitney scored a power-play goal on Canadiens rookie Carey Price with 33.8 seconds remaining in the middle period. He added another goal – his 14th of the season – 6:28 into the third against Jaroslav Halak, who replaced Price to begin the period.
Cam Ward made 35 saves, and Erik Cole, Eric Staal and Rod Brind’Amour also scored for Carolina, 2-2 on its five-game road trip that will end Sunday in Detroit.
Andrei Kostitsyn scored a power-play goal in the second, the lone tally by Montreal, which has lost six of eight (2-5-1).
Price stopped 25 of 29 shots through the first two periods.
Wild 2, Blue Jackets 1
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Brian Rolston’s third-period goal and Niklas Backstrom’s 31 saves helped Minnesota get a rare win in Columbus.
Rolston snapped a 1-1 tie with a hard slap shot from the top of the left circle that slipped inside the near post and past goaltender Pascal Leclaire at the 2:22 mark of the third period.
The victory ended a two-game skid by the Wild and helped reverse their fortunes against the other team that joined the NHL in 2000. Minnesota had just one win in its 11 previous trips to Nationwide Arena, going 1-7-3 – its worst record in any visiting arena.
Aaron Voros also scored for the Wild, who came in just 2-6-1 in their last nine road games.
Nikolai Zherdev scored for Columbus, giving him four games in a row with a goal.
Islanders 3, Lightning 2, OT
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Mike Sillinger scored a power-play goal with 27.7 seconds left in overtime to help the New York Islanders snap a five-game losing streak.
Rick DiPietro made 32 saves, and captain Bill Guerin snapped his 16-game goal drought for the Islanders. Andy Hilbert had the other New York goal.
Tampa Bay got a pair of third-period goals from Brad Richards. Johan Holmqvist made 30 saves.
Hilbert gave New York a 2-1 lead at 10:45 of the third. Richards got the Lightning even with his second of the game during a 5-on-3 power play with 6:21 left in regulation.
The Islanders have scored three goals or less in 18 consecutive games.
Predators 4, Ducks 2
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) – Jordin Tootoo recorded a “Gordie Howe hat trick” with a goal, assist, and a fight in Nashville’s victory over Anaheim.
Ryan Suter put the Predators ahead 3-0 midway through the second period with a wrist shot from the left point through traffic in front of Jonas Hiller. Tootoo was credited with the only assist.
Former Predators player Shane Hnidy got the Ducks on the board at 14:14 of the second period with his first of the season, scoring off of a wrist shot from the high slot.
Jerred Smithson’s short-handed goal at 9:21 of the third period sealed the win.
Ryan Getzlaf added a short-handed goal at 16:44 of the third period for the Ducks.
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