Alex Ovechkin scored his 891st career goal to move within four of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL record, helping the Washington Capitals defeat the host Boston Bruins 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Washington scored twice in both the first and third periods en route to breaking a three-game skid (0-2-1). Goals from Nic Dowd and Ovechkin gave the Capitals a 2-0 lead. Boston came back to tie before Dylan Strome and Tom Wilson scored in the third.
David Pastrnak scored twice, Morgan Geekie had two assists and Vinni Lettieri also found the net for Boston, which has lost nine straight (0-8-1).
With Washington up 1-0, Ovechkin scored on the power play with 4:17 left in the first. John Carlson’s initial shot from the high slot took a deflection off the skate of Strome in front and right to Ovechkin, who settled the puck and scored it into an open side of the net.
Blues 2, Red Wings 1 (OT)
Defenseman Cam Fowler’s goal with 1:33 left in overtime gave host St. Louis its 10th straight victory, a come-from-behind win over Detroit.
Jordan Kyrou got the other Blues’ goal, assisted by Fowler, and Jordan Binnington stopped 20 shots. Binnington was the NHL’s Third Star for the month of March after going 8-2-0 with a 2.21 goals-against average and .910 save percentage.
J.T. Compher scored for the Red Wings, who are struggling to stay alive for an Eastern Conference wild-card playoff spot. Cam Talbot made 35 saves.
Canadiens 3, Panthers 2 (OT)
Nick Suzuki scored twice, the tying goal with 8.4 seconds left in regulation and the overtime winner, as Montreal edged visiting Florida.
Suzuki beat Vitek Vanecek with a wraparound 29 seconds into the extra period for his 25th of the season. In the last seconds of the third period, Suzuki, the Canadiens’ captain, tapped in a Lane Hutson feed to force overtime.
Hutson added three assists, giving him 57 on the season, passing Chris Chelios (55, 1984-85 Canadiens) for the second-most assists by a rookie NHL defenseman. Hutson now trails only Larry Murphy (60, 1980-81 Los Angeles Kings). Niko Mikkola and Mackie Samoskevich scored for the Panthers.
Ducks 4, Sharks 3 (SO)
Mason McTavish scored the only goal of the shootout and added three assists in regulation as Anaheim edged visiting San Jose.
Trevor Zegras and Sam Colangelo each had a goal and an assist and Jackson LaCombe scored for Anaheim, which wrapped up a 3-2-0 homestand by completing a three-game season sweep of the Sharks. Lukas Dostal made 28 saves.
Shakir Mukhamadullin, Alexander Wennberg and Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored goals and Alexandar Georgiev stopped 34 shots for the Sharks, who have lost three straight.
Oilers 3, Golden Knights 2
Leon Draisaitl scored his league-leading 52nd goal to highlight a three-goal second period for Edmonton, which held on for a win in Las Vegas.
Jake Walman and Viktor Arvidsson also scored and Evan Bouchard had two assists for the Oilers, who extended their third-place lead in the Pacific Division to nine points over the Calgary Flames. Edmonton’s Calvin Pickard stopped 20 of 22 shots.
Nicolas Roy and Pavel Dorofeyev each scored for Vegas, which had a six-game winning streak snapped. Adin Hill, making his fourth straight start, finished with 17 saves. The Golden Knights officially clinched a playoff spot midgame when Calgary lost in regulation at Utah.
Sabres 5, Senators 2
Rasmus Dahlin and Alex Tuch each had a goal and an assist for visiting Buffalo, which completed a season sweep of its four games with Ottawa.
Mattias Samuelsson had two assists, and James Reimer made 33 saves for the Sabres.
Claude Giroux and Jake Sanderson tallied for the Senators, who have lost five of their past eight games (3-4-1). Linus Ullmark turned aside 17 shots.
Lightning 4, Islanders 1
Jake Guentzel and Victor Hedman scored the game-winning and insurance goals in the second period for Tampa Bay during a victory in Elmont, N.Y.
Oliver Bjorkstrand opened the scoring in the first and Nick Paul added an empty-netter late in the third for the Lightning, who have won four straight. Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point had two assists apiece, Guentzel added an assist, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.
Bo Horvat scored in the first for the Islanders, who lost their sixth straight game (0-4-2). Ilya Sorokin recorded 20 saves.
Blue Jackets 8, Predators 4
Kirill Marchenko’s third career hat trick and career-best four points sparked a big night for Columbus en route to an easy win over visiting Nashville.
The three-goal, one-assist night also allowed the Russian forward, 24, to post his first 30-goal season. Marchenko was one of seven players who recorded multiple points for the Blue Jackets, who logged a third win in four games.
Filip Forsberg, Michael Bunting, Justin Barron and Jordan Oesterle all scored and Luke Evangelista assisted on two for the Predators, who took their fourth consecutive loss.
Kings 4, Jets 1
Anze Kopitar, Andrei Kuzmenko and Adrian Kempe each had a goal and an assist as Los Angeles defeated visiting Winnipeg, completing a three-game season sweep.
Trevor Moore scored the other goal for the Kings, who logged their second victory in a row. Darcy Kuemper stopped 18 of 19 shots.
Cole Perfetti scored the lone goal for the Jets, whose three-game winning streak ended. Connor Hellebuyck made 16 saves.
Utah Hockey Club 3, Flames 1
Barrett Hayton’s early-second-period goal held up as the winner thanks to stellar goaltending by Karel Vejmelka as Utah held on for a victory over Calgary in Salt Lake City.
Vejmelka, who made his 18th consecutive start between the pipes, stopped 33 shots. Kevin Stenlund and Clayton Keller also scored for Utah, which has won two straight.
Rasmus Andersson replied for the Flames, whose playoff hopes took a huge hit. Dustin Wolf stopped 25 shots.
–Field Level Media
