PITTSBURGH (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored a power-play goal during Washington’s fast start, and the Capitals beat Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Ovechkin and Crosby faced off for the 67th time in the National Hockey League regular season. Crosby finished with a goal and an assist, but Washington held on after racing out to a 4-0 lead.
It was the 10th time that Ovechkin and Crosby scored in the same game, and first since a Capitals win on Nov. 7, 2018.
Martin Fehervary, Tom Wilson and Beck Malenstyn also scored for Washington, which had dropped four in a row. Darcy Kuemper made 33 saves.
Crosby scored his 21st of the season, a power-play goal in the second period. He has 1,540 points, passing Joe Thornton for 12th on the NHL’s career points list.
Jake Guentzel scored his 17th goal for Pittsburgh, and Rickard Rakell picked up his third. The Penguins had won three in a row.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Tuesday:
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HURRICANES 6 RANGERS 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Andrei Svechnikov scored twice, Pyotr Kochetkov made 28 saves and Carolina earned its fourth straight win.
Brady Skjei had three assists for the surging Hurricanes, who improved to 7-1-3 in their last 11 games. Jack Drury, Jordan Martinook, Jalen Chatfield and Michael Bunting also scored.
Svechnikov has six goals and five assists in his last five games.
Chris Kreider scored for the Rangers. Igor Shesterkin finished with 21 stops.
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OILERS 5 FLYERS 2
EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Connor McDavid had a goal and four assists, and the Oilers extended their win streak to six games.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two goals and an assist for Edmonton, which improved to 14-3-0 in its last 17 games. Zach Hyman had a goal and two assists, and Leon Draisaitl also scored.
Travis Konecny and Marc Staal scored for the Flyers, who have lost three in a row and five of their last six.
The big night gave McDavid 903 points in 602 career games. He is the fifth-fastest player in NHL history to record his 900th point, behind only Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy and Peter Stastny.
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MAPLE LEAFS 3 KINGS 0
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Martin Jones made 32 saves for his 30th career shutout, William Nylander scored two goals and Toronto snapped its three-game losing streak with a victory over Los Angeles.
Calle Järnkrok also scored and Tyler Bertuzzi had two assists for the Maple Leafs, who began their three-game California trip with a strong defensive effort. Nylander got Toronto’s opening goal in the second period and wrapped up the win with an empty-netter, his 19th goal of the season.
Cam Talbot stopped 26 shots for the Kings, who have lost three straight for the first time this season. Los Angeles also has lost four of five at home after getting shut out for the first time.
Jones, who began his NHL career with the Kings, posted his second shutout since returning to the NHL last month.
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AVALANCHE 5 ISLANDERS 4 (OT)
DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon scored a power-play goal 32 seconds into overtime, lifting Colorado to the victory.
MacKinnon converted a slap shot for his 20th goal of the season. He also had two assists and extended his home point streak to 20 games to begin the season, a franchise record.
Valeri Nichushkin had two goals for Colorado, and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and an assist. Cale Makar had three assists, and Alexandar Georgiev made 18 saves.
Brock Nelson had a goal and an assist and Ilya Sorokin had 23 saves in relief of Semyon Varlamov for the short-handed Islanders. Pierre Engvall, Alexander Romanov and Simon Holmstrom also scored for New York.
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BRUINS 4 BLUE JACKETS 1
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — James van Riemsdyk scored on a power play and added two assists, helping Boston to its fourth consecutive victory.
Kevin Shattenkirk, Danton Heinen and Trent Frederic also scored for Boston. Linus Ullmark stopped 26 shots.
Kent Johnson scored for Columbus, which has lost two in a row and five of six overall. Spencer Martin made 23 saves.
After a scoreless first period in which Boston was outshot 12-5, the Bruins grabbed control with two goals in the second and two more in the third.
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PANTHERS 4 COYOTES 1
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk scored 42 seconds apart in the third period, sending Florida to its fifth consecutive victory.
Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist for the Panthers. Gustav Forsling also scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves.
Alex Kerfoot scored a short-handed goal early in the third period for the Coyotes, who had won two in a row and six of seven. The Panthers outshot the Coyotes 38-22.
Aleksander Barkov assisted on Reinhart’s goal and set the franchise record with 415 career assists. He has nine assists in his last five games.
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PREDATORS 3 BLACKHAWKS 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Gustav Nyquist and Ryan O’Reilly each had a goal and an assist, leading Nashville to the victory.
Luke Evangelista also scored for Nashville, which improved to 3-0 against Chicago this season. Juuse Saros made 21 saves in his second shutout of the season and No. 22 for his career.
Last-place Chicago dropped to 6-17-2 in its last 25 games. Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom made 33 saves.
Chicago centre Connor Bedard, who was named the NHL’s rookie for the month of December, was held without a point for just the second time in his last eight games.
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JETS 4 LIGHTNING 2
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Nikolaj Ehlers and Morgan Barron scored in the third period, and the Jets extended their point streak to nine games.
Winnipeg improved to 7-0-2 during the surge. The point streak matches a franchise record set in December 2005 by the Atlanta Thrashers.
Neal Pionk and Alex Iafallo also scored for the Jets (23-9-4), who won their third straight game. Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves.
Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay, and Steven Stamkos also scored. The Lightning (18-16-5) have lost three of their past four games.
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CANADIENS 4 STARS 3
DALLAS (AP) — Kaiden Guhle and Jordan Harris added to Montreal’s NHL-leading 30 goals from defencemen, and Sam Montembeault stopped 30 shots for the Canadiens.
Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist and Cole Caufield also scored for the Canadiens, who went 3-3-1 on a season-long seven-game road stretch.
Wyatt Johnston had a goal and an assist for the Stars, who had a six-game home winning streak snapped. Jamie Benn and Jason Robertson also scored, and Scott Wedgewood made 14 saves.
The Canadiens began with 11 forwards and seven defencemen for the second consecutive game and lost forward Josh Anderson to an injury midway through the third period.
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FLAMES 3 WILD 1
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Andrew Mangiapane and Jonathan Huberdeau scored in the first period for Calgary, and Blake Coleman added an empty-netter.
Jacob Markstrom made 28 saves in the win.
Minnesota remains without leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov, who was injured Saturday against Winnipeg. Goalie Filip Gustavsson and forward Vinni Lettieri were both placed on injured reserve with lower-body injuries, meaning they’ll each miss at least a week.
Pat Maroon scored in the second for Minnesota. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 30 shots in the loss, two days after playing in his 1,000th career NHL game.
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CANUCKS 6 SENATORS 3
VANCOUVER, B.C. (AP) — Elias Pettersson and Pius Suter each scored twice, and the Canucks used a fast start to beat the Senators.
J.T. Miller and Ian Cole also scored for Vancouver (24-10-3), which led 5-0 after one. Thatcher Demko stopped 35 shots.
Vladimir Tarasenko scored two goals for Ottawa, and Claude Giroux had a goal and assist.
Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg saved nine of 13 shots. Joonas Korpisalo replaced Forsberg in the second period and stopped 11 of 13 shots.
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RED WINGS 5 SHARKS 3
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — David Perron scored the tying and go-ahead goals in the third period, including the winner with 1:30 left, and Detroit pushed San Jose's losing streak to nine games.
Daniel Sprong and J.T. Compher also scored for the Red Wings. Lucas Raymond had three assists, and Michael Rasmussen added an empty-net goal with six seconds remaining. Alex Lyon stopped 24 shots.
Fabian Zetterlund, Justin Bailey and Alexander Barabanov scored for the NHL-worst Sharks (9-26-3), who dropped 11 in a row to begin the season. Kaapo Kahkonen made 26 saves.
The Red Wings had lost three of four and 10 of 13.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
The Associated Press
