Alex Ovechkin (2-2—4) had his second four-point performance of the season to power the Washington Capitals to a 5-3 victory against the Anaheim Ducks. The Capitals swept their season series against the Ducks and improved to 30-17-10 (70 points) to move within one point of the idle New York Rangers, who are third in the Metropolitan Division standings with 71 points. * The Capitals have a 7-1-1 record in their past nine games against the Ducks and have won five consecutive games against Anaheim at Honda Center, dating to a 3-2 overtime victory on Jan. 13, 2006. * Ovechkin’s performance included his 16th power-play goal of the season, which tied him with Joe Pavelski of the San Jose Sharks for the League lead in the category. Ovechkin extended his point streak to four games (4-3—7) and has scored 20 goals in his past 22 games (20-9—29). He has 20 points in his past 14 games (14-6—20). The two goals also allowed Ovechkin to pass Rick Nash of the New York Rangers for sole possession of the League-lead in goals (36). * Ovechkin has eight goals and six assists in five career games at Honda Center (8-6—14) and nine goals and nine assists in 11 career games against the Ducks (9-9—18). * Andre Burakovsky (2-0—2) recorded the first multiple-goal game of his career. The first one also stood as the second career game-winning goal for the rookie. * Nicklas Backstrom (0-2—2) recorded his 13th multiple-assist game of the season. He passed Jakub Voracek of the Philadelphia Flyers for sole possession of the League lead in assists (43). * Justin Peters made 33 saves to improve to 3-5-1 with a 3.52 goals-against average and a .875 save percentage. DID YOU KNOW? Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad (0-1—1) registered his 23rd assist of the season and extended his franchise records for assists and points by a rookie defenseman (9-23—32). * With 32 points this season, Ekblad passed Jim Benning, Doug Bodger and Petr Svoboda for sole possession of third all-time among rookie defensemen who began their NHL career at the age of 18. Ekblad, who celebrated his 19th birthday on Feb. 7, is nine points shy of tying Bobby Orr on that list; Orr had 41 points during 1966-67, his rookie season. Phil Housley ranks first with 66 points during his rookie season in 1982-83. TAMPA BAY EARNS FIRST WIN IN SAN JOSE SINCE 2003 Steven Stamkos (1-1—2) and Ryan Callahan (1-1—2) each had a goal and an assist to propel the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 5-2 win against the San Jose Sharks. It was Tampa Bay’s first win in San Jose since March 24, 2003, improved the Lightning's record to 35-17-6 (76 points). The Lightning and Montreal Canadiens are atop the Atlantic Division with 76 points, though Montreal holds three games in hand. * Stamkos opened the scoring with his team-leading 30th goal and added his 23rd assist to post his 12th multiple-point game of the season. It's the fourth time in his NHL career that he has reached the 30-goal mark. Stamkos is fourth in goals this season. * Callahan scored his 17th goal and added his 24th assist to post his 13th multiple-point performance of the season. The Lightning improved to 18-2-0 when Callahan scores a goal, dating to last March when he was acquired from the New York Rangers at the NHL Trade Deadline. * Valtteri Filppula (0-2—2) recorded his fifth multiple-assist game of the season and extended his point streak to a season-high four games (1-6—7). * Ondrej Palat (1-0—1) scored his 12th goal of the season 10 seconds into the third period; it also stood as his career-high fourth game-winning goal of the season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Palat's goal was the third-fastest to begin a period in franchise history; Ruslan Fedotenko scored nine seconds into the second period of a game against the Florida Panthers on March 20, 2006, and Mikael Andersson scored nine seconds into overtime of a game against the Winnipeg Jets on Jan. 16, 1994. Elias also says that the tally was the fastest goal to begin a period in Palat’s career and the fastest goal to begin a third period in franchise history. * Ben Bishop made 33 saves to improve to 28-10-3 with a 2.45 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage. Bishop ranks fifth among League goaltenders in wins this season. * The Lightning have earned points in each of their past four road games (2-0-2), which matches a season-high. RAFFL LIFTS FLYERS OVER SABRES Michael Raffl (1-0—1) scored game-winner in the third period to lift the Philadelphia Flyers to a 2-1 road victory against the Buffalo Sabres. The Flyers improved to 24-22-10 (58 points) and have earned points in nine consecutive games (6-0-3) for the first time since March 8-26, 2011, when they went 5-0-4. * Raffl’s second game-winning goal of the season, both of which have come during his past four games, also earned Philadelphia its sixth consecutive victory against Buffalo. * Matt Read (1-0—1) opened the scoring early in the first period with his fifth goal of the season and extended his point streak to a season-high four games (2-2—4). Wayne Simmonds (0-1—1) earned his 17th assist of the season on Read’s tally and extended his point streak to a season-high four games (3-3—6). * Ray Emery made 21 saves to improve to 10-9-3 with a 3.17 goals-against average and a .893 save percentage. Emery has earned points in four consecutive decisions (2-0-2). LOOSE PUCKS St. Louis defenseman Barret Jackman skated in the 779th game of his NHL career and tied Brian Sutter for second on the franchise’s all-time games played list. ... Florida forward Nick Bjugstad (1-0—1) scored his 20th goal of the season and reached the 20-goal mark in a season for the first time in his career. ... Tampa Bay forward Cedric Paquette (1-0—1) has scored seven times in his last eight player games. ... San Jose forward Logan Couture (1-0—1) extended his season-high point streak to six games (3-5—8). ... San Jose defenseman Brent Burns (1-0—1) scored his sixth power-play goal of the season and extended his point streak to four games (4-1—5). ... San Jose forward Joe Thornton (0-1—1) extended his point streak to three games (1-5—6). ... Anaheim forward Andrew Cogliano (2-0—2) posted his first multiple-goal performance of the season. ... Anaheim defenseman Hampus Lindholm (0-2—2) had his second multi-assist game of the season. ... Anaheim defenseman Francois Beauchemin (0-1—1) had an assist while skating in his 500th game as a member of the Ducks. Beauchemin is the second defenseman to play 500 games with the club; Ruslan Salei had the most (594). ... The Nashville Predators acquired defenseman Cody Franson and forward Mike Santorelli from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2015 first-round pick, veteran forward Olli Jokinen and prospect Brendan Leipsic... Steve Montador, a defenseman who played 571 games in 10 NHL seasons, passed away on Sunday. |
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