Capitals 4, Bruins 2

Capitals 4, Bruins

Nicklas Backstrom is a believer in puck luck, something the Capitals have had plenty of against the Bruins in recent years.

Backstrom and his teammates had luck on their side again Thursday night as he scored the third-period winner to help Washington win its 14th straight over Boston with a victory.

"Sometimes hockey isn't fair," Backstrom said after the Capitals won despite being outshot 41-22. "Even if they win the shots, we got the win. It's weird sometimes."

Backstrom, who sat out Wednesday's game against Philadelphia with an illness, glided in to the Bruins' zone and ripped a left-circle wrister past Jaroslav Halak for the go-ahead goal with 14:14 remaining.

Alexander Ovechkin netted his NHL-leading 31st and 32nd goals of the season, and also had the highlight hit of the game when he sent Zdeno Chara — the NHL's tallest player ever at 6-foot-9 — flipping head over heels into the Capitals' bench on a shove late in the first period.

The TD Garden crowd gasped, but play continued and there was no immediate on-ice retaliation. The Bruins captain tumbled back onto the ice quickly and rejoined the play.

Ovechkin declined to speak with reporters after the game about the hit.

Jakub Vrana also had a goal for the Capitals, whose streak against the Bruins dates to March 29, 2014.

"Didn't happen again against this team. Have to get over that hurdle," Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. "A lot of nights that would be good enough for points, if not two points, but not tonight."

Ryan Donato and David Krejci each had goals for Boston. The Bruins suffered a season-opening 7-0 blowout loss at Washington on Oct. 3 when the Capitals celebrated last season's Stanley Cup title.

"That was a different night, but at the same time you know they're always coming out hard at home," Backstrom said. "I feel like they're way more physical at home than maybe on the road."

Halak had 18 saves for Boston, which had its five-game win streak snapped.

"I didn't make a save on the third goal. That's the bottom line," Halak said. "I got outplayed by their goalie, and you know, they got a win, so we just need to be better."

Washington led 1-0 after the first period despite being outshot 17-5. T.J. Oshie grabbed a giveaway by the Bruins and flipped the puck from the Capitals' end to a wide-open Vrana, who beat Halak with 13:22 to play.

Tensions boiled over in the second when Washington's Lars Eller and Boston's Brad Marchand got tangled up during a play. Eller, whose celebration in front of the Boston bench after scoring the Capitals' seventh goal in the opener drew postgame criticism from Marchand, was sent to the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Donato tied it at 1 with 5:49 to play in the second. But, Ovechkin quieted the TD Garden crowd 39 seconds later when he converted after a feed from behind the net to make it 2-1.

Krejci ripped the tying power-play goal past Holtby from the right circle with 15:23 remaining in the third.

Ovechkin scored into an empty net with 1:35 left to seal the victory.

Islanders 4, Rangers 3

A mostly quiet third period nearly cost the Islanders. It took just one shot by Josh Bailey to make up for it.

Bailey scored with 1:26 remaining — on the Islanders' first shot on goal in the period — to edge the Rangers.

"It was pretty ugly on our part," said Mathew Barzal, who had a goal and two assists. "We all know that, our coaches know that. ... It was a tough period, but it was obviously nice to get a goal there at the end."

Cal Clutterbuck found Bailey cutting to the back post, and he beat Henrik Lundqvist to help the Islanders improve to 13-2-0 in the last 15 meetings between the Big Apple rivals.

"We found a way," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "One shot, and our shooting percentage is really good."

Jordan Eberle and Anders Lee also scored for the Islanders, Johnny Boychuk had two assists, and Robin Lehner made 27 saves.

"We want to be peaking at the right time and playing our best hockey coming up here," Bailey said. "You're going to have your moments where you're maybe not at your best, but in those moments, good teams around the league find a way to win."

Ryan Strome, Kevin Shattenkirk and Jesper Fast scored for the Rangers, who dropped their fifth straight to open 2019. Lundqvist stopped 16 shots.

"We have a lot to compare it to because we've had some heartbreaking losses, but that's right up there," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "It might be at the top of the list."

Fast tied it 3-3 midway through the third period by knocking the puck out of the air and past Lehner. That came after Lee put the Islanders ahead 3-2 by redirecting Nick Leddy's slap shot on the power play early in the second period.

"Obviously, it's a tough one," Lundqvist said of the loss. "We played really well and put ourselves in a really good spot to win the game. I don't know what to say."

Strome, a former Islander, opened the scoring 1:38 into the game with a power-play goal, but Barzal answered just 53 seconds later with a nifty deke past Lundqvist. The speedy forward has been terrific against the Rangers, recording 14 points in seven games. Barzal will represent the Islanders at All-Star weekend in San Jose.

"He was good," Trotz said. "I thought he played the right way, he had the puck all night, lots of legs and all that. His line was really good. You look at the scoresheet and you can see his line and his linemates, that's where all the points are."

Eberle made it 2-1 five minutes later after mishandling a puck but recovering to snap a wrist shot by Lundqvist.

Shattenkirk tied it 2-2 when he scored his second of the season at 1:11 of the middle frame.

Maple Leafs 4, Devils 2

John Tavares scored twice and hit the 300-goal mark in Toronto’s victory over New Jersey.

Defenseman Ron Hainsey also scored in Toronto’s three-goal first period and third-string goaltender Michael Hutchinson made 27 saves. Mitch Marner added an empty-net goal.

Blake Coleman and Brian Boyle scored in a 26-second span for the Devils late in the second period to get New Jersey within a goal. Keith Kinkaid made 39 saves, including two on Tavares that prevented his hat trick and 30th goal of the season.

Acquired from Florida on Dec. 29, Hutchinson made his fourth straight start with Frederik Anderson and Garret Sparks out with injuries.

Lightning 3, Hurricanes 1

Brayden Point had a tiebreaking power-play goal in the third period and added a late empty-netter in NHL-leading Tampa Bay’s comeback victory over Carolina.

After Point scored from in-close with 3:15 left, he got his 28th goal into the empty net during the final minute. Ondrej Palat also scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves. Point also had an assist. The Lightning, 17-1-1 over the last 19 games, tied a team mark with their ninth consecutive home win.

Justin Williams picked up his 300th NHL goal for the Hurricanes, who had a five-game winning streak end. Petr Mzarek 27 stopped shots.

Blue Jackets 4, Predators 3 (OT)

Artemi Panarin scored his second goal of the night 1:22 into overtime to lift Columbus past Nashville.

Panarin won it on a 4-on-3 power play. Boone Jenner also had two goals, and Zach Werenski had a pair of assists for the Blue Jackets in the 600th career coaching win for John Tortorella.

Joonas Korpisalo had 32 saves for Columbus. He got the start because Sergei Bobrovsky was scratched because of an unspecified “incident,” according to the team, with no clear idea of when the Vezina Trophy-winner might be back. Mattias Ekholm had a goal and an assist, and Nick Bonino and Viktor Arvidsson also scored in the third period for the Predators.

Flyers 2, Stars 1

Carter Hart stopped 37 shots and Philadelphia beat Dallas to end an eight-game losing streak.

James van Riemsdyk had a goal and an assist, and Travis Konecny also scored for Philadelphia. Jamie Benn scored for Dallas. Tyler Seguin had an assist to extend his points streak to seven games. He has at least one point in every contest since he and Benn were harshly criticized by CEO Jim Lites on Dec. 28.

Blues 4, Canadiens 1

Oskar Sundqvist had a goal and an assist and rookie Jordan Binnington made 28 saves to lead St. Louis to a win over Montreal.

Robert Thomas, Jay Bouwmeester and Sammy Blais also scored for St. Louis, which won for the second time in its last six home games.

Binnington improved to 2-0 after becoming the 35th goaltender in NHL history to record a shutout in his first career start on Monday at Philadelphia.

Veteran Carey Price, meanwhile, allowed four goals on 30 shots to lose his third consecutive start.

Oilers 4, Panthers 3 (SO)

Connor McDavid had two goals — including the tying score with 8 seconds left in regulation — and also scored in the shootout, helping Edmonton beat Florida.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored in the shootout, and Darnell Nurse had the other goal in regulation for the Oilers, They have won three of their last five on the heels of a six-game losing streak.

Frank Vatrano, Denis Malgin and Henrik Borgstrom scored for the Panthers. They have lost four in a row.

Sharks 3, Golden Knights 2

Melker Karlsson and Joonas Donskoi scored third-period goals 39 seconds apart to lift San Jose over Vegas.

San Jose won its fifth straight and ended the Golden Knights' seven-game winning streak. The Sharks (59 points) leapfrogged Vegas in the Pacific Division standings and are one point behind Calgary for the top spot.

Tomas Hertl also scored for the Sharks, and goaltender Martin Jones made 36 saves. Tomas Nosek and Jon Merril scored for Vegas, while Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves.

Senators 4, Kings 1

Chris Tierney scored twice and Ottawa beat Los Angeles.

Bobby Ryan had a power-play goal and Christian Wolanin also scored for the Senators, who won on back-to-back nights at Anaheim and Los Angeles for their first consecutive road victories this season. Anders Nilsson made 33 saves.

Kyle Clifford scored and Jonathan Quick made 23 saves for the Kings, who have lost four of five.

Wild 3, Jets 2

Jason Zucker scored twice, giving Minnesota's lagging power play a lift with his first goal and getting one later just after leaving the penalty box, and the Wild beat Winnipeg.

Jordan Greenway also scored and Devan Dubnyk made 26 saves. The Wild have won all three games against the Jets so far this season by a combined 10-5 score after losing to their Central Division rival in five games in the first round of the playoffs last spring.

Brandon Tanev and Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets.

Coyotes 4, Canucks 3 (OT)

Richard Panik scored his second goal of the game 4:10 into overtime to lift Arizona over Vancouver.

Panik added an assist, and Nick Cousins and Conor Garland also scored for the Coyotes, who got 33 saves from Darcy Kuemper.

Sven Baertschi scored twice and Adam Gaudette added a goal for the Canucks, who erased one-goal deficits three times but couldn't pull off the victory. Jacob Markstrom stopped 18 of 22 shots.