Alex Ovechkin passed Gordie Howe for second on the NHL’s all-time goals list as the Washington Capitals defeated the visiting Winnipeg Jets 4–1 on Friday.
Ovechkin scored his 801st career goal, tying Howe, at 18:22 of the first period to give Washington a 1–0 lead. He then scored his 802nd career goal, passing Howe, with an empty-netter with a minute remaining in the third period.
Ovechkin now has his sights set on Wayne Gretzky’s 894 goals, which still are the gold standard for career goals in the league.
Hurricanes 6, Flyers 5
Jesper Fast scored two first-period goals and Carolina was on its way to a franchise-record 14th consecutive game with a point, beating Philadelphia in Raleigh, North Carolina.Stefan Noesen also scored in the first period for the Hurricanes, who have won eight consecutive games. Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov, Jordan Martinook, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored in the second period. Antti Raanta made 26 saves.
Blackhawks 5, Blue Jackets 2
Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews each had a goal with two assists as Chicago snapped an eight-game losing streak with a victory over visiting Columbus.Max Domi recorded a goal with an assist while Andreas Athanasiou and Taylor Raddysh also scored for the Blackhawks. Kane’s second assist on Toews’ power-play score with 7:44 remaining in regulation marked the 300th time Chicago’s superstar pair teamed up for a goal.
Bruins 4, Devils 3
David Pastrnak scored two goals to help Boston beat New Jersey in Newark, New Jersey, for its fourth consecutive win.Jake DeBrusk had a goal and an assist, Patrice Bergeron also scored and David Krejci collected two assists for the Bruins. Linus Ullmark made 37 saves and raised his record to 19–1–1. He leads the NHL in wins, goals-against average (1.94) and save percentage (.936).
Canucks 5, Oilers 2
Bo Horvat scored twice, including the third-period, game-winning goal, in a four-point outing to lead visiting Vancouver to a comeback victory over Edmonton.J.T. Miller tallied twice and Ilya Mikheyev added a goal for the Canucks, who scored five unanswered goals and have won seven straight road games. Conor Garland, Elias Pettersson and Tyler Myers each collected two assists, and Vancouver goaltender Collin Delia made 31 saves.
Islanders 5, Panthers 1
Anthony Beauvillier opened and closed a flurry of five unanswered goals for New York, which rolled to a win over Florida in Elmont, New York. The first goal for Beauvillier was the 100th of his career.Ryan Pulock scored the game-winner in the waning seconds of the middle period for the Islanders, who won for the fourth time in 12 games (4–6–2). Aatu Raty, making his NHL debut, and Zach Parise also scored for New York, and Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves.
Avalanche 3, Predators 2 (Overtime)
Samuel Girard scored 4:17 into overtime and Alexandar Georgiev made 37 saves to fuel visiting Colorado to a victory over Nashville.Mikko Rantanen collected a goal and an assist and J.T. Compher also tallied for the Avalanche, who tied a season high with their fourth straight win. Colorado’s Valeri Nichushkin sustained a lower-body injury and did not return to the contest.
Stars 4, Canadiens 2
Rookie Wyatt Johnston scored the go-ahead goal on the power play with five minutes remaining and Roope Hintz scored twice as Dallas rallied from a 2–0 second-period deficit to defeat visiting Montreal.Joel Kiviranta had an empty-net goal and Jason Robertson added two assists for the Stars, who are 6–2–1 in their past nine games. Dallas’ Jake Oettinger finished with 22 saves.
Coyotes 2, Kings 1 (Shootout)
Nick Bjugstad scored the winner in a shootout as Arizona snapped Los Angeles’ four-game winning streak with a victory in Tempe, Ariz.Nick Schmaltz scored and Karel Vejmelka stopped 26 shots for the Coyotes, who won for just the fourth time in their past 14 games (4–7–3). Arizona snapped a three-game losing streak (0–2–1).
Golden Knights 5, Blues 4 (Shootout)
Mark Stone scored the winner in the fourth round of the shootout to go along with a goal and an assist and Chandler Stephenson had a goal and three assists to lead Vegas to a victory over St. Louis in Las Vegas.Stephenson produced the fourth four-point game of his career when he tied the contest in the final two minutes. Michael Amadio had a goal and two assists and Alex Pietrangelo had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights.
Flames 3, Ducks 2 (Overtime)
Rasmus Andersson scored 2:24 into overtime, giving visiting Calgary a victory over host Anaheim.Michael Stone and Brett Ritchie also scored for the Flames, who finished 3–0–1 on their California road trip and head into the holiday break in one of the two Western Conference wild-card spots. Calgary goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 21 saves.
Mason McTavish and Jakob Silfverberg replied for the struggling Ducks, who received a 42-save performance from Lukas Dostal. It was the fourth consecutive game in which Dostal faced at least 40 shots.