Bruins ride 4-goal 1st period to 7-3 rout of Capitals
BOSTON (AP) — Brad Marchand and Anders Bjork scored 27 seconds apart in a four-goal first period that chased Braden Holtby, and Charlie Coyle added a short-handed goal to help the Boston Bruins beat the Washington Capitals 7-3 on Monday night.
Tuukka Rask made 39 saves to snap his five-game losing streak as the Bruins opened a 5-0 lead and sat on it while the Capitals outshot them 34-6 over the last two periods.
Boston was deprived of another score when Washington knocked the puck into its own net during a delayed penalty, but the officials had inadvertently whistled the play dead.
Patrice Bergeron had two goals, including an empty-netter that made it 7-3, and David Krejci had two assists and an empty-netter. Jake DeBrusk also scored for Boston, which stopped a three-game skid. The Capitals had won eight straight games in Boston and 16 of the previous 17 matchups overall.
Boston led 5-0 when Alex Ovechkin scored with about five minutes gone in the second period, and Lars Eller deflected one past Rask as a power play expired late in the third to make it 5-2. After Krejci’s empty netter, Garnet Hathaway took advantage of a Bruins lapse to make it 6-3.
Holtby allowed four goals on 11 shots for Washington, which had won 10 of its previous 12 games. Ilya Samsonov replaced him to start the second period and stopped three of the four shots he faced in almost 38 minutes.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Victor Hedman had two goals and an assist, Brayden Point had a four-point game and Tampa Bay scored three power-play goals in a win over Florida.
Point had a goal and three assists, Nikita Kucherov added a goal and two assists and Alex Killorn and Mikhail Sergachev each scored power-play goals as the Lightning snapped a two-game winless skid.
Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 29 saves and improved to 15-9-2 on the season.
Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky allowed a season-high six goals on 34 shots.
Jonathan Huberdeau scored the only goal for Florida, which had its three-game winning streak halted.
MAPLE LEAFS 8, HURRICANES 6
TORONTO (AP) — Mitch Marner scored twice and added an assist in a wild 59-second span midway through the third period, and Toronto beat Carolina.
Tyson Barrie and Pierre Engvall sealed the victory with an empty-netter.
Jason Spezza, William Nylander, Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Tyson Barrie scored for the Maple Leafs, who have won five straight. Pierre Engvall sealed the victory with an empty-netter.
Martin Necas and Erik Haula had two goals apiece for the Hurricanes, while Brock McGinn and Andrei Svechnikov also scored.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Devan Dubnyk recorded his first shutout of the season and Joel Eriksson Ek and Luke Kunin scored as Minnesota blanked Calgary.
Dubnyk made 22 saves in his third game, and second, start since missing extended time for a family issue. He earned wins in both of his starts since his return.
Eric Staal added an empty-net goal with 2:43 remaining to seal the win.
Cam Talbot had 31 saves for Calgary.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kevin Hayes and Travis Sanheim each scored a pair of goals to lead Philadelphia over New York for its fourth straight victory.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel added his first career goal for Philadelphia, which improved to 13-2-4 at home. The Flyers entered tied with the Islanders for best home winning percentage.
Jesper Fast scored for New York, which has dropped four of five.
BLUE JACKETS 3, ISLANDERS 2
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) — Vladislav Gavrikov scored late in the third period to lift surging Columbus over New York.
The Blue Jackets have won five straight.
Columbus improved to 6-0-2 in its last eight games as Joonas Korpisalo made 35 saves for the win. Kevin Stenlund and Nathan Gerbe also scored for the injury-depleted Blue Jackets.
Anders Lee and Mathew Barzal scored for the Islanders, who lost their third consecutive game at Nassau Coliseum.
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored two goals, leading Ottawa over Buffalo.
Brady Tkachuk had a goal and two assists. Craig Anderson, making his first start since suffering a knee injury Dec. 7, stopped 43 shots.
Zemgus Girgensons scored for the Sabres (17-14-7). Linus Ullmark made 27 saves.
