Crosby gets better of Ovechkin as Penguins beat Capitals

WASHINGTON (AP) — Patric Hornqvist scored the day after undergoing a dental procedure, Matt Murray made 29 saves and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 Sunday in the 50th regular-season game between Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin.

Crosby assisted on Dominik Simon’s goal to give him 12 points in seven games since returning from injury. Ovechkin was held off the score sheet and remained at 37 goals this season and 695 for his career.

By winning in regulation, the Penguins crept within four points of the Metropolitan Division-leading Capitals with an extra game left to play.

Pittsburgh made life difficult on rookie Capitals goaltender Ilya Samsonov, who allowed goals to Sam Lafferty, Hornqvist, Simon and Brandon Tanev on 33 shots.

Lars Eller was the best player on the ice and scored twice for Washington, and Evgeny Kuznetsov added a third-period goal.

HURRICANES 4, CANUCKS 3, SO

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Justin Williams scored the winning goal in a shootout to lift Carolina over Vancouver.

Williams wristed a shot inside the post to the right of Thatcher Demko, giving the Hurricanes a 2-1 edge in the shootout. Carolina goalie James Reimer then used his left pad to stop Bo Horvat to clinch the win.

It was Williams’ second shootout winner in four games since returning to the Hurricanes following an extended offseason. Carolina, which is 3-1 since Williams’ return, got goals in regulation from Nino Niederreiter, Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov as Reimer made 32 saves.

Elias Pettersson scored twice, Tyler Myers added a goal and Oscar Fantenberg and J.T. Miller each had two assists for Vancouver, whose five-game winning streak was snapped. Demko made 29 saves.

BLUE JACKETS 4, CANADIENS 3

MONTREAL (AP) — Pierre-Luc Dubois scored twice and added an assist to lift Columbus over Montreal.

Vladislav Gavrikov and Gustav Nyquist also scored as Columbus swept the season series. The Blue Jackets have picked up at least a point in eight straight games.

Elvis Merzlikins made 27 saves and improved to 10-2-0 since replacing injured starter Joonas Korpisalo.

Tomas Tatar, Max Domi and Shea Weber scored for the Canadiens, who remain eight points out of a playoff spot with 28 games left. Carey Price started for the second straight day and stopped 23 of 26 shots.