Nic Dowd scored twice for the first career multigoal game, Braden Holtby stopped 26 shots and the Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 on Saturday.
Nicklas Backstrom, Richard Panik and TJ Oshie also scored for the Capitals, who created a little breathing room over their longtime rivals in the scramble atop the Metropolitan Division. First-place Washington moved five points clear of third-place Pittsburgh with less than a month to go in the regular season.
Sidney Crosby scored for the third straight game for Pittsburgh and Evgeni Malkin added his 22nd. Matt Murray finished with 21 saves. The Penguins have lost seven of their last nine to fall a little off the pace in the NHL's most competitive division.
Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin (8) tumbles to the ice in front of Pittsburgh Penguins' Evgeni Malkin (71) after clearing the puck during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, March 7, 2020, in Pittsburgh. The Capitals won 5-2. (AP PhotoKeith Srakocic)
HURRICANES 3, ISLANDERS 2, OT
Vincent Trocheck batted a loose puck out of the air and into the net on a power play 1:36 into overtime and Carolina ended a four-game losing streak.
During a scramble in front of the New York net, Trocheck knocked the puck past goaltender Thomas Greiss and sent the Islanders to their sixth straight loss (0-3-3).
The goal was confirmed after a lengthy review by the officials. The win kept Carolina two points behind the Islanders for the final wild card in the Eastern Conference.
The Islanders' Josh Bailey tied the score at 2 with just under five minutes to play in the third period. Noah Dobson took a shot that goalie Anton Forsberg kicked away, but the rebound went right to Bailey for the goal.
Forsberg made 24 saves for the Hurricanes as he picked up his first win of the season.
Ryan Pulock also scored for New York and Greiss made 25 saves.
PREDATORS 1, STARS 0
Juuse Saros shut out Dallas for the second time in three days, and Ryan Ellis gained a measure of revenge with the only goal to lead Nashville.
Saros made 37 saves after stopping 33 in a 2-0 victory in Nashville on Thursday night. He has four shutouts this season and 11 overall, and is 6-0-1 against the Stars.
Ellis scored on a power play midway through the second period. Matt Duchene’s shot from the left point went over the net and bounded to Ellis for a wrist shot between goalie Ben Bishop and the left goal post.
Bishop made 22 saves.
KINGS 7, WILD 3
Dustin Brown had three goals and an assist and Los Angeles won its fifth straight.
Blake Lizotte and Trevor Moore scored 53 seconds apart in the second period, Anze Kopitar had a goal and two assists and Gabriel Vilardi added a goal to help the Kings improve to 8-2-1 in their past 11 games. Calvin Petersen made 25 saves for his third straight victory.
Marcus Foligno had a goal and an assist for Minnesota, Jared Spurgeon and Luke Kunin also scored, and Alex Stalock made 28 saves. The Wild had won six in a row on the road. They missed a chance to reclaim the first wild-card in the Western Conference.