NHL Capsules: Evgeny Kuznetsov scores twice and Washington Capitals down New Jersey Devils

NEWARK, N.J. – Evgeny Kuznetsov scored twice, Alex Ovechkin had a goal and an assist and the Washington Capitals beat the New Jersey Devils 5-2 on Thursday night to head into the All-Star break with the most points in the NHL.

Andre Burakovsky and Lars Eller also scored for the Capitals, who have 72 points in 49 games as they seek their second straight President’s Trophy. Defenseman Dmitry Orlov added two assists and Braden Holtby made 27 saves for Washington, which is 13-1-2 in its last 16 games.

Stefan Noesen and Adam Henrique scored for New Jersey, which has lost six straight at home. The Devils are tied with Detroit for the fewest points in the Eastern Conference.

Predators 4, Blue Jackets 3

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Craig Smith scored two goals in the third period and Nashville held off Columbus in the final game for both teams before the All-Star break.

Columbus coach John Tortorella left the team before the game, returning home for a personal matter that will cause him to miss All-Star weekend. His assistants filled in for him, but the Blue Jackets dropped to 5-7-0 since their 16-game winning streak.

Brandon Saad gave Columbus a 1-0 lead in the first period. Zach Werenski and Ryan Murray scored in the third as the Blue Jackets tried to rally.

Calle Jarnkrok and Harry Zolnierczyk also scored for Nashville, and Mike Fisher had two assists.

Columbus pulled goalie Sergei Bobrovsky late, but Pekka Rinne made save after save for the Predators. Nashville goes into the break 7-1-1 over its last nine games.

Oilers 4, Sharks 1

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Andrej Sekera scored two goals and the surging Edmonton Oilers extended their point streak to eight games by beating San Jose.

Edmonton ended San Jose’s six-game winning streak and tied the Sharks for the Pacific Division lead heading into the All-Star break. Both teams have 64 points, one more than Anaheim.

Oilers goalie Cam Talbot played brilliantly for his 26th win of the season. He made several point-blank saves and stopped 32 of 33 shots.

Drake Caggiula and Connor McDavid also scored for the Oilers, who improved to 7-0-1 over their last eight games. The only loss during that span came to Nashville in a shootout.

Logan Couture scored for the Sharks, and Martin Jones made 18 saves.

Kings 3, Hurricanes 0

RALEIGH, N.C. – Marian Gaborik and Trevor Lewis scored 38 seconds apart late in the third period, leading Los Angeles past skidding Carolina.

Peter Budaj stopped 22 shots for the shutout, and Kyle Clifford scored into an empty net.

Carolina lost its fifth consecutive game, all in regulation, and was shut out for the first time this season. The Kings won their second straight following a four-game slide that ended Tuesday with a 3-1 victory at New Jersey.

Cam Ward made 26 saves for the Hurricanes, who are 14-3-1 in their last 18 home games.

Panthers 2, Lightning 1

SUNRISE, Fla. – Jonathan Marchessault scored a power-play goal in overtime and Florida beat Tampa Bay to snap a four-game losing streak.

Marchessault took a pass from Keith Yandle along the goal line to the left of the net and fired the puck past Andrei Vasilevskiy at 1:49 of the extra period.

Jussi Jokinen scored short-handed and James Reimer stopped 31 shots as the Panthers won for the first time in six games that went past regulation.

Nikita Kucherov scored for Tampa Bay, and Vasilevskiy made 35 saves. The Lightning have lost four of five.

Flames 3, Senators 2

OTTAWA, Ontario – Johnny Gaudreau scored with 31 seconds on the clock in overtime and Calgary edged Ottawa two days after Flames coach Glen Gulutzan called his struggling team “pathetic.”

Micheal Ferland and Sean Monahan also scored for the Flames, who snapped a four-game losing streak. Brian Elliott, a former goalie for the Senators, made 25 saves in the win.

Chris Wideman and Tommy Wingels scored for the Senators, and Mike Condon stopped 23 shots.

The game marked the return of former Ottawa coach Dave Cameron, who was fired after last season. He is now an assistant with Calgary.

Stars 4, Sabres 3

DALLAS – Patrick Sharp scored twice for the second time in five games and Dallas rallied from an early two-goal deficit to beat Buffalo.

Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin also scored for the Stars, who stopped a three-game skid.

The game ended only after a review following the final horn of a near Buffalo goal with 11 seconds left.

Evander Kane scored twice for the Sabres, who were looking to win four straight games for the first time since December 2014. Matt Moulson had Buffalo’s other goal.

Kari Lehtonen improved to 10-13-6, allowing one goal after replacing Antti Niemi to start the second period. Niemi was lifted for the third consecutive start.

Anders Nilsson (8-7-4) absorbed his fourth loss in the past five decisions.

Islanders 3, Canadiens 1

NEW YORK – Andrew Ladd scored twice to lead the New York Islanders over Montreal, snapping a seven-game losing streak to the Canadiens.

Josh Bailey also had a goal and Thomas Greiss stopped 21 shots as the Islanders beat the Canadiens for the first time since April 10, 2014. New York improved to 5-0-1 in its last six heading into this weekend’s All-Star break. John Tavares and Nick Leddy each had two assists.

Shea Weber scored for the Canadiens and Carey Price finished with 39 saves. Price, set for his fifth All-Star appearance, fell to 2-5-1 in his last eight games.

Bruins 4, Penguins 3

BOSTON – Brad Marchand scored two second-period goals after avoiding a suspension by the NHL earlier in the day, lifting the Boston Bruins past the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Despite multiple past on-ice transgressions, Marchand was fined $10,000 and not ordered by the league to sit out any games for what the NHL termed was “a dangerous trip” of Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall on Jan. 24.

Riley Nash and Patrice Bergeron also scored for the Bruins, who won consecutive games for only the third time in their last 36 games.

Justin Schultz and Phil Kessel gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead after the first period. Patric Hornqvist scored midway through the third period to cut Pittsburgh’s deficit to 4-3.

Flyers 2, Maple Leafs 1

PHILADELPHIA – Roman Lyubimov scored late in the third period to lift the Philadelphia Flyers to their third straight win.

Wayne Simmonds also scored to help the Flyers steady themselves after a rough month that rattled their playoff hopes. The Flyers jumped the Maple Leafs in points (56-55) and kept one of the final slots in sight headed into the All-Star break.

William Nylander scored for the Maple Leafs in their first road loss since Nov. 30 at Calgary.

Jets 5, Blackhawks 3

CHICAGO – Andrew Copp and Bryan Little scored in a 32-second span in the third period, and the Winnipeg Jets beat Chicago for their fourth straight victory against the Blackhawks this season.

Little, Copp, rookie Patrik Laine and Mark Scheifele each had a goal and an assist, helping the Jets to their third win in their last nine games.

Duncan Keith, Nick Schmaltz and Tanner Kero scored for the Blackhawks (30-16-5), who were coming off a 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

Wild 5, Blues 1

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Nino Niederreiter had a goal and two assists, Devan Dubnyk made 25 saves and the Minnesota Wild defeated the St. Louis Blues.

Mikael Granlund added a goal and an assist, and Erik Haula, Tyler Graovac and Mikko Koivu also scored for the Wild, who are 21-3-2 in their last 26 games. Heading into the NHL All-Star break with 69 points, Minnesota trails Washington by three in the race for the league’s best record.

Vladimir Tarasenko scored his 21st goal for the Blues, who lost for the fourth time in five games.

Coyotes 3, Canucks 0

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Alexander Burmistrov scored his first goal as a member of the Arizona Coyotes and Mike Smith earned his 31st career shutout – first this season – in a victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

Burmistrov’s power-play goal came in his sixth game since being claimed off waivers from Winnipeg and helped give Arizona its first three-game winning streak of the season.

Lawson Crouse also scored for the Coyotes against the punchless Canucks, who didn’t get a shot on goal for the first 28:12 of the game.

Tobias Rieder got an empty-net goal with 34 seconds to play, his third goal in three games.