NHL roundup \ Saturday’s other games

Capitals 4, Devils 1

WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom each had a goal and two assists to help Washington beat New Jersey Devils to give the Capitals a one-point lead in the NHL overall standings. Washington has 54 points, one more than New Jersey and Pittsburgh. Washington won its third straight and ended New Jersey’s five-game winning streak. Rookie goalie Michal Neuvirth won his third straight start, making 29 saves. The Capitals pressured Martin Brodeur all night, outshooting the Devils 40-30. Ovechkim opened the scoring at 4:09 of the first period. Backstrom won the draw and sent it back to Ovechkin, who scored from the left circle.The Capitals made it 2-0 on a fluke goal with 6:06 left in the first period. Matt Bradley fired a shot that New Jersey’s Mike Mottau appeared to deflect, and the puck was sailing over the net when Brodeur reached high for it. But the puck hit his glove, dropped to the ice and rolled in. The Devils scored later in the period when Rod Pelley took a shot that apparently deflected into the goal. They appeared to tie it early in the second period, but Jay Pandolfo’s goal was waved off. Backstrom gave the Capitals a 3-1 lead when he scored from in front with 10:08 left in the period. Alexander Semin and Ovechkin assisted on that goal. Ovechkin and Backstrom both earned assists on Mike Green’s third-period goal that made it 4-1.

Blackhawks 4, Predators 1

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Cristobal Huet made 25 saves, and Dustin Byfuglien, Patrick Kane, Andrew Ladd and Patrick Sharp scored for Chicago. Jonathan Towes and Tomas Kopecky each had two assists for Western Conference-leading Chicago. Martin Erat scored for Nashville. The Predators were hit with back-to-back minor penalties in the first period. After killing off the first penalty, the Predators were unable to stop the Blackhawks on the second. Byfuglien scored with a wrist shot through traffic from just inside the blue line at the 9:44 mark against Pekka Rinne. Erat tied it at 7:38 of the second, beating Huet on a breakaway. The Blackhawks scored two goals in a 1:10 span of the second period to take a 3-1 lead. Kane scored first, beating Rinne to his right side with a wrister from the left point. Ladd scored on a backhander at 13:36. With 1:13 left in the second, Sharp gave the Blackhawks a 4-1 edge off a rebound.

Islanders 3, Rangers 2, OT

NEW YORK — Kyle Okposo scored 4:13 into overtime to lift the Islanders and snap the Rangers’ winning streak at four games. Okposo earned the primary assists on goals by Frans Nielsen and Blake Comeau, then fired a drive from the blue line that caromed off the post and in behind Henrik Lundqvist in overtime. Dwayne Roloson made 36 saves for the win. Brandon Dubinsky scored twice in the third period for the Rangers to force overtime.

Canadiens 3, Maple Leafs 2, OT

TORONTO — Jaroslav Halak made 47 saves, and Andrei Kostitsyn scored 34 seconds into overtime to give Montreal the victory. Kostitsyn’s winner came on a hard wrist shot from the top of the circle that eluded Jonas Gustavsson. Scott Gomez and Tomas Plekanec also scored for Montreal. Halak has stopped 180 of 186 shots during a four-game win streak. Ian White and Jason Blake scored for Toronto.

Flyers 4, Hurricanes 3, SO

RALEIGH, N.C. — Mike Richards and Danny Briere scored in the shootout to give Philadelphia coach Peter Laviolette a victory against his former club. Richards, Briere and Jeff Carter scored in regulation for the Flyers, and Michael Leighton stopped his former Carolina teammates in the shootout. Jussi Jokinen scored twice, and Brandon Sutter added a goal for Carolina.

Senators 3, Sabres 2, SO

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Alex Kovalev and Mike Fisher scored in the shootout to help Ottawa beat Buffalo for the seventh straight time. Ryan Shannon and Chris Neil scored in regulation, and Pascal Leclaire made 20 saves for the Senators. Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville scored for Buffalo.

Wild 4, Blues 3

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Guillaume Latendresse scored twice, Shane Hnidy and Kim Johnsson added goals, and Niklas Backstrom stopped 15 shots for Minnesota. Andy McDonald, David Perron and Patrik Berglund scored for St. Louis.

Lightning 4, Thrashers 3

TAMPA, Fla. — Alex Tanguay scored his first goal in 19 games, Mike Lundin had his first NHL goal, and Vincent Lecavalier added three assists for Tampa Bay. Ryan Malone and Steve Downie also scored for the Lightning. Nik Antropov, Marty Reasoner and Ilya Kovalchuk scored for Atlanta.

Associated Press