NHL roundup \ Thursday’s games

Capitals 4, Thrashers 3

ATLANTA — Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 12th and 13th goals, Semyon Varlamov stopped a penalty shot and the first-place Capitals held on at the end to hand Atlanta its fourth straight loss. Ovechkin didn’t get a chance to go against fellow Russian Ilya Kovalchuk. Atlanta’s star sat out his first game since breaking his right foot last weekend.

Lightning 5, Senators 2

TAMPA, Fla. — Steven Stamkos had two power-play goals and an assist, and Todd Fedoruk, Ryan Malone and Alex Tanguay also scored for Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay’s Martin St. Louis played in his 700th NHL games and extended his franchise-record season-opening points streak to 10 games (11 assists, 14 points) with an assist. The NHL record is 51 games, set by Wayne Gretzky in 1983-84. St. Louis missed the net to the right on short-handed penalty shot in the second. Jarkko Ruutu and Alex Kovalev scored for Ottawa.

Devils 2, Bruins 1

BOSTON — Dainius Zubrus scored with 1:26 left, and Yann Danis made 31 saves in his first appearance of the season to lead New Jersey to its sixth straight road win. David Clarkson opened the scoring for the Devils at 13:25 of the first period, and Patrice Bergeron tied it at 2:32 of the second.

Coyotes 2, Blues 0

ST. LOUIS — Ilja Bryzgalov made 32 saves for his NHL-leading third shutout of the season, and Daniel Winnik and Taylor Pyatt scored for Phoenix. Bryzgalov improved to 7-3-0, leading Phoenix to its sixth win in eight games. At 8-4-0, the Coyotes are off to their best 12-game start since going 9-1-2 in 2000-01. Vernon Fiddler assisted on both goals.

Predators 2, Blackhawks 0

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Pekka Rinne made 22 saves for his first shutout of the season and fifth overall, and Joel Ward had a power-play goal for Nashville. Jerred Smithson added a short-handed empty-net goal with 3 seconds left to help the Predators beat the Blackhawks for the first time in three games this season.

Associated Press