Wednesday AROUND THE NHL


February 2, 2017 at 12:00a.m.

Wednesday AROUND THE NHL

Capitals 5, Bruins 3

WASHINGTON

Nicklas Backstrom had three points and Alex Ovechkin continued to climb the NHL’s goal-scoring charts as Washington beat Boston. The Bruins’ winning streak ended at three, and they got a scare when center Patrice Bergeron took a slap shot off his right leg. League-leading Washington extended its winning streak against Boston to eight. Backstrom had a goal and two assists, setting up T.J. Oshie and Ovechkin, who passed Ron Francis for 27th on the all-time list. Brett Connolly and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored for the Capitals, who got 29 saves from Braden Holtby. Despite allowing two power-play goals to fellow All-Star Brad Marchand and a late goal to David Krejci, Holtby improved to 11-2-0 against the Bruins in the regular season. Bergeron blocked a shot from Washington’s Matt Niskanen 2:33 into the second period and needed to be helped off the ice and down the tunnel.

Associated Press