Alex Ovechkin scores 32nd, Capitals beat Penguins 3-2 in SO

Photo: The Canadian Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored his 32nd goal of the season, Nicklas Backstrom had the shootout winner and the Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Thursday night.

The Capitals snapped a two-game skid and handed the Penguins a fifth loss in eight games. But Pittsburgh extended its pointw streak to six, trails Washington by just a single point in the standings and has three additional games left on its schedule.

Evgeny Kuznetsov and Backstrom scored in the shootout long after Ovechkin reached 812 goals in his NHL career and Marcus Johansson put the Capitals ahead early in the third period. Darcy Kuemper ended it by denying Evgeni Malkin in the third round of the shootout.

The Penguins played past regulation for the fifth time in six games thanks to Bryan Rust’s tying goal with 7:08 left in the third period.

Casey DeSmith kept them in it with a sharp performance in place of injured No. 1 goaltender Tristan Jarry. DeSmith stopped 43 of the 45 shots he faced in regulation and overtime, including 20 saves in the first period alone.

Pittsburgh’s Danton Heinen also scored.

LIGHTNING 3, BRUINS 2

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Victor Hedman scored the go-ahead goal with 6:31 remaining and Tampa Bay beat Boston to tie a team record with its 11th straight home victory.

Brayden Point’s pass for Steven Stamkos on a 2-on-1 misfired, but the puck came right to Hedman. His shot from the left circle beat Linus Ullmark after the Boston goalie was run over by teammate Brandon Carlo, breaking a 2-all tie.

The Lightning matched the franchise mark for consecutive home wins, set in 2019-20. They ended Boston’s six-game winning streak and the Bruins’ run of seven road victories in a row.

Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov also scored for Tampa Bay, amd Andrei Vasilevskiy made 37 saves. Brad Marchand and Pavel Zacha scored for NHL-leading Boston. The Bruins fell to 38-6-4.

RED WINGS 4, CANADIENS 3, OT

MONTREAL (AP) — Robby Fabbri scored at 2:36 of overtime to lift Detroit past Montreal.

Michael Rasmussen set up Fabbri with a pass through the crease.

Rasmussen, Jonatan Berggren and Oskar Sunqvist also scored, Moritz Seider had three assists, and Ville Husso made 20 saves.

Rafael Harvey-Pinard scored twice and had an assist for Montreal. Michael Pezzetta added a goal and an assist, and Jake Allen made 38 saves.

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