Ovechkin leads Caps with 2nd straight hat trick

Alexander Ovechkin recorded a hat trick to pass Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux for 10th place and tie Steve Yzerman for ninth place on the NHL's all-time goals list and the Washington Capitals rallied for a 6-4 victory over the host New York Islanders on Saturday afternoon.

Ovechkin tied Lemieux midway through the first period with a breakaway goal but after his 690th goal, the Capitals did little offensively until their comeback bid in the third to win their third straight game.

Ovechkin got his 691st career goal on a spectacular play 5:18 into the third when he scored while falling to the ice after making a move through the right circle. He then tied Yzerman by capping Washington's comeback with an empty-net goal with less than a minute remaining.

Ovechkin recorded his 26th career hat trick and posted a hat trick for the second straight game.

Canucks 4, Sharks 1

Tanner Pearson collected one goal and one assist, while goaltender Thatcher Demko made 17 saves as host Vancouver beat San Jose and moved atop the Pacific Division standings.

The Canucks, who have won four of five games overall and eight straight at home, are one point ahead of the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Vegas Golden Knights and Arizona Coyotes in the standings. It's the first time the top five teams in a division have been separated by one point since it happened with the Norris Division on Jan. 1, 1987.

San Jose, which managed only three shots in the first period, received a boost when Barclay Goodrow made it a one-goal game at 7:09 of the third period. Goalie Aaron Dell made 35 saves for the Sharks, who have dropped three straight games and have fallen 12 points behind the Canucks.

Avalanche 5, Blues 3

Cale Makar and Andre Burakovsky scored 22 seconds apart late in the second period, Nathan MacKinnon and Tyson Jost also scored, and Colorado beat St. Louis in Denver.

MacKinnon and Burakovsky each added an assist, Ian Cole had two assists and Philipp Grubauer stopped 21 shots. Gabriel Landeskog scored into an empty net with 1.8 seconds left.

David Perron and Alex Pietrangelo each had a goal and an assist, Oskar Sundqvist also scored and Zach Sanford and Ryan O'Reilly had two assists each for the Blues.

Oilers 7, Coyotes 3

Connor McDavid scored two goals and Riley Sheahan had a goal and three assists as Edmonton earned a victory over visiting Arizona.

Josh Archibald had a goal and two assists and Sam Gagner, Kailer Yamamoto and Joakim Nygard also scored goals for the Oilers.

Edmonton won for the sixth time in its last eight games and heads into its bye week and All-Star Game break with 57 points, one point behind the Pacific Division-leading Canucks. Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each added two assists for Edmonton. Mike Smith finished with 27 saves.

Canadiens 5, Golden Knights 4 (SO)

Tomas Tatar scored the game-deciding goal in the shootout as host Montreal handed Vegas coach Peter DeBoer his first loss with his new team.

Tatar and Ilya Kovalchuk potted goals as the Canadiens won the extra session 2-1 after allowing two late goals to force overtime. Jonathan Marchessault scored for the Golden Knights, but Canadiens goalie Carey Price stuffed Reilly Smith's tying bid to end the shootout in the bottom of the fourth round.

Nick Cousins scored twice, Kovalchuk and Joel Armia contributed goals, Dale Weise assisted on two markers and the Canadiens were victorious for the fourth time in their last five games despite blowing a three-goal lead.

Blue Jackets 5, Devils 0

Rookie goaltender Elvis Merzlikins stopped 41 shots for this third shutout of the season, and Columbus defeated visiting New Jersey for its fourth straight win.

With No. 1 goaltender Joonas Korpisalo sidelined by a knee injury, Merzlikins has posted shutouts in three of his last four games, with the only exception when he allowed two goals on 34 shots to Carolina in Thursday's win.

Cam Atkinson scored twice, and Jakob Lilja, Nick Foligno and Alexander Wennberg also scored for Columbus, which is 14-2-4 in its past 20 games. The Blue Jackets are 7-1-1 in the past eight home games, outscoring the opposition 30-12.

Blackhawks 6, Maple Leafs 2

Jonathan Toews scored twice and added two assists, Dominik Kubalik had two goals and an assist and visiting Chicago defeated Toronto.

Drake Caggiula added a goal and an assist, and Brandon Saad also scored for the Blackhawks, who have won four in a row. Erik Gustafsson chipped in with two assists for Chicago.

William Nylander and Alex Kerfoot scored for the Maple Leafs, who have lost five of their past six games. Tyson Barrie contributed two assists for Toronto.

Predators 2, Sabres 1

Craig Smith scored a tiebreaking power-play goal in the third period as Nashville gave new coach John Hynes his first home victory by defeating Buffalo.

Ryan Johansen also scored, and goaltender Pekka Rinne made 30 saves for the Predators, who evened their record at 3-3 since Hynes took over for the fired Peter Laviolette on Jan. 7. They had lost their first two home games under Hynes.

Sam Reinhart scored for the Sabres, and goalie Linus Ullmark stopped 35 of 37 shots. Buffalo's three-game winning streak, which tied for its longest of the season, came to an end.

Senators 5, Flames 2

Brady Tkachuk, Connor Brown and Vladislav Namestnikov each had a goal and an assist and Marcus Hogberg stopped 40 of 42 shots as Ottawa snapped a nine-game losing streak with a victory over visiting Calgary.

Chris Tierney and Colin White also scored goals for the Senators, who won for the first time since before Christmas, a 3-1 home victory over Buffalo on Dec. 23. It was Brown's third consecutive multi-point game and the second career win for Hogberg.

Mark Jankowski and Noah Hanifin scored goals and David Rittich finished with 16 saves for Calgary, which lost for just the second time in the last eight games.

Panthers 4, Red Wings 1

Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves to lead Florida to a win at Detroit.

The Panthers won their sixth straight game against the Red Wings and fourth straight overall, in what was the first of a six-game road swing. Evgenii Dadonov, Mark Pysyk, Aleksander Barkov and Denis Malgin each scored.

Dylan Larkin scored the lone goal for the Red Wings, who lost their fourth straight game.

Flyers 4, Kings 1

Travis Konecny scored two goals and James van Riemsdyk added one goal and two assists to carry host Philadelphia past Los Angeles.

Joel Farabee contributed one goal and Claude Giroux had two assists for the Flyers, who improved to 16-4-4 at home. Flyers goaltender Brian Elliott made 34 saves.

Dustin Brown scored the lone goal for the Kings, who fell to 7-17-4 on the road. Kings goaltender Jack Campbell stopped 22 shots.

Wild 7, Stars 0

Jason Zucker scored his first goal since returning from injury and added two assists as Minnesota stomped visiting Dallas.

Zucker fractured his fibula during a Dec. 15 game against the Chicago Blackhawks, blocking a slap shot from Brent Seabrook. He had surgery and returned to the ice Jan. 12 against the Vancouver Canucks, but had been held off the scoreboard.

Mattias Janmark had the Stars' best chance of the third period to end Minnesota's shutout bid, trying to sneak a wrister past goaltender Alex Stalock, who turned away all 27 shots by Dallas.