Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin (8) celebrates his goal with Rasmus Sandin during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Alex Ovechkin scored a power-play goal during Washington’s fast start, and the Capitals beat Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Ovechkin and Crosby faced off for the 67th time in the NHL regular season. Crosby finished with a goal and an assist, but Washington held on after racing out to a 4-0 lead.
It was the 10th time that Ovechkin and Crosby scored in the same game, and first since a Capitals win on Nov. 7, 2018.
Martin Fehervary, Tom Wilson and Beck Malenstyn also scored for Washington, which had dropped four in a row. Darcy Kuemper made 33 saves.
Crosby scored his 21st of the season, a power-play goal in the second period. He has 1,540 points, passing Joe Thornton for 12th on the NHL’s career points list.
Jake Guentzel scored his 17th goal for Pittsburgh, and Rickard Rakell picked up his third. The Penguins had won three in a row.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Tuesday:
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HURRICANES 6 RANGERS 1
NEW YORK (AP) – Andrei Svechnikov scored twice, Pyotr Kochetkov made 28 saves and Carolina earned its fourth straight win.
Brady Skjei had three assists for the surging Hurricanes, who improved to 7-1-3 in their last 11 games. Jack Drury, Jordan Martinook, Jalen Chatfield and Michael Bunting also scored.
Svechnikov has six goals and five assists in his last five games.
Chris Kreider scored for the Rangers. Igor Shesterkin finished with 21 stops.
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BRUINS 4 BLUE JACKETS 1
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – James van Riemsdyk scored on a power play and added two assists, helping Boston to its fourth consecutive victory.
Kevin Shattenkirk, Danton Heinen and Trent Frederic also scored for Boston. Linus Ullmark stopped 26 shots.
Kent Johnson scored for Columbus, which has lost two in a row and five of six overall. Spencer Martin made 23 saves.
After a scoreless first period in which Boston was outshot 12-5, the Bruins grabbed control with two goals in the second and two more in the third.
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PREDATORS 3 BLACKHAWKS 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Gustav Nyquist and Ryan O’Reilly each had a goal and an assist, leading Nashville to the victory.
Luke Evangelista also scored for Nashville, which improved to 3-0 against Chicago this season. Juuse Saros made 21 saves in his second shutout of the season and No. 22 for his career.
Last-place Chicago dropped to 6-17-2 in its last 25 games. Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom made 33 saves.
Chicago centre Connor Bedard, who was named the NHL’s rookie for the month of December, was held without a point for just the second time in his last eight games.
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JETS 4 LIGHTNING 2
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) – Nikolaj Ehlers and Morgan Barron scored in the third period, and the Jets extended their point streak to nine games.
Winnipeg improved to 7-0-2 during the surge. The point streak matches a franchise record set in December 2005 by the Atlanta Thrashers.
Neal Pionk and Alex Iafallo also scored for the Jets (23-9-4), who won their third straight game. Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves.
Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay, and Steven Stamkos also scored. The Lightning (18-16-5) have lost three of their past four games.
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CANADIENS 4 STARS 3
DALLAS (AP) – Kaiden Guhle and Jordan Harris added to Montreal’s NHL-leading 30 goals from defencemen, and Sam Montembeault stopped 31 shots for the Canadiens.
Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist and Cole Caufield also scored for the Canadiens, who went 3-3-1 on a season-long seven-game road stretch.
Wyatt Johnston had a goal and an assist for the Stars, who had a six-game home winning streak snapped. Jamie Benn and Jason Robertson also scored, and Scott Wedgewood made 14 saves.
The Canadiens began with 11 forwards and seven defencemen for the second consecutive game and lost forward Josh Anderson to an injury midway through the third period.
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FLAMES 3 WILD 1
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Andrew Mangiapane and Jonathan Huberdeau scored in the first period for Calgary, and Blake Coleman added an empty-netter.
Jacob Markstrom made 28 saves in the win.
Minnesota remains without leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov, who was injured Saturday against Winnipeg. Goalie Filip Gustavsson and forward Vinni Lettieri were both placed on injured reserve with lower-body injuries, meaning they’ll each miss at least a week.
Pat Maroon scored in the second for Minnesota. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 30 shots in the loss, two days after playing in his 1,000th career NHL game.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
