National Hockey League Game Capsules

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – Despite the absence of captain Alex Ovechkin, the Washington Capitals managed to produce their most goals in a game this season. Joel Ward notched his first career hat trick, Nicklas Backstrom had two goals with an assist and the Capitals closed out their five-game road trip with a 7-0 thrashing of the Philadelphia Flyers that turned nasty in the third period. Jason Chimera extended his goal streak to a career-high four games and collected three assists for Washington, which snapped a two-game skid to conclude its trek at 3-2-0. Ovechkin missed Friday’s contest with an upper-body injury. Ward struck twice during a five-goal second period and scored on a power play to make it 7-0 at the 5:23 mark of the third period. Eight seconds later, a frustrated Flyers squad that fell to 3-9-0 on the season, incited a full-scale donnybrook. Philadelphia goaltender Ray Emery, who relieved starter Steve Mason after Chimera made it 3-0 at 2:44 of the second, skated the length of the ice to scrap with fellow masked man Braden Holtby. Emery was assessed a game misconduct, while Holtby, a reluctant opponent, remained in the game to complete his 27-save shutout.

Final Score: Pittsburgh 4, Columbus 2

Pittsburgh, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 37 shots to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets in the opener of a home-and-home set on Friday. Jayson Megna, Kris Letang, Brandon Sutter and Chris Kunitz all scored for the Penguins, who have won three straight after dropping three in a row. Derek MacKenzie and Ryan Johansen scored for the Blue Jackets, who have dropped their past two. Sergei Bobrovsky struggled in the start, giving up three goals on 13 shots before being pulled early in the second period for Curtis McElhinney, who gave up a goal on 14 shots the rest of the way. These two teams meet in Columbus on Saturday.

Final Score: Tampa Bay 3, Carolina 0

Raleigh, NC (SportsNetwork.com) – Ben Bishop turned away all 31 shots to earn his first shutout of the season as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-0, at PNC Arena. Steven Stamkos extended his point streak to five games with a third period goal. Victor Hedman and Alex Killorn both lit the lamp, while Martin St. Louis tallied two assists. The Lightning continued their dominant play in Raleigh with their eighth win in their past nine visits. Justin Peters allowed three goals on 32 shots in the defeat as Carolina has now lost its fourth straight game.

Final Score: NY Islanders 5, Ottawa 4 (SO)

Ottawa, ON (SportsNetwork.com) – Frans Nielsen scored the lone shootout goal in the second round, as the New York Islanders fought back from a pair of two-goal deficits to take a 5-4 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Friday at Canadian Tire Centre. Nielsen notched the game-tying goal 3:14 into the third period before making a slick backhand-forehand move and lifting the disc over the extended right pad of Robin Lehner in the second round of the shootout. Evgeni Nabokov, who turned away the first two Ottawa shooters, then made a nice pad save on Bobby Ryan to end the shootout and snap New York’s two-game losing streak. Pierre-Marc Bouchard registered a goal and an assist, Matt Martin and John Tavares each tallied once, and Nabokov finished with 27 saves for the Islanders, who peppered Lehner with 57 shots. Ryan recorded a goal and an assist for the Sens, who received goals from Clarke MacArthur, Erik Condra and Mika Zibanejad in dropping their fourth straight contest.

Final Score: St. Louis 4, Florida 0

Sunrise, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Brian Elliott made 31 saves to backstop the St. Louis Blues to a 4-0 win over the Florida Panthers. Alexander Steen, the NHL’s top performer in the first month of the season, remained red-hot by capping off a three-goal second period with his 12th tally. Chris Stewart registered a goal and an assist for the Blues, who routed the Panthers 7-0 on Oct. 5. St. Louis has won three games in a row and has earned at least one point in six straight contests (4-0-2). Jacob Markstrom allowed all four goals on 23 shots for Florida, which wrapped up its six-game homestand at 1-3-2.

Final Score: Minnesota 4, Montreal 3

St. Paul, MN (SportsNetwork.com) – Jason Pominville scored the winner with 5:28 to play as the Minnesota Wild took a 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Friday. Pominville scored twice and added an assist while Nino Niederreiter and Justin Fontaine each had a goal for the Wild, who have won four of their last five. Josh Harding gave up three goals on 31 shots. P.K. Subban had a goal and an assist while Andrei Markov assisted on all three goals for the Canadiens, who had won three of four coming in. Carey Price allowed all four goals on 25 shots.

Final Score: Colorado 3, Dallas 2 (OT)

Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – The Colorado Avalanche started goaltender Semyon Varlamov after his recent arrest and continued their torrid start Friday night. Paul Stastny scored his second goal at the 3:36 mark of overtime to lift the Avalanche to a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center. Varlamov, who made 27 saves, played two days after turning himself in on domestic violence-related charges in Denver. He faces charges of second-degree kidnapping and third-degree assault. Gabriel Landeskog had the other goal for the Avalanche, who are 11-1-0 to match the 1994-95 Quebec Nordiques for the best start through 12 games in franchise history. They also tied the club record with six consecutive road wins to begin the season.

Final Score: Detroit 4, Calgary 3

Calgary, AB (SportsNetwork.com) – Justin Abdelkader scored the winner in the third period as the Detroit Red Wings took a 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames on Friday. Pavel Datsyuk had a goal and an assist while Tomas Tatar and Henrik Zetterberg also scored for the Red Wings, who have won the first two games of a four-game western Canada swing. Jimmy Howard made 22 stops in the win. Curtis Glencross, Sean Monahan and Chris Butler all scored for the Flames, who have dropped four of five. Joey MacDonald gave up all four goals on 22 shots in the loss.

Categorized in: NHL