WASHINGTON (AP) — Aliaksei Protas had two goals and an assist in the third period to key the Washington Capitals rallying to beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 on Friday night, extending their winning streak to three games.
Taylor Raddysh got the Capitals on the board after falling behind 2-0, and, after Protas tied it in the first minute of the third, Jakob Chychrun scored the go-ahead goal 66 seconds later. Logan Thompson bounced back from a rough start to stop 18 of the 20 shots he faced as Washington padded its lead atop the Eastern Conference.
Detroit’s Cam Talbot allowed five goals on 29 shots, falling apart just after the second intermission. Dylan Larkin and Moritz Seider had given the Red Wings — who are trying to get one of the East’s two wild-card spots — a lead, but they could not hold on and lost ground in the playoff race with their fifth consecutive loss.
Some Capitals fans chanted, “Pull the goalie!” late, hoping Alex Ovechkin would get a chance to shoot at an empty net. That did not happen, and he remains at 885 goals, 10 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career record.
JETS 6, DEVILS 1
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Nikolaj Ehlers scored for the third consecutive game and had two assists, Kyle Connor added his 33rd goal of the season, and Winnipeg beat New Jersey.
Ehlers connected on a wrist shot with 30 seconds left in the second period, putting the Jets up 3-0. Ehlers had an assist on Josh Morrissey’s power-play goal earlier in the second and Cole Perfetti’s goal in the third, giving him five points in his last three games.
Alex Iafallo and Adam Lowry also scored for the Jets, who have won back-to-back games after dropping three in a row. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 22 shots for his NHL-leading 37th victory.
Dawson Mercer scored for the Devils with a slap shot in the opening minute of the third to make it 3-1, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a third consecutive loss.
BLACKHAWKS 4, UTAH 3, OT
CHICAGO (AP) — Connor Bedard scored 3:10 into overtime to give Chicago a victory over Utah.
Bedard’s 17th goal of the season helped the Blackhawks escape with a victory after squandering a 3-1 lead.
Wyatt Kaiser, Ilya Mikheyev and Frank Nazar scored during a 5-minute span in the second period to put the Blackhawks up by two. Spencer Knight finished with 36 saves.
Nick Schmaltz, John Marino and Clayton Keller scored for Utah, which lost for the third time in 10 games. Karel Vejmelka had 21 saves.
Utah battled back in the third. scoring on Marino’s shot from the point before Keller’s power-play equalizer with 7:44 remaining.
Utah had several chances in OT, but Knight stopped both shots on goal.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4, PENGUINS 0
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Ilya Samsonov made 22 saves for his 15th career shutout and second this season, Mark Stone had a goal and two assists and Vegas defeated Pittsburgh.
Tanner Pearson had a goal and an assist, while Ivan Barbashev and Brandon Saad also scored for the Golden Knights, who have won four straight.
Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 23 shots for the Penguins, who lost their fourth straight and have dropped eight of their last nine.
The night was punctuated by the return of the Golden Knights’ Reilly Smith, an original member of Vegas’ expansion roster in 2017. Smith helped the Knights win the Stanley Cup in 2023 and was traded to Pittsburgh less than a month after the finals.
CANUCKS 3, WILD 1
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Kiefer Sherwood scored late in the third period, Kevin Lankinen stopped 37 shots and Vancouver beat Minnesota.
Elias Pettersson opened the scoring for the Canucks on a power play midway through the first period to snap a 15-game scoring drought, and Teddy Blueger added an empty-netter in the final minute. Defenseman Filip Hronek had two assists.
Vancouver won its second straight and third in five games to move one point ahead of Calgary for the second wild card in the Western Conference.
Minnesota defenseman Brock Faber tied the score with a power-play goal at 7:12 of the third period, and Filip Gustavsson had 17 saves. The Wild snapped a two-game win streak.
BLUES 4, DUCKS 3
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Brayden Schenn scored twice to lead St. Louis to a win over Anaheim.
With the Blues leading 4-3, Schenn scored his second of the game on a wrist shot with 1:47 left in the third period with an assisted from Justin Faulk.
Zachary Bolduc and Alexey Toropchenko also scored for the Blues. Jordan Binnington made 20 saves.
Sam Colangelo, Frank Vatrano and Alex Killorn had goals for the Ducks. Lukas Dostal stopped 18 shots.
The Associated Press
