SCOREBOARD
Monday, Dec. 31
San Jose at Minnesota (7 p.m. EST). The Sharks have won a franchise-record nine straight road games.
STARS
Saturday
-Alexander Ovechkin, Capitals, had four goals and an assist to lead Washington to an 8-6 win over Ottawa.
-Ty Conklin, Penguins, made 26 saves for his fourth straight win and Pittsburgh blanked Buffalo 2-0.
-Petr Prucha and Jaromir Jagr, Rangers. Prucha scored twice and Jagr added a goal and three assists in New York’s 6-1 rout of Toronto.
-Kari Lehtonen, Thrashers, stopped 26 shots for his ninth career shutout, helping Atlanta down Boston 5-0.
-Nikolai Zherdev, Blue Jackets, scored two goals and had a career-best four points in Columbus’ 4-1 win over Carolina.
-Jarome Iginla and Kristian Huselius, Flames, scored two goals apiece to help Calgary get past Anaheim 5-3.
ALEX THE GREAT
Alexander Ovechkin had four goals and an assist to lead Washington to an 8-6 win over Ottawa on Saturday. Ovechkin got his 30th goal of the season for his first career four-goal game on an empty netter with 27.6 seconds remaining. It was his third career hat trick and first since Dec. 15, 2006.
POWER RANGERS
Petr Prucha scored two of the New York Rangers’ season-high five power play goals in a 6-1 victory over Toronto on Saturday. Jaromir Jagr had a goal and three assists and Blair Betts scored for the first time in 12 games as the Rangers enjoyed their biggest scoring outburst of the season. The Rangers last scored five power-play goals in a game on March 9, 1996.
ROAD WARRIORS
Steve Bernier had a goal and two assists to help San Jose beat Nashville 5-2 on Saturday, winning its franchise-record ninth straight road contest.
WILD COMEBACK
Petteri Nummelin capped a Minnesota comeback from three goals down by scoring on a power play in overtime to lift the Wild over Edmonton 5-4 on Saturday. Brent Burns tapped in the tying goal with 5:16 left in regulation for the Wild, who trailed 4-1 late in the second period.
STRONG IN DEFEAT
Paul Kariya scored three third-period goals but St. Louis fell to Dallas 5-4 in a shootout on Saturday. … Daniel Alfredsson scored twice in Ottawa’s 8-6 loss to Washington.
STRUGGLING
Joffrey Lupul scored on a penalty shot and added two assists to help Philadelphia beat struggling Tampa Bay 4-2 on Saturday. The Lightning have lost nine of 11 and lost for just the second time in 14 games against the Flyers.
STREAKING
Dallas edged St. Louis 5-4 on Saturday to wins its fourth straight eighth in nine games. Mike Ribeiro scored his career-best 21st goal of the season in the win.
SNAPPED
Derek Armstrong and Scott Thornton scored goals 1:17 apart in the third period and Los Angeles broke an eight-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over Colorado on Saturday. … St. Louis lost its third straight game, 5-4 in Dallas, and snapped a 141:16 scoreless streak in the first period. … Calgary downed Anaheim 5-3 to end the Ducks’ four-game winning streak. The Flames had been winless in their last three home games.
SPEAKING
“It’s tough to tell you positives … we lost again.”-Tampa Bay center Brad Richards after the Lightning fell to Philadelphia 4-2 on Saturday for their ninth loss in 11 games.