SCOREBOARD
Saturday, Jan. 12
Detroit at Ottawa (7 p.m. EST). The two conference leaders meet for the only time this season.
STARS
Thursday
-Scott Hartnell, Flyers, scored three consecutive goals to lead Philadelphia past the New York Rangers 6-2.
-Brad Boyes and Paul Kariya, Blues. Boyes scored twice and Kariya added a goal and two assists in St. Louis’ 4-2 win over Dallas.
-Dustin Brown and Jason LaBarbera, Kings. Brown scored a pair of power-play goals and LaBarbera had a career-high 48 saves and Los Angeles beat Toronto 5-2.
-Dean McAmmond, Senators, scored on Ottawa’s sixth shootout attempt for a 3-2 win over Buffalo.
-Marian Gaborik, Wild, scored on the final attempt in a shootout to lift Minnesota to a 6-5 win at Detroit.
LONG-TERM INVESTMENT
Alex Ovechkin signed a $124 million, 13-year contract extension Thursday with the Washington Capitals, working out the details himself in negotiations with owner Ted Leonsis and general manager George McPhee. Ovechkin has led the Capitals in scoring in each of his seasons and his 130 goals in 2 1/2 seasons ties him with Atlanta’s Ilya Kovalchuk for most among all NHL players over that span.
SOLD
The Minnesota Wild announced Thursday that Bob Naegele’s majority stake will be bought by former Nashville owner Craig Leipold. Vice chairman Jac Sperling declined to reveal the purchase price, but said the deal is expected to close over the next few months pending approvals by the city and the league. The sports business analysts at Forbes released their annual team values in November, estimating the Wild’s worth at $180 million, good for 15th out of the 30 clubs.
GREAT EIGHT
Pittsburgh has an eight-game winning streak, the club’s longest since a 10-game stretch in January and February 1999, after topping Tampa Bay 4-1 on Thursday night. The Penguins also stopped a 12-game losing skid against the Lightning.
STRUGGLING
Buffalo’s losing streak reached eight games after a 3-2 shootout loss at Ottawa on Thursday night. It is the Sabres’ longest skid in five years. … Toronto has a four-game losing streak after a 5-2 setback to Los Angeles, the worst team in the NHL. The Maple Leafs have been outscored 19-6 during the losing streak and were held to fewer than three goals for the 10th time in their last 11 games, during which they are 2-7-2.
IMPROVING
San Jose won for the sixth time in seven games and for the fourth straight time over Vancouver this season after a 3-1 victory on Thursday night. … Edmonton improved to 3-0 on its crucial five-game homestand and has won four of its last five overall after beating Phoenix 5-2.
HAB-ITUAL WINNERS
Montreal improved to 5-0-2 over its last seven, and has beaten Boston eight straight and 15 of 18 with Thursday night’s 5-2 victory.
HEATING UP
Patrick Elias scored the go-ahead goal during the second period of Thursday night’s 4-1 win at Carolina and now has four goals in seven games after scoring just six times in his first 32.
FINALLY
Ryan Hollweg posted his first multigoal game in the NHL after not scoring at all for 67 games, but the New York Rangers still dropped their fifth straight with a 6-2 defeat to Philadelphia. Hollweg has five career goals in 173 games. … Edmonton defenseman Denis Grebeshkov score his first NHL goal in his 71st career game, a 3-1 win over Phoenix. … Carolina’s Keith Aucoin scored his first NHL goal in a 4-1 loss to New Jersey.
SOPEL STAYING
Chicago defenseman Brent Sopel signed a three-year contract extension Thursday. Initially acquired by the Blackhawks as a free agent in September, the 31-year-old Sopel has appeared in 33 games this season with 10 assists and a plus/minus rating of plus 10.
BEST IN THE WEST
Chris Pronger and Ryan Getzlaf of Stanley Cup-champion Anaheim were among 16 players chosen Thursday to fill out the Western Conference roster for the NHL All-Star game. Pronger, in his second season with the Ducks, will be making his fifth All-Star appearance – first since 2004. He will be joined on defense by Phoenix’s Ed Jovanovski, also an All-Star for the fifth time. Chicago’s Duncan Keith was picked for his first All-Star game in his third season, and fellow defenseman Sergei Zubov of Dallas is going to the midseason showcase for the fourth time after not being chosen since 2000. On the forward lines, Edmonton’s Shawn Horcoff, Los Angeles’ Anze Kopitar, Henrik Sedin of Vancouver, and Paul Stastny of Colorado, all will make their first All-Star appearances. Chris Osgood of Detroit, Manny Legace of St. Louis and San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov are the goalies.
SPEAKING
“Every once in a while you need a reminder in life that you’ve got to work hard and you’ve got to work for 60 minutes.” – Detroit coach Mike Babcock after the Red Wings allowed the tying goal with less than a minute left in regulation before losing to Minnesota 6-5 in a shootout Thursday night.