WASHINGTON (AP) -Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins got the better of Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, just like they always do.
Crosby set up the go-ahead goal on a power play, Ovechkin was held without a point for the first time this season, and Pittsburgh beat Washington 2-1 Saturday night.
The Penguins won for the second night in a row; the Capitals have dropped four consecutive games after opening the season 3-0.
It was the ninth NHL meeting between two of the league’s young superstars, and the Penguins have won eight.
Crosby sent a cross-ice pass to Ryan Whitney, whose slap shot beat Brent Johnson 17:59 into the second to make it 2-1. It was the 100th career point for Whitney, in his third season.
Washington went ahead 1-0 on defenseman Brian Pothier’s goal of the season, 13:45 into the game.
The Penguins tied it 1-1 nearly 4 minutes into the second period on Jordan Staal’s first goal of the season.
Canadiens 4, Sabres 2
MONTREAL (AP) – Roman Hamrlik had a goal and two assists to lift Montreal over Buffalo.
Hamrlik was credited with a goal at 12:38 of the third period after his shot off the end boards went in off defenseman Toni Lydman. Chris Higgins scored into an empty net with 24.9 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
Bryan Smolinski and Kyle Chipchura also had goals for the Canadiens, who ended a three-game losing streak (0-2-1), including a 4-3 loss in Ottawa on Thursday.
Paul Gaustad and Derek Roy scored goals nine seconds apart for Buffalo, which lost its second in a row to begin a five-game road trip.
Bruins 1, Rangers 0, SO
BOSTON (AP) – Phil Kessel scored the lone goal in a shootout to give Boston the victory over New York.
After the first five shooters failed in the tiebreaker, Kessel skated in on Henrik Lundqvist and fired a wrist shot under the crossbar. The former University of Minnesota star had four shootout winners as a rookie last season.
Lundqvist made 19 saves in regulation and overtime, including a highlight-reel save on Marc Savard late in the opening period. Manny Fernandez stopped 26 shots for Boston in his first start since Oct. 12.
With the shootout victory, Boston ended an eight-game winless streak (0-5-3) against the Rangers. The Bruins’ last win against New York was March 4, 2004, in Boston.
Flyers 3, Hurricanes 2, OT
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Simon Gagne scored his second goal of the game 48 seconds into overtime and the Flyers won their fifth straight game.
Mike Richards also scored for the Flyers, who won their fourth straight at home. The Flyers had not won five straight games since Dec. 22-29, 2005.
Justin Willliams and Eric Staal scored for the Hurricanes, who had their three-game winning streak snapped by Pittsburgh on Friday night.
Gagne stopped a pass from Derian Hatcher with his skate, then snapped the game-winner into the net. It was his 400th career point.
Islanders 4, Devils 3, OT
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) – Bill Guerin’s power-play goal with 3.7 seconds left in overtime gave the Islanders the win over New Jersey after New York squandered a two-goal lead in the third period.
The Islanders captain got to a loose puck in front after it kicked around following a shot by Mike Comrie. He smacked it past backup goalie Kevin Weekes, subbing for a rarely rested Martin Brodeur.
Josef Vasicek started a three-goal Islanders run in the second period, and Miroslav Satan added his first of the season in the spurt that was capped by Comrie’s power-play tally.
Zach Parise scored in the first period and Jay Pandolfo and Brian Gionta got the Devils even in the third but New Jersey lost its third in five games.
Blackhawks 6, Maple Leafs 4
TORONTO (AP) – Chicago scored five goals in the third period to rally past Toronto.
Jason Williams, Andrei Zyuzin, Duncan Keith, Robert Lang, Patrick Sharp and Tuomo Ruutu, with an empty-netter with 25 seconds left, scored for the Blackhawks.
Mats Sundin scored twice and Tomas Kaberle and Chad Kilger once each for the Leafs.
Trailing 3-1 at the start of the final period, Chicago rallied, scoring two goals in 30 seconds.
Zyuzin, gliding into the middle of Toronto’s end during a power play, redirected a Patrick Kane pass through Raycroft’s legs at 1:04.
Keith got a cross-ice pass from Brent Sopel and fired in a wrist shot 30 seconds later.
Lightning 6, Thrashers 2
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Martin St. Louis and Mathieu Darche scored 39 seconds apart during a three-goal second period to help Tampa Bay stay unbeaten in four home games this season with a win over Atlanta.
Tampa Bay got two goals from Vinny Prospal. Chris Gratton and Vincent Lecavalier had the other goals for the Lightning.
Ilya Kovalchuk and Brett Sterling scored for the defending Southeast Division champion Thrashers (1-7-0), who are winless in four road games.
Johan Hedberg allowed five goals on 24 shots before being pulled after two periods.
Stars 3, Ducks 1
DALLAS (AP) – Mike Ribeiro and Jere Lehtinen each had a goal and an assist to help Dallas beat Anaheim.
Brenden Morrow added a goal, Marty Turco made 20 saves and Dallas improved to 3-0-1 at home.
Chris Pronger scored a power-play goal for the defending Stanley Cup champion Ducks, winless on the road (0-4-1).
The Stars had been getting off to slow starts, but they reversed that trend with Morrow’s power-play goal at 2:05 of the opening period. Morrow notched his fourth of the season from the slot off a centering pass by Ribeiro.
Wild 3, Blues 1
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Eric Belanger had a goal and an assist, Josh Harding made 33 saves and Minnesota remained the NHL’s only unbeaten team by beating St. Louis.
Brent Burns and Pavol Demitra also scored and Pierre-Marc Bouchard had two assists for the Wild (6-0-1), who have won six of their first seven despite not scoring more than three goals in any game.
Steve Wagner scored his first NHL goal for the only tally for St. Louis, which had its four-game winning streak snapped. Martin Rucinsky also had a milestone on that goal, picking up an assist for his 600th career point.
Manny Legace made 31 saves for the Blues.
Red Wings 5, Coyotes 2
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) – Kirk Maltby scored a pair of second-period goals and Detroit rallied to beat Phoenix.
Henrik Zetterberg had a goal and an assist and Jiri Hudler and Brett Lebda also scored for the Red Wings, who have won three of their last four.
Zetterberg leads the NHL with 17 points and has at least one point in each of Detroit’s first nine games, a career-best scoring streak.
Steven Reinprecht and Derek Morris scored for the Coyotes, who lost all three games of their abbreviated homestand. Phoenix has lost five of six since opening the season with a 3-2 home win over St. Louis.
Flames 4, Oilers 1
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) – Jarome Iginla scored the go-ahead goal and added two assists to lead to the win over Edmonton.
Iginla extended his point-scoring streak to five games. During that time he has five goals and 11 points.
Kristian Huselius, Dion Phaneuf, and Adrian Aucoin also scored for Calgary (4-2-2). The Flames have earned points in five straight games (4-0-1) and have begun a season-long seven-game homestand with two straight wins.
Rookie center Sam Gagner scored his first NHL goal for Edmonton (3-5-0). The Oilers have lost five of their last six after starting the season with a pair of wins.
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