Washington: Alex Ovechkin scored twice for Washington to take the NHL lead in goals and help end the Capitals’ four-game losing skid with a 4-0 win over Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
The Capitals closed the gap on the Penguins to three points in the tightly-contested Metropolitan Division, while the day’s other games saw wins for Los Angeles over Chicago and New Jersey over Toronto.
Ovechkin had a tip-in goal in the first period and then scored during a power play in the second. His 29 goals are one more than Rick Nash and Tyler Seguin.
Eric Fehr and Mike Green scored in the third for the Capitals while goaltender Braden Holtby - who had conceded four goals in each of his past three starts, stopped 27 shots to blank the Penguins for the second time in a little over a month. Pittsburgh hasn’t scored against Washington in 120 minutes this season.
Penguins star Sidney Crosby lost 15 of his first 18 faceoffs and lost 17 of 24 for the game. The Penguins also played their third straight without Evgeni Malkin, who also has a lower-body injury. Pittsburgh has lost five of six.
Los Angeles’ Jake Muzzin scored the tiebreaking goal with 3:37 to play to give the Kings a 4-3 win against Chicago.
Jeff Carter had two goals and an assist for the Kings, who roared back in the final minutes to snap its four-game losing streak.
Tyler Toffoli tied it with 6:11 left for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who lost seven of eight going into the All-Star break but returned with a dynamic performance which moved them within two points of second place in the Pacific Division.
Andrew Shaw scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period for the Blackhawks, who had won four straight regular-season games over Los Angeles.
New Jersey’s Jacob Josefson and Patrik Elias scored in the shootout to give the Devils a 2-1 win against Toronto, sending the Maple Leafs to their seventh straight loss.
