New York: Jason Chimera, Steve Oleksy and Mikhail Grabovski scored second-period goals to power the Washington Capitals to a 4-1 win over the New York Rangers on Sunday.
Washington defenseman Nate Schmidt added a goal in the third for the Capitals, who beat Nashville at home on Saturday. Schmidt, a 22-year-old rookie, scored his first NHL goal in that game.
Grabovski’s goal came on a penalty shot.
Philipp Grubauer also came to the party, effecting 30 saves for Washington to earn his first career win — in his fourth NHL game. The Capitals have won four of five.
Chicago’s Patrick Sharp had a goal and two assists as the Blackhawks scored a season-high three times on the power play in a 6-2 win over the Florida Panthers.
The Blackhawks used their potent offense to win after starting goalie Corey Crawford left in the first period because of a lower-body injury.
Marian Hossa, Brent Seabrook and Brandon Saad each had a goal and an assist, and Michal Handzus and Andrew Shaw also scored. Patrick Kane had three assists for Chicago, who ended a three-game losing streak — their longest regular-season skid since February 2012.
Rookie Antti Raanta, recalled after veteran back-up Nikolai Khabublin was injured on November 16, stopped 29 of 31 shots for the win in relief of Crawford, who made four saves.
At St. Paul Minnesota, Josh Harding made 37 saves in another strong home outing as the Wild beat the San Jose Sharks 3-1 despite recording only 13 shots.
Zach Parise scored twice — once into an empty net — and Mikko Koivu added a goal for the Wild, who have won three of four.
Patrick Marleau scored with 1:41 left for San Jose.
Parise and Koivu scored second-period goals to give Minnesota a 2-0 lead. Parise pushed the Wild’s edge back to two goals when he scored at 19:54.
The Boston Bruins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 after Carl Soderberg and Torey Krug scored second-period power-play goals, while Mike Santorelli scored two goals and added an assist in the Vancouver Canucks’ 3-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.
