Friday 5th February 2010
Late rally sees Capitals win thriller
Third-period goals from Tom Poti and Nicklas Backstrom saw Washington Capitals to a 6-5 win as they avoided an upset against New York Rangers.
After Washington's Boyd Gordon cancelled out Ryan Callahan's opener, Vinny Prospal immediately restored New York's lead - only for Mike Knuble and Alex Ovechkin to put the Capitals in front.
The hosts then regained the lead and stormed two goals clear at 5-3 thanks to Olli Jokinen and Brandon Dubinsky's goals either side of Prospal's second, but Ovechkin cut the deficit before Poti and Backstrom rescued victory.
North-West division leaders Vancouver Canucks were beaten 3-1 by Ottawa, second in the North-East. Milan Michalek and Jason Spezza gave the Senators a two-goal lead in the first period and, though Kyle Wellwood's power-play strike gave Vancouver hope, Chris Kelly fired a late clincher into an empty net.
Pacific pace-setters San Jose Sharks had no such problems as they won 4-2 at St Louis Blues.
Patrick Marlowe, Ryane Clowe and Devin Setoguchi gave the Sharks a 3-1 lead - Patrik Berglund with St Louis' response - and, after Alex Steen cut the deficit to a single goal in the third, Scott Nichol made the game safe.
Patric Hornqvist scored two power-play goals - both times tipping in Jason Arnott's efforts, denying his captain a hat-trick in the process - as Nashville Predators beat Colorado Avalanche 5-3. Joel Ward and Steve Sullivan joined the duo on the scoresheet, with Cody McLeod, Matt Duchene and Justin Mercier responding for the visitors.
Goalie Jaroslav Halak made 45 saves to earn Montreal Canadiens a shoot-out against Boston Bruins - and then three more as Brian Gionta's lone strike settled the breaker in the Canadian side's favour.
Two goals from Steven Stamkos helped Tampa Bay Lightning to a 5-2 win over New York Islanders, with Martin St Louis also among the goals for the fifth game in succession.
Elsewhere, Minnesota Wild beat Edmonton Oilers 4-2 and new Columbus Blue Jackets coach Claude Noel enjoyed a winning start, 2-1 against Dallas Stars.
Join us on Facebook