Off Topic » WASHINGTON (AP) The Washington Capitals scored 13 goals

in two games against the New York Islanders Alex DeBrincat Jersey , and Alex Ovechkin accounted for none of them.T.J. Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom and Matt Niskanen scored as Washington swept a home-and-home set against the skidding Islanders with a 6-3 win on Friday night.Alex Chiasson had a goal and two assists for the Capitals, who hammered the Islanders 7-3 in New York on Thursday. Jakub Vrana’s goal gave Washington a 5-1 lead with 9:04 remaining, and Lars Eller added an empty-netter.”It’s very important to have balance. I don’t think anyone here is worried about (Ovechkin) not scoring, but it is good we have other guys stepping up,” Oshie said. ”That’s important. We want confidence throughout the lineup offensively going into the postseason.”Braden Holtby gained confidence in his return to the lineup. The 2016 Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL’s top goaltender had lost seven of eight and did not play in the previous four games. Holtby made 22 saves against the Islanders in his first game since March 6.”I felt a lot better,” he said. ”Not that I was feeling horrible before. You get refreshed from a week off work.”Washington broke a tie with the idle Pittsburgh Penguins for sole possession of first place in the Metropolitan Division. The Capitals’ four-game winning streak is their longest since taking five in a row from Dec. 28 to Jan. 9.Mathew Barzal, Brock Nelson and John Tavares scored for the Islanders, who have lost 10 of 11.Evgeny Kuznetsov, Washington’s second-leading scorer, left in the second period and did not return after sustaining an upper-body injury. Capitals coach Barry Trotz said Kuznetsov is day-to-day and would be re-evaluated Saturday.Kuznetsov had two assists before exiting. In the final seconds of the second period, he smashed into the boards behind the Islanders net as New York’s Thomas Hickey was called for a slashing penalty. The slow-rising Kuznetsov eventually skated off and headed straight toward the locker room.The Islanders were called for 11 penalties that totaled 41 minutes one night after a lopsided loss. Ross Johnston received a game misconduct following a fight with Washington’s Tom Wilson.”You can’t sit in the box against that team,” Islanders coach Doug Weight said. ”We battled. It wasn’t as hard as we wanted to play in the first, but we took three penalties and guys battled physically, they worked hard. They’ll probably say it was an easy game, but we worked hard.”Philipp Grubauer, tied for fourth in the league with a 2.26 goals-against average, went 3-1 in net for Washington over the previous four games. Trotz would not commit to a starting goaltender for Sunday’s pivotal matchup at Philadelphia.The good news for Washington is that Holtby’s performance makes the decision difficult.”I thought (Holtby) was pretty solid. He looked really confident,” Trotz said. ”You could tell by his play with the puck in the corner on the power play the one time. He’s feeling some confidence, so that’s good.”Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak made 25 saves. New York has given up at least five goals in 20 games this season.”Try to come in here and play for each other Minnesota Wild Hats Womens ,” Nelson said of New York’s motivation with postseason hopes rapidly fading. ”We are where we are. It’s tough. But you’ve got to go out there and be professional and do your job and work every day.”Oshie redirected Ovechkin’s shot past Halak for a power-play goal in the first period. Oshie has three goals in two games after a 19-game drought.Barzal’s unassisted goal with 14:30 remaining in the second tied the score at 1. The tie did not last long as Washington took advantage of a 5-on-3 power play. Backstrom’s persistent jabbing at a loose puck in front of Halak led to a 2-1 lead with 7:12 left in the second.NOTES: Nelson and Tavares scored power-play goals. … The Capitals won the season series 3-1. … Washington honored Ovechkin before the game for scoring his 600th goal Monday against Winnipeg. … The Capitals scratched forward Brett Connolly, center Chandler Stephenson and defenseman Jakub Jerabek. Connolly has 14 goals this season. Washington D Christian Djoos played for the first time since March 6. … The Islanders scratched defenseman Dennis Seidenberg, defenseman Sebastian Ho and forward Chris Wagner.UP NEXTIslanders: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday.Capitals: At the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.— PITTSBURGH (AP) — Kris Letang scored his second goal 1:20 into overtime to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 7-6 victory over the Washington Capitals on Thursday night.Letang beat goalie Braden Holtby with a slap shot from the point on a power play. Letang finished with three points, tying Hall of Famer Paul Coffey for the most by a defenseman in team history with 440.Jake Guentzel also scored twice, Evgeni Malkin had a goal and two assists, and Derick Brassard and Jamie Oleksiak added goals in Pittsburgh’s opener. Matt Murray made 30 saves.T.J. Oshie scored twice for Stanley Cup champion Washington, coming off a 7-0 home victory over Boston on Wednesday night in the Capitals’ opener.Alex Ovechkin had his second of the season and 609th overall, passing Dino Ciccarelli for 18th on the NHL list. Brooks Orpik, Jakub Vrana and John Carlson also scored.Malkin scored 2:45 into the third period, putting Pittsburgh ahead by two, but Oshie tied it at 6 with goals 21 seconds apart.BRUINS 4, SABRES 0BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Jaroslav Halak stopped 32 shots and Boston rebounded from a season-opening shutout to beat Buffalo.Brad Marchand set up all four goals, scored by captain Zdeno Chara, rookie Ryan Donato, David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron on an empty-netter. A night after a 7-0 loss at Washington, the Bruins had an easier time against the NHL’s worst team last year.The new-look Sabres, featuring rookie No. 1 draft pick Rasmus Dahlin and Jack Eichel as captain, more resembled the team that finished last in the standings for the third time in five years. After receiving rousing cheers upon being introduced before the opening faceoff in their season opener, the Sabres were booed off the ice following the first and second periods.PREDATORS 3 http://www.blackhawksshoponline.com/authentic-artem-anisimov-jersey , RANGERS 2NEW YORK (AP) — P.K. Subban broke a tie early in the third period and Nashville beat New York to spoil Rangers coach David Quinn’s regular-season debutSubban fired a one-timer from beyond the inside edge of the right circle in front of the blue line at 3:28. Filip Forsberg and Colton Sissons also scored and Pekka Rinne stopped 34 shots for the Predators.Jesper Fast and Pavel Buchnevich scored and Henrik Lundqvist had 30 saves for the rebuilding Rangers. They missed the playoffs last spring for the first time in eight years.The Rangers turned up the intensity in the closing minutes before Sissons’ empty-netter with 1:24 left pushed Nashville’s lead to 3-1. Buchnevich scored with 35 seconds remaining.ISLANDERS 2, HURRICANES 1, OTRALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Josh Bailey scored a power-play goal 43 seconds into overtime, and New York opened the season by beating Carolina.Valtteri Filppula also scored as the Islanders began the post-John Tavares era by giving Barry Trotz a victory in his debut with the team and spoiling Rod Brind’Amour’s first game behind the Carolina bench.Trotz took over shortly after leading Washington to its first Stanley Cup, taking over after Doug Weight was fired. Brind’Amour, the captain of Carolina’s Cup-winning team in 2006, replaced Bill Peters after he left for Calgary.Jordan Staal sent it to OT by scoring a deflected goal with 1:35 remaining in regulation for Carolina, but the Islanders started overtime with a 4-on-3 advantage after Micheal Ferland was called for tripping Mathew Barzal with 3.2 seconds left.BLUE JACKETS 3, RED WINGS 2, OTDETROIT (AP) — Artemi Panarin scored midway through overtime, lifting Columbus past Detroit in the opener for both teams.Cam Atkinson and Josh Anderson gave Columbus the lead over the first two periods. Rookie Dennis Cholowski and Tyler Bertuzzi tied it for the Red Wings in the second period.Joonas Korpisalo stopped 18 shots for the Blue Jackets. Detroit’s Jimmy Howard made 36 saves.Detroit honored Henrik Zetterberg, whose career is over because of a back ailment, before the game.BLACKHAWKS 4, SENATORS 3, OTOTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Patrick Kane scored 38 seconds into overtime to push Chicago past Ottawa in the opener for both teams.Alex DeBrincat, Jonathan Toews and Brent Seabrook also scored, and Cam Ward stopped 22 shots. Seabrook tied it midway through the third period, with Kane find the defenseman alone in front for a one-timer.Maxime Lajoie scored for Ottawa in his NHL debut Brandon Saad Jersey , Colin White and Zack Smith added goals, and Craig Anderson made 37 saves.AVALANCHE 4, WILD 1DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon had a tap-in goal off a nifty pass from Mikko Rantanen, Semyon Varlamov stopped 20 shots and Colorado beat Minnesota in the opener for both teams.Carl Soderberg scored, while Rantanen and J.T. Compher added empty-net goals. Varlamov returned to net after missing the playoffs last season with a knee injury he suffered late in the regular season.The Avalanche are 15-5-3 in home openers since moving to town from Quebec.Zach Parise scored for the Wild.STARS 3, COYOTES 0DALLAS (AP) — Devin Shore, Alexander Radulov and John Klingberg scored less than two minutes apart in the second period and Dallas made Jim Montgomery a winner in his NHL coaching debut, beating Arizona.Ben Bishop stopped all 30 shots for his first season-opening shutout and the 25th of his career.Montgomery, who played his final game with Dallas in 2002, made his debut less than two years after winning an NCAA championship at Denver.JETS 5, BLUES 1ST. LOUIS (AP) — Patrik Laine, Blake Wheeler and Kyle Connor each had a goal and an assist to help Winnipeg beat St. Louis.Adam Lowry and Brandon Tanev also scored and Mark Scheifele had two assists as the Jets won their fifth season opener in six years. Connor Hellebuyck made 41 saves.Vince Dunn scored for St. Louis.FLYERS 5, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 2LAS VEGAS (AP) — Wayne Simmonds scored two goals to lead Philadelphia over Vegas.Oskar Lindblom, Robert Hagg and Scott Laughton also scored for the Flyers, who won their third straight season opener. Philadelphia has at least a point in each of its last four season openers (3-0-1). Brian Elliott stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced in front of an announced crowd of 18,555.Vegas’ Marc-Andre Fleury allowed five goals on 16 shots before being replaced by Malcolm Subban with 9:49 left in the second period. Jonathan Marchessault and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored for the Golden Knights.