WASHINGTON — Kari Lehtonen made 42 saves and Devin Shore, Radek Faksa and Jason Spezza scored as the Dallas Stars continued their puzzling domination of the Washington Capitals with a 4-2 victory Monday night. Despite struggling this season, Dallas extended its point streak in the series to 12 games and won for the sixth consecutive time in Washington.
The NHL-leading Capitals’ home winning streak snapped at 15 and their point streak at 17. Despite Nicklas Backstrom’s 21st goal and T.J. Oshie’s 25th, they lost in regulation at home for the first time since Dec. 17 and in any fashion at home since Dec. 29. The Stars chased reigning Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Braden Holtby with three goals on 11 shots and haven’t lost in regulation to the Capitals since 2006.
Rangers 1, Lightning 0, OT
Mika Zibanejad scored 3:56 into overtime, Antti Raanta made 38 saves, and New York beat Tampa Bay. Zibanejad beat Andrei Vasilevskiy during a breakaway. Raanta got his third shutout of the season.
Vasilevskiy stopped 33 shots and Tampa Bay, 8-2-3 over the past 13 games, moved within two points of New York Islanders for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers failed to score on three power plays, and are 1 for 36 over the past 14 games. Tampa Bay, with NHL’s third-best power play, went 0 for 6.
Sharks 3, Jets 2
Joe Pavelski scored twice and San Jose defeated Winnipeg. Joe Thornton assisted on Pavelski’s empty-net goal to give him 1,000 assists.
Aaron Dell stopped 31 shots in his 14th game for the Sharks.
Pavelski opened the game’s scoring with his 22nd goal and Mikkel Boedker also had a goal for San Jose, which was coming off a 3-1 loss Sunday in Minnesota.
Josh Morrissey scored for the Jets in the first period and Mark Scheifele scored his 28th of the season with seven seconds left in game. Connor Hellebuyck made 27 saves in his 11th straight start for Winnipeg.
Senators 4, Bruins 2
Mike Hoffman had a power-play goal early in the third period and Ottawa defeated Boston. Derick Brassard, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Alex Burrows also scored as the Senators extended their winning streak to three games. Craig Anderson made 25 saves.
Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand scored for the Bruins. Tuukka Rask made 25 saves. Ottawa has a four-point lead on the Bruins in the Atlantic Division. Ottawa took a 3-1 lead early in the third as Hoffman scored his 20th on the power play. It was Ottawa’s first goal with the man advantage in three games.
The lead was short-lived as less than two minutes later, the Bruins scored on the power play as Marchand picked up David Pastrnak’s rebound to score his 30th, giving him back-to-back 30-goal seasons.
Golden Knights make first player signing
The expansion Vegas Golden Knights have made their first player transaction, signing free-agent junior forward Reid Duke to a three-year contract. The NHL’s 31st franchise made its first move Monday.
Duke is the Brandon Wheat Kings’ top scorer with 35 goals and 32 assists this season. He has played five seasons in the Western Hockey League with Lethbridge and Brandon. Minnesota drafted the 21-year-old Calgary native in the sixth round in 2014. Duke is expected to be a part of the Golden Knights’ first development camp this summer.
The Golden Knights formally completed the NHL expansion process last Wednesday, allowing them to make roster transactions and trades.
Red Wings recall D-man Russo to replace Sproul
The Detroit Red Wings have called up defenseman Robbie Russo to replace Ryan Sproul on the roster. Russo, who was recalled Monday, is expected to make his NHL debut Tuesday night at Toronto. Sproul is out with a knee injury. He had one goal and six assists in 27 games this season.
The 24-year-old Russo had 31 points and a plus-14 rating with the Grand Rapids Griffins and was an American Hockey League All-Star this season. The Westmont, Illinois, native had an AHL-best plus-40 rating for the Griffins last year, his first as a pro, and became the first in franchise history to make the second All-Star and All-Rookie teams in the same season. The New York Islanders drafted him in the fourth round in 2011 but didn’t sign the former Notre Dame standout.
