NHL roundup: Connolly scores late as Capitals beat Rangers
Brett Connolly scored the tiebreaking goal with 6:24 left in the third period, and the Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers 5-3 Saturday for their season-high fifth straight win.
Alex Ovechkin, Nic Dowd, Jakub Vrana and Tom Wilson also scored for defending Stanley Cup champion Washington, and John Carlson had three assists. Pheonix Copley, starting in place of Braden Holtby, stopped 27 shots.
Jimmy Vesey, Brady Skjei and Ryan Strome scored for the Rangers, who lost their second straight, ending a seven-game winning streak on home ice. Kevin Hayes had two assists and Alexandar Georgiev finished with 23 saves.
On the go-ahead goal, Connolly got a pass from Carlson and fired a one-timer from the left circle past Georgiev for his fourth of the season.
Wilson added an empty-netter with 1:08 left for his fourth. He has nine points in seven games since returning from a season-opening suspension that sidelined him for 16 games.
Toronto 6, Philadelphia 0: Andreas Johnsson had a hat trick midway through the first period and the Toronto Maple Leafs routed the Philadelphia Flyers 6-0.
John Tavares, Patrick Marleau and Josh Leivo also scored, and backup goalie Garret Sparks made 35 saves for his first shutout of the season and the second of his career. Mitch Marner added two assists.
Neither team was assessed a penalty for the second consecutive game at Scotiabank Arena. The NHL’s last penalty-free game before this week came in March 2017.
Calvin Pickard, who was claimed by the Flyers on waivers from Toronto before the start of the season, allowed four goals on six shots for Philadelphia (10-11-2) before being pulled. Anthony Stolarz allowed two goals on 34 shots in relief.
N.Y. Islanders 4, Carolina 1: Thomas Greiss made 26 saves, and Valtteri Filppula, Anthony Beauvillier, Josh Bailey and Adam Pelech scored, leading the New York Islanders to a 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Brock Nelson, Anders Lee and Bailey finished with multipoint games. It was the sixth multipoint game of the season for Bailey.
Justin Williams scored for the Hurricanes. Carolina starter Scott Darling made 15 saves in the loss. The Islanders limited the Hurricanes to a single goal for the third straight game.