Ovechkin wins battle of top scorers

First Posted:

WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin won the head-to-head matchup between the NHL’s two leading goal scorers Sunday, getting a pair in the first period to move into a tie with Alexander Steen in the Washington Capitals’ 4-1 win over the St. Louis Blues.

Ovechkin’s 16th and 17th goals led the Capitals to their third straight win and seventh in nine games. Mikhail Grabovski and John Carlson also scored for Washington, Nicklas Backstrom had three assists, and Braden Holtby made 46 saves.

Ovechkin and Steen are two of the NHL’s hottest forwards playing for two of the league’s hottest teams, but the Capitals cruised after dominating early, scoring on three of their first six shots against Jaroslav Halak.

Blue Jackets 4, Senators 1

OTTAWA, Ontario — Ryan Johansen, R.J. Umberger and Fedor Tyutin each had a power-play goal to lead Columbus.

Derek MacKenzie also scored for Columbus, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 30 shots.

Erik Karlsson scored the lone goal for the Senators in the third period. Craig Anderson made 18 saves.

Kings 1, Rangers 0

NEW YORK — Ben Scrivens made 37 saves in his second consecutive shutout, and Tyler Toffoli’s second-period goal held up as the winner as Los Angeles completed a successful Eastern road trip.

Dominic Moore thought he tied it with 2:41 remaining, but the goal was disallowed because he kicked it in with his right skate.

Scrivens, filling in for injured regular Jonathan Quick, followed up a blanking of the New Jersey Devils on Friday with one against the Rangers. Los Angeles went 3-0-1 on the trip, winning the final three games.

Blackhawks 5, Sharks 1

CHICAGO — Patrick Sharp scored two goals, including one on a third-period penalty shot, and Kris Versteeg had a goal and an assist to lead Chicago.

Jonathan Toews and rookie Brandon Pirri also scored for the Blackhawks, who rebounded with a tidy defensive effort following a 7-2 loss in Nashville on Saturday, their most lopsided this season.

Joe Pavelski connected for San Jose in a matchup of two of the Western Conference’s top teams.

Wild 2, Jets 1

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Mikko Koivu scored two goals, including the winner with 3:12 remaining, and Minnesota extended its winning streak to four games.

Josh Harding made 21 saves for his 12th victory.

The Wild have an eight-game points streak (7-0-1) and pulled into second place, two points behind Chicago, in the Central Division. They also extended their home winning streak to six games and are 10-1-2 at home.

The Jets had a four-game winning streak snapped.

Stars 2, Canucks 1

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Kari Lehtonen made 42 saves as Dallas got the win.

Valeri Nichushkin and Erik Cole scored for Dallas (11-7-2), which was coming off a 7-3 victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday and extended its road winning streak to six games.