WASHINGTON (AP) - T.J. Oshie scored twice in under four minutes and John Carlson got the go-ahead goal to extend the Washington Capitals’ longstanding domination of the Boston Bruins with a 3-2 victory Wednesday night in a showdown between the NHL’s two best teams.
The Capitals have won 16 of their past 17 games against the Bruins. Boston has lost four in a row.
Carlson’s blast past Jaroslav Halak in the third period fired up a crowd quieted by Sean Kuraly’s deflection goal minutes earlier. Earlier, fans in Capitals red and Bruins black and gold all got into it when Boston captain Zdeno Chara and Washington forward Tom Wilson threw down the gloves in a heavyweight fight in the first.
Pastrnak ripped a perfect shot over Braden Holtby’s left shoulder midway through the first for his league-best 26th of the season. It looked as if the Bruins had a two-goal lead on a Patrice Bergeron power-play goal, but Capitals coach Todd Reirden challenged for offside and video review showed Jake DeBrusk was into the zone just before the puck.
Oshie made the most of nothing but empty ice around him to score off his own rebound on the power play early in the second. Soon after, he turned defenseman Connor Clifton into a human pylon and beat Jaroslav Halak with a backhander.
Kuraly and Carlson traded goals, and these two rivals traded shoves and unpleasantries plenty before the final buzzer.
CANADIENS 3, SENATORS 2, OT
MONTREAL (AP) - Ben Chiarot scored in overtime and Cayden Primeau made 35 saves for his first NHL victory in Montreal’s decision over Ottawa.
Chiarot scored 1:11 into the extra period on a 2-on-1 with Max Domi.
Nick Cousins and Tomas Tatar scored in regulation for the Canadiens. They improved to 15-11-6, winning for the third straight time after losing four of five.
Brady Tkachuk and Connor Brown scored for the Senators.
AVALANCHE 3, FLYERS 1
DENVER (AP) - Mikko Rantanen had two goals and Pavel Francouz made 32 saves to lead Colorado over Philadelphia.
Francouz, the 29-year-old first-year player, did most of his work after the first period, stopping 27 shots in the final 40 minutes. He came within 5:12 of his first career shutout, but Claude Giroux scored on a rebound to spoil it.
It was Giroux’s 10th of the season.
Matt Calvert also scored, and Nathan MacKinnon had an assist for his 48th point of the season, good for third in the NHL in scoring.
Carter Hart had 25 saves for Philadelphia.
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