Washington Capitals left wing Carl Hagelin celebrates his empty-net goal next to Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Patric Hornqvist during the third period of an NHL game Sunday in Washington.
AP photo
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WASHINGTON — T.J. Oshie scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period, Braden Holtby made 33 saves and the Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 on Sunday to snap their losing streak at four and leapfrog their archrivals into first place.
The Capitals endured a back-and-forth, chippy game to win for just the second time in their past eight games.
Despite being outshot 36-23, Washington put together responses to some potential momentum-crushing Penguins goals. Pittsburgh’s Patric Hornqvist and Sidney Crosby scored 26 seconds apart late in the second and Evgeni Malkin had a highlight-reel goal in the third that tied it.
Tom Wilson scored 76 seconds into the third to make it 2-2, two-time Penguins Stanley Cup champion Carl Hagelin put the Capitals up and Oshie shoveled the puck in on a scramble in front with 9:20 left. Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray allowed four goals on 22 shots. Jakub Vrana also scored for Washington.
Sabres 2, Jets 1
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Kyle Okposo enjoyed his first two-goal game in 23 months, and Buffalo continued its playoff push with a victory over Winnipeg.
Okposo scored the go-ahead goal 7:37 into the third period and the Sabres won their fifth in six games. Rookie Jonas Johansson stopped 25 shots to earn his first victory in three NHL starts.
The Sabres’ recent surge has moved them into a tie for fifth with Montreal in the Atlantic Division standings with 66 points each, and six back of third-place Toronto.
Captain Blake Wheeler scored for Winnipeg. Connor Hellybuyck finished with 23 saves to drop to 5-4-1 in his past 10 games.
Stars 2, Blackhawks 1
DALLAS — Tyler Seguin scored the tiebreaking goal in the second period and Dallas beat Chicago.
The Stars’ Joe Pavelski opened the scoring in the first period.
Blackhawks rookie Dominik Kubalik tied the game in the second period on the power play.
Seguin’s goal came at 16:29 of the second. He outmaneuvered Chicago goalie Corey Crawford, whose 31 saves included stopping a second-period penalty shot by Mattias Janmark.
Dallas goalie Anton Khudobin also stopped 31 shots.
Islanders 4, Sharks 1
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Anders Lee scored twice, Semyon Varlamov made 29 saves and New York won its second straight at Nassau Coliseum, beating San Jose.
Defenseman Devon Toews also scored to help the Islanders move within a point of idle Philadelphia for third place in the tightly contested Metropolitan Division. The reeling Sharks lost their fourth straight.
Varlamov is 19-12-4 this season, his first with the Islanders.
Dylan Gambrell scored San Jose’s goal. Josh Bailey also scored for New York.
Flames 4, Red Wings 2
DETROIT — Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan scored in the first period, and the Calgary Flames started their road trip with a win, beating the Detroit Red Wings.
Andrew Mangiapane scored Calgary’s last two goals, one of which came into an empty net at the end. Dylan Larkin had both goals for Detroit.
The Flames are in a tight race for the final postseason spots in the Western Conference, and the five-game trip they began Sunday could be crucial. This matchup — against a Detroit team with by far the NHL’s worst record — wasn’t terribly intimidating, and initially it looked like it might be an easy night for Calgary.
Gaudreau was alone in the left circle when he beat goalie Jonathan Bernier with a slap shot to make it 1-0. Monahan scored on a rebound 77 seconds later.
Larkin, however, got behind Calgary defenseman Michael Stone and beat goalie David Rittich to make it 2-1 later in the first period.