NEW YORK — The free-scoring Pittsburgh Penguins unleashed a five-goal blitz in the second period to overcome the Washington Capitals 5-2 Thursday, extending their winning streak to five games. The Penguins had trailed 1-0 after the first period, Mike Ribeiro giving the visitors the lead on four minutes, but came alive in the second to thrash the Capitals for the second time in five days and register their 23rd goal in the winning run. Evgeni Malkin, Pascal Dupuis, James Neal, Matt Cooke and Sidney Crosby all found the back of the net as the Penguins (8-3-0) moved to the top of the Eastern Conference standings. Crosby and Malkin each added two assists to take their season tally to 12, leaving them tied for second in the league. Malkin crashed home the equalizing goal seven minutes into the second period before Dupuis expertly put away a bouncing puck past goaltender Michal Neuvirth in the 13th minute to give Pittsburgh the lead. On falling behind, the Capitals changed their goalie but Braden Holtby was given little protection and allowed three goals in a three-minute stretch late in a period that saw Pittsburgh bombard Washington's goal with 18 shots. Alex Ovechkin scored a powerplay goal for Washington (2-8-1) in the third period but it was merely a consolation marker for the Capitals, who also lost 6-3 to the Penguins Sunday and have the worst record in the NHL. Blaskhawks 6, Coyotes 2: Patrick Kane had two goals and an assist, and Chicago remained the only NHL team without a loss in regulation this season. Viktor Stalberg, Jonathan Toews and Bryan Bickell each had a goal and an assist as the Blackhawks improved to 9-0-2. Dave Bolland also scored for Chicago. Martin Hanzal and Raffi Torres scored for the Coyotes. Phoenix pulled goalie Mike Smith after Bickell scored Chicago's sixth goal with 4:52 left in the second period. Kane's goals both came with a 5-on-3 advantage in the Blackhawks' four-goal first period. Kane has eight goals and 10 assists on the season. Rangers 4, Islanders 1: Teenage rookie J.T. Miller scored his first two NHL goals in his second career game to lift the Rangers to their second win in three games. Miller, who won't turn 20 until March, gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead just 1:29 in and then pushed their advantage to 3-1 in the second period with a rare power-play goal for the club. Marian Gaborik also scored, defenseman Marc Staal had two assists and Ryan McDonagh added an empty-net goal for the Rangers. The Rangers have an eight-game winning streak over the Islanders at Madison Square Garden, outscoring them 35-11. Devils 4, Lightning 2: Ilya Kovalchuk broke a tie with a short-handed goal late in the second period and New Jersey won its third straight game by beating slumping Tampa Bay. Flames 4, Blue Jackets 3, OT: Alex Tanguay scored on a one-timer 1:07 into overtime to lead Calgary to victory in a battle of Western Conference cellar-dwellers. In other games it was: Panthers 3, Flyers 2, SO; Sabres 5, Canadiens 4, SO; Hurricanes 3, Senators 2, OT; Predators 3, Kings 0; Canucks 4, Wild 1; Maple Leafs 3, Jets 2. — Agencies
