Washington Capitals' right-wing Eric Fehr (No. 16) skates after the puck as Tampa Bay Lightning's defenseman Sami Salo (L) and center Valtteri Filppula (2nd R)) attempt to defend during the second period at Tampa Bay Times Forum Thursday. — Reuters WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals displayed their renowned strength on the power play by scoring two early goals with the extra man in a hard fought 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday. The winning goal was an even-handed effort, however, as right-winger Eric Fehr beat Lightning goaltender Anders Lindback with just 52 seconds remaining in the third period. The goal was Fehr's second of the game and eighth of the season. Washington (21-16-6) entered the game tied for the NHL lead with 38 power-play goals. Tampa Bay slipped to 26-14-4 following the loss. Hurricanes 6, Maple Leafs 1 Defenseman John-Michael Liles scored against his former team as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-1, pushing their winning streak to five games. Left-winger Zach Boychuk, center Jeff Skinner, right-winger Patrick Dwyer, center Jordan Staal and center Elias Lindholm also scored for the Hurricanes, who are enjoying their best stretch of success in nearly four years. Right winger Joffrey Lupul scored for Toronto, which lost its third game in a row. Devils 1, Stars 0 Goaltender Cory Schneider made 26 saves and right-winger Michael Ryder scored the game's lone goal as the New Jersey Devils emerged with a 1-0 victory over the Dallas Stars. The win ended the Devils' three-game losing streak while the Stars have now lost four in a row, all in regulation. Schneider posted his third shutout of the season. Panthers 2, Sabres 1 (SO) Right-winger Brad Boyes scored in regulation and the shootout to lead the Florida Panthers to a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres. After hitting the post four times in regulation, the Panthers reversed their luck on Boyes' winning shootout goal as it deflected off the left upright and hit Buffalo goalie Jhonas Enroth before going into the net. Goalie Tim Thomas had 23 saves for Florida (17-21-6) and was perfect in the shootout. Defenseman Jamie McBain scored in regulation for Buffalo (12-26-5). Wild 4, Coyotes 1 Minnesota got a hat trick from right winger Justin Fontaine and the game-winner from Coyotes killer Kyle Brodziak to beat Phoenix 4-1. The win improved the Wild to 4-0-0 in 2014 with wins over the Buffalo Sabres, Washington Capitals, Los Angeles Kings and Phoenix. The latest victory also pushed Minnesota into eighth place in the Western Conference standings, two points ahead of the Coyotes, who fell to 3-6-2 in their past 11 home games since a 9-0-1 start. Blues 5, Flames 0 The St. Louis Blues stretched their winning run to seven games with a 5-0 victory over the slumping Calgary Flames. Right-wingers Chris Stewart and Vladimir Tarasenko, center Vladimir Sobotka, and defensemen Ian Cole and Alex Pietrangelo scored for the Blues (31-7-5), who are undefeated since a Dec. 23 shootout loss in Calgary, having collected points in 10 straight games. The Flames (15-23-6) were shut out for the second consecutive contest and fifth time in a seven-game span, with four of those on home ice. Blues goaltender Jarsoslav Halak made 33 saves. Ducks 4, Predators 3 A two-goal deficit just over two minutes into the game was no problem for the NHL's best team as the Anaheim Ducks scored all of their goals in the second period to dump the Nashville Predators 4-3. The tie was broken by 43-year-old right-winger Teemu Selanne at 18:52 in the second period for his fifth goal of the season and 680th of his career. It was the 15th win in 16 games for Anaheim (33-8-5), which captured its seventh victory in its last eight road games. Nashville (19-20-6) lost for the fourth time in five games. Sharks 4, Red Wings 1 Center Joe Pavelski scored two goals and the Sharks forgot all about their injury woes for one night with a dominating 4-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. Pavelski enjoyed his third multi-goal gam e of the season and staked claim to the team lead in goals with 21. Goaltender Antti Niemi stopped 24 of 25 shots while the San Jose penalty kill was a perfect four-for-four on a night when the team played without five injured forwards. Kings 4, Bruins 2 Winger Justin Williams registered a goal and an assist and goaltender Jonathan Quick made 20 saves as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Boston Bruins 4-2. The Kings (27-13-5) bounced back from a shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild Tuesday by getting additional goals from wingers Dustin Brown and Jeff Carter and defenseman Alec Martinez. — Reuters
