WASHINGTON — Sonny Milano recorded his first hat trick in the NHL, Alex Ovechkin scored again and Washington ended Carolina’s winning streak at five with a shootout victory Friday night that could play a pivotal role in their playoff pursuit.
Ovechkin’s goal was the 846th of his NHL career, while Milano scored one of his three juggling the puck off his stick and batting it into the net in front of a fired-up crowd in the nation’s capital. Fans chanted “Ovi! Ovi!” after he scored for the sixth time in four games to reach 24 this season, a run that has upped his chances of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record, and finally threw hats on to the ice after the announcement of Milano’s third goal of the back-and-forth game.
John Carlson scored early in the third period to jumpstart the rally, Connor McMichael scored minutes later and Dylan Strome had the only goal in a five-round shootout.
It all added up to a fourth win in five games for the Capitals, who moved one point back of Detroit for the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and two behind Philadelphia for third place in the Metropolitan Division. They’ve played one fewer game than either of those teams, and their postseason hopes are very much alive.
STARS 4, PENGUINS 2
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DALLAS — Jamie Benn scored twice in a 1:17 span to extend his goal streak to a season-best three games, and Dallas beat Pittsburgh.
The Dallas captain is up to 15 goals on the season, with six in the past eight games, as the Stars finished 3-2 on a five-game homestand, the last of three that were their longest of the season.
The Stars moved to a Central Division-best 95 points with 11 games remaining after starting the day even with Winnipeg, which has 13 games to go, and Colorado. The Avalanche played Columbus later.
Michael Bunting scored on Pittsburgh’s third shot, but Jake Oettinger stopped the next 12 before Rickard Rakell’s goal midway through the third period for the final margin.
Oettinger had 20 saves, including a pad stop on a wide-open Rakell when the lead was 3-1 in the second period.
The Penguins — in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2005-06 — dropped to 2-10-2 in their past 14 road games.
AVALANCHE 6, BLUE JACKETS 1
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DENVER — Mikko Rantanen had two goals and an assist, Nathan MacKinnon extended his home points streak to 33 games with a late score and the Colorado Avalanche routed the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-1 on Friday night.
Cale Makar, Ross Colton, and Valeri Nichushkin added goals for the Avalanche, who won their eighth straight game as they surged to the top of the Central Division. Alexandar Georgiev stopped 23 shots for his 36th win of the season.
Trailing 1-0, the Avalanche scored six straight goals for their 24th comeback victory. They had 50 shots on goal.
MacKinnon scored on a breakaway with 6:01 remaining to keep his home points streak going, and later had an assist. It’s the second-longest home points streak to open a season in NHL history, trailing only Wayne Gretzky’s mark of 40 in 1988-89.
Damon Severson scored for a Columbus team that has tumbled to last in the Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets are 0-1-1 on a five-game trip. Elvis Merzlikins was kept busy all night, making 44 saves.
Ross Colton and Mikko Rantanen scored 1:24 apart in the second period to help Colorado take control. Rantanen, who had a hat trick in St. Louis on Tuesday night, is four points away from his second straight 100-point season.
