ALEXANDER OVECHKIN

Tom Wilson scored early, Alex Ovechkin added an empty-net goal late, and Vitek Vanecek made 23 saves to lead the Washington Capitals to a 2-0 victory over the New York Islanders.

Washington star Alexander Ovechkin and high-scoring Edmonton teammates Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl headline the rosters for the NHL All-Star Weekend announced Thursday.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 20th goal of the season and the 750th of his NHL career to help the Washington Capitals beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 and snap a two-game skid.

Garnet Hathaway a pair of goals during a two-minute span in the third period and the Washington Capitals snapped the Los Angeles Kings eight-game point streak with a 2-0 victory Wednesday night.

Garnet Hathaway scored his third goal in two games, Alex Ovechkin added two assists and the Washington Capitals spoiled Sidney Crosby’s return, routing the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-1.

Alex Ovechkin got his 742nd career goal, Conor Sheary scored with 1:22 left and the Washington Capitals beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3.

Zach Fucale became the first goaltender in Capitals history to post a shutout in his NHL debut, stopping 21 shots as Washington beat the Detroit Red Wings 2-0.

Alex Ovechkin scored his 741st career goal to tie Brett Hull for fourth on the NHL’s all-time list and help the Washington Capitals to a 5-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves, Anthony Cirelli had a goal and two assists, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat Washington 3-2 to end the Capitals’ eight-game season-opening point streak.

While the fisticuffs never materialized, the Washington Capitals made a season-opening 5-1 victory against the division-rival New York Rangers memorable for Alex Ovechkin’s 731st and 732nd goals and Hendrix Lapierre’s first.

Alex Ovechkin left Washington's preseason finale against Philadelphia because of a lower-body injury.

Alex Ovechkin has re-signed with the Washington Capitals for $47.5 million over five years.

The end of the NHL draft only ushers in more questions about what's coming next this offseason.

Alex Ovechkin says he is confident he will sign an extension and play for the Washington Capitals again next season.

The Boston Bruins beat the Washington Capitals 3-1 to close out their first-round series in five games and advance in the playoffs.

David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle scored 34 seconds apart to break the game open early in the third period and give Boston to a 4-1 victory over the Washington Capitals.

Craig Smith scored 5:48 into the second overtime to give the Boston Bruins a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals and a 2-1 lead in their East Division first-round playoff series.

Nic Dowd deflected in T.

Michael Raffl scored from a tight angle with 1.8 seconds remaining and the Washington Capitals beat the short-handed Boston Bruins 2-1 in the teams’ regular season finale.

Conor Sheary scored the overtime winner and the short-handed Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 to guarantee they’ll open the playoffs at home.

Daniel Sprong scored twice in injured Alex Ovechkin's place on Washington’s top line, Ilya Samsonov made 21 saves and the Capitals beat the New York Islanders 6-3.

Alex Ovechkin scored twice to move within one goal of Marcel Dionne for fifth place on the NHL’s career goals list as the Washington Capitals downed the Philadelphia Flyers 6-3.

Anthony Mantha had a two points in his Washington debut, Alex Ovechkin scored the 728th goal of his NHL career and the Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-1.

Brad Marchand had two of his three goals and set up another in Boston’s five-goal second period.

(AP Photo/Nick Wass)WASHINGTON – Capitals players and coach Peter Laviolette sounded as if they'd lost after holding on to beat the New York Rangers 5-4 Sunday. Washington has won 10 of 11 games to move two points up on the second-place New York Islanders and looks primed for another deep playoff run. “If there’s a trend, we want to address it,” said Wilson, who has five points in four games since returning from a seven-game suspension. And their best players are producing: Ovechkin has 11 goals in 11 games and leads the team with 18; Kuznetsov has 12 points in 10 games and Jakub Vrana picked up his first point in five games. Keith Kinkaid made 17 saves for the Rangers, who have lost back-to-back one-goal games after a three-game winning streak.

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) celebrates his goal with the bench during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils, Friday, March 26, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)WASHINGTON – Alex Ovechkin scored twice, Ilya Samsonov made 24 saves and the Washington Capitals rode their best players to a 4-0 victory Friday night and two-game sweep of the New Jersey Devils. Ovechkin has scored 10 times in his past 10 games and has a team-best 17 goals this season. Nicklas Backstrom scored his 13th goal of the season, while Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson each had two assists. With Ovechkin rolling, the Capitals have won nine of their past 10 games and are back atop the East Division.

Ovechkin scored two rebound goals in the final seven minutes to give the Washington Capitals their seventh consecutive victory by coming back to beat the New York Rangers 2-1 on Friday night. He has scored in five in a row and has seven goals in the past seven games. “We liked he way we played for the most part," Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba said. LINDGREN DELIVERSWhile Washington players jawed at Lindgren plenty after his open-ice hit on Ovechkin midway through the second period, Ovechkin himself had no issues with it. “It was a great hit," Ovechkin said.

Ovechkin matched Phil Esposito for sixth on the NHL list with his 717th goal and the Washington Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres 6-0 on Monday night. Vitek Vanecek stopped 23 shots for his first NHL shutout and improved to 4-0-1 against the Sabres. Backstrom’s 11th goal of the season came in his 984th game with the Capitals, passing Calle Johansson for second-most games in franchise history. Hutton made 24 saves for Buffalo, which is 0-9-2 in its past 11 games, the third-longest skid in team history. AdThe Sabres recalled center Rasmus Asplund from the taxi squad and sent defenseman Brandon Davidson to the taxi squad.

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) checks Boston Bruins right wing Chris Wagner (14) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Wednesday, March 3, 2021, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)NEW YORK – Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin was fined $5,000 by the NHL on Thursday for spearing Boston Bruins rookie Trent Frederic, an amount that is the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement. Ovechkin was given a minor penalty for slashing and Frederic one for cross-checking on the play. Bruins teammates credited Frederic for helping spark a comeback victory in that game. The respect I give him is just by playing him hard.”AdThe Capitals had the day off Thursday.

Washington Capitals right wing Garnet Hathaway (21) scores a goal past New Jersey Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (29) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)NEWARK, N.J. – Based on recent results, the Washington Capitals are getting used to coach Peter Laviolette's new system. Lars Eller, who added the third goal in a big opening period, thinks Washington is hitting its stride in a 5-1-1 run that followed a four-game losing streak. AdNico Hischier and Pavel Zacha each scored for the second consecutive game for New Jersey, which has lost four of five. Ad“I believe it hit the shield and pushed the shield into his face so that that actually is a good thing,” Ruff said. So we still have a lot to learn, a lot to clean up and a lot we can improve on.

Washington Capitals right wing T.J. Oshie (77) celebrates his goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils, Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)WASHINGTON – T.J. Oshie scored twice to end a lengthy drought, Alex Ovechkin had a late power-play goal and the Washington Capitals came back from down two to beat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 on Sunday. Anderson and New Jersey's Aaron Dell each hadn't started an NHL game in more than 11 months. The Capitals and Devils each played at home Saturday afternoon, so this adjustment was possible. Samsonov got two minor league rehab starts but hasn't played an NHL game since Jan. 17.

(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)PITTSBURGH – Sidney Crosby had two assists in his 1,000th NHL game, and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New York Islanders 3-2 on Saturday night. Nelson gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead with his fifth goal just 53 seconds into the third period, but the Penguins responded. Crosby became the 25th active skater to play in his 1,000th game. Crosby entered his 1,000th game with the eighth-most points in NHL history through 1,000 games. 87 jersey to recognize their captain before his 1,000th NHL game.

(AP Photo/Nick Wass)WASHINGTON – Scott Laughton scored his first career hat trick, Sean Couturier had two goals in his first game back following a rib injury and the Philadelphia Flyers pulled away for a 7-4 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday. “It’s a big win after losing those two games the way we did to Boston,” Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said. Laughton completed his hat trick to give the Flyers insurance on another rebound after Anderson’s pad save of Farabee, and Couturier added a late empty netter. MILESTONESFlyers: Van Riemsdyk contributed his 100th assist across two stints with the Flyers on Laughton's second goal. AdUP NEXTThe Capitals and Flyers meet again in Washington on Tuesday night.

Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) celebrates his goal with the bench during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021, in Washington. Buoyed by their top scorer's first two goals of the season and a big rookie's fight against one of the toughest players in hockey, the Bruins erased a three-goal deficit to beat the Washington Capitals 5-3 on Monday night. “In the box, I was like a little kid in there just jumping around when we scored,” Frederic said. The Capitals had front-row seats for Pastrnak's breakout performance in his second game after undergoing offseason hip surgery. Former Bruins captain Zdeno Chara scored in his second game against his old team.

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8), of Russia, celebrates his game-winning goal in overtime of an NHL hockey game against the Boston Bruins, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021, in Washington. In his first game since Jan. 19, Ovechkin scored in overtime to help the Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 Saturday night in a showdown between the top teams in the NHL’s East Division. After Ovechkin missed the previous four games because of COVID-19 protocols, the high-scoring forward showed his career-long flair for the dramatic by beating Tuukka Rask with a perfect shot 28 seconds into overtime. “It was fun,” said Ovechkin, who also had an assist while being eased back in with 14 minutes of ice time. The Capitals beat the Bruins for the 17th time in 19 regular-season games dating to 2015.

San Jose's Erik Karlsson (65) handles the puck against Minnesota Wild's Nick Bjugstad (27) in the third period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021, in St. Paul, Minn. San Jose won 5-3. (AP Photo/Stacy Bengs)With an outbreak delaying the Dallas Stars' opener, Rick Bowness got to watch a lot of hockey in the first couple of nights of the NHL season. “It was entertaining hockey, but it was a little sloppy,” Bowness said. “We’re staying in 5-star hotels, get to play hockey, so I can’t complain,” defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic said. Ad___Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno___More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

“I wasn’t thinking about it," Vanecek said of his first NHL shootout. “We want to win hockey games in good ways and feel good about ourselves,” Dowd said. Buffalo rookie Dylan Cozens scored his first NHL goal on a top-shelf snipe past Vanecek in the second period. The Capitals were fined $100,000 Wednesday for breaking league rules since those four players were together in a hotel room not wearing masks. Goaltender Carter Hutton didn’t travel with the team because of an apparent head injury from a collision Tuesday in Philadelphia.

For Peter Laviolette, his Washington Capitals will keep playing for the next week without four prominent players who broke the rules. There's no indication the Capitals are being shut down, though they will have to play the next four games without captain Alex Ovechkin, No. The NHL defers to local authorities, and the minimum four games for the Capitals players relates to the District of Columbia's quarantine regulations. The Hurricanes have so far had three games postponed because of their outbreak and won't play for at least a week. I think that’s really what we’re going to find out.”___AP Sports Writers Aaron Beard and Stephen Hawkins contributed.

Five players from the Carolina Hurricanes also are on the list and that team’s games were called off by the league through “at least” Saturday. The postponements were announced Wednesday, a day before the Hurricanes were set to host the Florida Panthers in their home opener. This is the first instance this season of Capitals players appearing on the NHL’s COVID-19 list, which could include those who test positive, have a potential exposure or face quarantine requirements. The league didn’t specify which team prompted that night’s postponement, although four Hurricanes players — Warren Foegele, Jordan Martinook, Jaccob Slavin and Teuvo Teravainen — were added to the daily COVID-19 list later Tuesday afternoon. Their past five games have been postponed during a stretch in which six Wizards players tested positive for the illness caused by the coronavirus and three others were sidelined after contact tracing determined they might have been exposed.

DeSmith figured Ovechkin would try to fire one past him rather than deke his way to the net. DeSmith stayed upright as Ovechkin closed in and felt the familiar smack of rubber hitting him and not the net. “I thought our guys played hard in the second and third against a really good team,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. While Sullivan remains confident Jarry will be fine, he turned to DeSmith to help get Pittsburgh going. Washington went 1 for 4 on the power play, a tap-in goal by Backstrom in the second that gave the Capitals a 3-2 lead.

Longtime Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara signed with the Washington Capitals on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020, a stunning move less than a week before most NHL teams open training camp. The Bruins haven't opened camp without Chara since 2005, the first season after a yearlong lockout. “The Boston Bruins have informed me that they plan to move forward with their many younger and talented players, and I respect their decision,” Chara posted on Instagram. “I'm proud that we were able to return the Stanley Cup to Boston,” Chara said in his post thanking the Bruins and their fans. Instead, Chara and the Capitals will face the Bruins eight times in the realigned East Division after the season opens Jan. 13.

Lundqvist signed with the Capitals when free agency opened Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)Nets around the NHL will look very different next season after a flurry of musical goaltenders in free agency. "You saw the goalie carousel take place," said San Jose Sharks general manager Doug Wilson, who traded for goalie Devan Dubnyk this week. 1 goalies.”After trading Dubnyk to San Jose, the Minnesota Wild signed former Flames goalie Cam Talbot to an $11 million, three-year deal. After losing series to them in 2009 and 2011, Lundqvist eliminated the Capitals three times: 2012, 2013 and 2015.

On a 2-on-1 with Tom Wilson, Ovechkin kept the puck and fired it past Varlamov for his fourth of the series. It was also the first goal Washington scored after the second period in this series. Washington controlled the play in the second period, keeping the puck in the offensive zone for much of the time. The Capitals outshot the Islanders 15-7 in the period and scored twice to tie it. ... New York's Cal Clutterbuck left the game in the second period after a hit by Washington's Radko Gudas and did not return.

TORONTO, ONT Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper took exception to the Columbus Blue Jackets being referred to as a blue-collar team. Is that a positive or a negative? Cooper said Monday, a day before his Eastern Conference second-seeded Lightning open the first round of the NHL playoffs against the seventh-seeded Blue Jackets. Thats in the history books forever, Cooper said, noting how both teams have made various changes to their lineups. Id call them a really good team.Familiarity is breeding respect among the East opponents entering the first round. The Islanders hold a 5-2 playoff series edge over Washington.

Washington's Alex Ovechkin and Boston's David Pastrnak share the Maurice Rocket Richard Trophy the league announced Thursday, May 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson, File)Since the NHL is planning to go straight to the playoffs, it's handing out a handful of trophies for the regular season cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. Not long after unveiling a 24-team right to the playoffs format, the league on Thursday announced the winners of its regular-season awards. Although Ovechkin was stopped short of a ninth 50-goal season, his ninth goal-scoring title extends his NHL record. The benefit and the curse of a bye, I suppose.___For more AP NHL coverage: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports