NHL roundup: Ovechkin lifts Caps

ROUNDUP
CAPITALS 4, THRASHERS 3: Alex Ovechkin scored twice to add to his NHL-leading total, Semyon Varlamov stopped a penalty shot and first-place Washington held on at the end to hand Atlanta its fourth straight loss. Ovechkin didn't get a chance to go against fellow Russian Ilya Kovalchuk. Atlanta's star sat out his first game since breaking his right foot last weekend. LIGHTNING 5, SENATORS 2: Steven Stamkos had two power-play goals and an assist to help Tampa Bay beat Ottawa. Todd Fedoruk, Ryan Malone and Alex Tanguay also scored for the Lightning, which is 4-0-2 at home. Stamkos put Tampa Bay ahead 1-0 at 7:20 of the first when his redirection of Vincent Lecavalier's shot appeared to go into the net off Ottawa defenseman Filip Kuba. DEVILS 2, BRUINS 1: Dainius Zubrus scored with 1:26 left, and Yann Danis made 31 saves in his first appearance of the season to lead New Jersey over Boston for its sixth consecutive road victory. Zubrus scored off a rebound of Jamie Langenbrunner's shot. Zach Parise also assisted on Zubrus' goal and has 10 points in the last six games for New Jersey, 6-0 on the road and 1-4 at home. PREDATORS 2, BLACKHAWKS 0: Pekka Rinne made 22 saves for his first shutout of the season and fifth overall, and Joel Ward scored on a second-period power play to lift Nashville over visiting Chicago. Jerred Smithson added a short-handed empty-net goal with 3 seconds left to help the Predators beat the Blackhawks for the first time in three games this season.

COYOTES 2, BLUES 0: Ilja Bryzgalov made 32 saves for his NHL-leading third shutout of the season, and Daniel Winnik and Taylor Pyatt scored in Phoenix's victory at St. Louis. Bryzgalov improved to 7-3-0, leading the Coyotes to their sixth win in eight games.

-- From Wire Reports

NHL standings, summaries, Page C11