Craig Anderson (41) of the Ottawa Senators watches the puck go past the post for a goal in the third period as Jared Spurgeon (46) of the Minnesota Wild looks on during their NHL game in Ottawa. (AFP)
Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby outplayed his Washington counterpart Alex Ovechkin, scoring one goal and assisting on another as the Penguins rolled to a 4-0 win over the Capitals to stay top of the Metropolitan Division.
Defenseman Paul Martin, Beau Bennett and James Neal also scored for Pittsburgh and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside 18 shots for the 25th shutout of his career as the Penguins extended their lead over the Capitals to three points. Dating back to the 2011-12 season, the Penguins (14-8-0) have beaten the Capitals (12-9-1) five straight times by a combined score of 21-9.
Elsewhere, Minnesota captain Mikko Koivu fired a shot high past Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson for the winning goal to lift the Wild past the Senators 4-3.
The decider came with 2:57 left in the third period. Koivu also added two assists while Jason Pominville netted his 13th goal of the season for Minnesota (14-5-4).
The Senators outshot the Wild 37-25, but Minnesota goalie Josh Harding made 34 saves to bounce back from an early exit in Tuesday’s 6-2 loss in Montreal. Ottawa (8-10-4) lost their third straight.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves and defenseman Nikita Nikitin scored the game-winner on a wild scramble in overtime as the Blue Jackets ground out a victory against the Calgary Flames.
Left winger Nick Foligno had the only goal in regulation for the Blue Jackets (8-11-3), while center Joe Colborne replied for the Flames (7-11-4). Bobrovsky was coming off a poor outing Tuesday when he was pulled after surrendering four goals during a 7-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
Centre Travis Zajac scored in overtime as the New Jersey Devils rallied for a victory over the Anaheim Ducks. Zajac’s game-winner occurred at 1:58 of the extra session and allowed the Devils (7-8-6) to snap the Ducks’ (15-6-3) eight-game home winning streak. The Ducks were the last NHL team with an unbeaten record at home.
DeKeyser sprains shoulder
The Detroit Red Wings placed rookie defenseman Danny DeKeyser on long-term injured reserve with a sprained left shoulder. The shoulder will not require surgery, Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said. But DeKeyser is expected to miss a minimum of three weeks and possibly six after suffering the injury during Tuesday’s game against Nashville on a hit into the boards by the Predators’ Patric Hornqvist.
By placing the 23-year-old DeKeyser on long-term IR, he is not eligible for return for at least 10 games. The earliest he could return is Dec. 14 for a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The undrafted free agent from Western Michigan was averaging nearly 21 minutes of ice time in a breakout season for the Red Wings. He has two goals and seven assists in 22 games.