Joel Ward scored three goals for his first NHL hat-trick as Braden Holtby coasted to a shutout in the Washington Capitals‘ 7-0 fight-filled rout of the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday.
Jason Chimera added a goal and three assists, and Nicklas Backstrom and Mikhail Grabovski each had three points as the Capitals (6-7) won for the first time this season when the captain Alex Ovechkin failed to score a goal. Ovechkin did not make the trip to Philadelphia because of an upper-body injury. Holtby made 30 saves.
Ward’s third-period goal that made it 7-0 sparked a brawl. Just nine seconds later, Philadelphia’s Wayne Simmonds fought Washington’s Tom Wilson. The Flyers goalie Ray Emery then took on Holtby in another bout. In the melee, a total of 114 penalty minutes were handed out. Overall, Philadelphia racked up 99 penalty minutes, and Washington received 65.
Carolina Hurricanes‘ Victor Hedman scored in the second period and Steven Stamkos added an insurance goal to back Ben Bishop’s shutout in the Tampa Bay Lightning‘s 3-0 victory. Bishop stopped 31 shots in his first shutout of the season and second of his career against Carolina. Alex Killorn added a goal and an assist, and Martin St Louis had two assists. The Lightning have won four of five overall and eight of nine at Carolina.
At Sunrise, Florida, Brian Elliott stopped 31 shots for his first win of the season, and Alexander Steen scored for the sixth straight game as theSt Louis Blues beat the Florida Panthers 4-0. Alex Pietrangelo, Chris Stewart and Derek Roy added goals, and Steen posted his NHL-leading 12th this season. David Backes had two assists for St Louis, who won their third straight game.
Chris Kunitz scored for the third straight game as the Pittsburgh Penguins had little trouble in a 4-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Brandon Sutter, Kris Letang and Jason Megna also scored for Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby recorded an assist to push his points total to an NHL-leading 22. Marc-Andre Fleury made 37 saves and earned his 10th win, tops in the league.
In other games, the New York Islanders beat the Ottawa Senators 5-4 in a shootout, the Minnesota Wild edged the Montreal Canadiens 4-3, the Colorado Avalanche beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 in overtime and theDetroit Red Wings were 4-3 winners over the Calgary Flames.