WASHINGTON — Braden Holtby joined the legendary Ken Dryden in the record books and has the Washington Capitals’ suddenly potent power play to thank for his latest milestone.

Holtby became the second-fastest goaltender in NHL history behind Dryden to reach 200 victories as the Capitals struck twice on the power play to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 Friday night. John Carlson and T.J. Oshie scored the rare power-play goals, and Holtby stopped 27 of the 28 shots he faced to pick up victory No. 200 in his 319th game.

“He’s still playing at a high level,” Coach Barry Trotz said. “There’s a reason you get to 200 wins as quick as he has. ”

Although he didn’t set the goal of getting to 200 as fast as Dryden, who did it in 311, Holtby read his famous book, “The Game,” as a teenager and appreciates the six-time Stanley Cup winner and Hockey Hall of Famer’s career and accomplishments.

“Obviously, it’s a honor to be in the same sentence as him,” said Holtby, who allowed only a goal credited to Phil Kessel that went in off Washington defenseman Dmitry Orlov. “I think that those teams that we’ve been fortunate to play on helped you get there. That’s just luck in some ways. It’s been a fun time to get to 200, and we move forward now.”

The Capitals have won 4 of 5 and finally have their power play clicking. After going 2 for 25 with a man advantage in their first six home games, they went 2 for 6 Friday as Carlson scored off Penguins penalty killer Tom Kuhnhackl and Oshie tipped Carlson’s point shot past goaltender Matt Murray.

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Chandler Stephenson also scored for the Capitals on a feed from Nicklas Backstrom, who snapped his career-worst point drought at seven games. In his first game on Washington’s top line, Stephenson picked up his fifth point in eight games.

SENATORS 4, AVALANCHE 3: Mark Stone scored in regulation and again in overtime to give Ottawa a win over Colorado in the first of two regular-season games in Stockholm.

Stone scored 59 seconds into overtime for his 11th of the season.

Fredrik Claesson and Christopher DiDomenico also scored for the Senators.

Nail Yakupov, Alexander Kerfoot and Nathan MacKinnon scored for Colorado. MacKinnon tied it with 7:07 remaining in regulation.

The teams will play again Saturday night. It’s the fifth time the NHL has played regular-season games in Europe, but the first since 2011.

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PANTHERS 4, SABRES 1: Roberto Luongo broke a tie with Curtis Joseph for fourth place on the NHL career victory list with 455, making 24 saves in Florida’s win at Buffalo.

Evgenii Dadonov and Aleksander Barkov each had a goal and an assist, and Ian McCoshen and Vincent Trocheck also scored to help the Panthers snap a five-game skid.

Kyle Okposo scored for the Sabres, and Robin Lehner stopped 27 shots.

HURRICANES 3, BLUE JACKETS 1: Jordan Staal scored two goals and Cam Ward made 25 saves for visiting Carolina.

Staal snapped a 1-1 tie 8:54 into the third period when he beat Sergei Bobrovsky from the slot.

Teuvo Teravainen assisted on each of Staal’s goals, and Brock McGinn got an empty-net goal with 25 seconds left.

Brandon Dubinsky scored for Columbus, and Bobrovsky stopped 26 shots.

STARS 5, ISLANDERS 0: Ben Bishop made 14 saves in his 20th career shutout, and Stars beat visiting New York.

John Klingberg had a goal and two assists for Dallas, and fellow defenseman Esa Lindell added a goal and an assist. Klingberg leads NHL defensemen with 18 points.


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