Garnet Hathaway celebrates with teammate Alex Ovechkin after scoring in the first period Sunday night, starting the Washington Capitals on their way to a 6-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Luis M. Alvarez/Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Garnet Hathaway of Kennebunkport scored his third goal in two games, Alex Ovechkin added two assists and the Washington Capitals spoiled Sidney Crosby’s return Sunday night, routing the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-1.
Martin Fehervary, Daniel Sprong, Conor Sheary, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson also scored for Washington, which won its fourth straight game and pulled even with Carolina atop the Metropolitan Division.
Jake Guentzel scored in the first period for the Penguins, who got Crosby and defenseman Brian Dumoulin of Biddeford back from the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol. Pittsburgh Coach Mike Sullivan was also back from protocol, but his team fell behind early and then allowed second-period goals to two former Penguins.
With Washington up 2-1, Dumoulin lost the puck near the blue line. Lars Eller skated in, waited patiently for Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang to slide past, then fed Sprong on the opposite doorstep for his third goal of the season.
Sheary, who was on the Penguins’ Stanley Cup-winning teams in 2016 and 2017, scored 2:35 later to give Washington a 4-1 advantage with 1:24 left in the second.
• Washington resigned forward Nic Dowd to a three-year contract extension with an average annual value of $1.3 million.
FLAMES 4, SENATORS 0: Dan Vladar made 27 saves for his first career shutout as Calgary snapped a three-game losing streak with a win at Ottawa.
It was the ninth career start for Vladar, who played five games for the Bruins last season.
The Flames were led by Elias Lindholm with a goal and an assist. Andrew Mangiapane, Matthew Tkachuk and Nikita Zadorov also scored, and Sean Monahan had two assists.
OILERS 5, BLUES 4: Kailer Yamamoto scored in the final minute as Edmonton won at St. Louis.
Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan McLeod also scored for Edmonton, which won in St. Louis for the first time since Dec. 5, 2018.
Mikko Koskinen made 35 saves as the Oilers improved to 11-3-0.
RANGERS 4, DEVILS 3: Chris Kreider scored the deciding goal in the seventh round of the shootout and New York won at home.
Kaapo Kaako had a goal and an assist, and Adam Fox and Alexis Lafreniere also scored to help the Rangers win their third in a row and beat the Devils for the seventh straight time. Alexandar Georgiev made 24 saves.
DUCKS 5, CANUCKS 1: Trevor Zegras had two goals and an assist, Troy Terry extended his scoring streak to 14 games and host Anaheim rolled to its seventh straight victory.
Sonny Milano also scored and John Gibson made 26 saves for the Ducks.
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