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Ovechkin leads Capitals past injury-hit Maple Leafs
2006-12-24
Alexander Ovechkin counted his 24th goal of the season to grab a share of the NHL goal-scoring lead as the Washington Capitals beat the injury-hit Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Saturday. Ovechkin broke open a scoreless contest midway through the second period with a powerplay goal, slamming home a rebound past Leafs netminder Andrew Raycroft. The Capitals added two more powerplay tallies before the end of the period through Alexander Semin and Dainius Zubrus. The slumping Leafs, who have now lost three straight following a three-game winning run, rallied in the third as Mats Sundin scored twice to trim the Capitals lead. Just 3:13 into the final period the Maple Leafs captain scored on a penalty shot then followed up with his 14th of the season 14 seconds later. Toronto had several solid scoring chances in the final period but could not beat Olaf Kolzig again, the Washington netminder making 35 saves to preserve the win. "I'm happy we won the game, it doesn't matter how we played the third period," said Ovechkin. "We have the two points." Before the game Toronto confirmed center Michael Peca would be out for three-to-four months after suffering a broken right leg in a loss to Chicago on Friday. Peca adds his name to Toronto's growing list of casualties that already includes Alexei Ponikarovsky and Kyle Wellwood. *Chris Mason made 34 saves to earn the shutout while Jason Arnott, J.P Dumont and David Legwand each scored a pair of goals as the Predators mauled the Los Angeles Kings 7-0 in Nashville. Paul Kariya scored the other Preds goal. *Shane Doan and Keith Ballard scored third-period goals 13 seconds apart and Michael Tellqvist made 29 saves to earn the shutout as the Phoenix Coyotes blanked the NHL-leading Anaheim Ducks 2-0 in Glendale. *Dan Boyle had a third period hat-trick as the Lightning spotted the New York Rangers three goals then roared back in the final period to claim a 4-3 in Tampa. *In Philadelphia, Daniel Alfredsson scored a pair of goals as the Ottawa Senators dumped the Flyers 6-3 sending Philadelphia to a club record ninth straight defeat. (Writing by Steve Keating)
High-flying Sabres take top spot (2007-03-03)Smyth, Guerin, Bertuzzi all change teams (2007-02-27)Ovechkin leads Capitals past injury-hit Maple Leafs (2006-12-24)Thrashers end 2-game losing streak (2006-11-04)9 (11285)
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