Wednesdays National Hockey League Capsules
OTTAWA 3, ATLANTA 2
ATLANTA The Ottawa Senators opened the second half of the season with a much-needed road win.
Dean McAmmond snapped a tie with 5:37 remaining in the second period and the Senators held on for a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers.
Captain Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza each recorded a power-play goal and an assist for Ottawa, which won for just the second time in its last 18 games away from Scotiabank Place (2-13-3).
Rookie Brian Elliott made 29 saves for the Senators, who improved to 3-7-1 in their last 11 overall.
Former Senator Todd White and Chris Thorburn scored for Atlanta, which has lost four of its last five games and eight of 10 (2-7-1).
Things have not been good in unfamiliar surroundings for the Senators, who stormed into Atlanta with just one win away from home since opening the season with three wins in their first four road games.
Of course, it helped that they were playing the Thrashers, who have been unable to do much of anything at Philips Arena. Atlanta fell to 2-10-2 in its last 14 home contests.
McAmmond helped the Senators snap a four-game road slide (0-3-1), breaking a 2-2 deadlock with his third goal of the season.
After receiving a pass from Jarkko Ruutu in the neutral zone, McAmmond skated between defensemen Mathieu Schneider and rookie Zach Bogosian for a breakaway. While falling after being checked from behind by Bogosian, McAmmond fired the puck past goaltender Kari Lehtonen to give Ottawa back-to-back wins for the first time since December 3-6.
Ironically, McAmmond also factored in the first goal of the contest.
The veteran left wing was called for hooking 5:18 into the first period, and White cashed in 19 seconds later. Vyacheslav Kozlov completed a pass from behind the net to White, who drilled the puck past Elliott from the left faceoff circle for his 14th tally of the season.
But the Senators answered with a power-play goal of their own just over a minute later to forge a 1-1 tie.
With Thorburn in the penalty box for high-sticking, Alfredsson beat Lehtonen with a one-timer from the left faceoff dot at 6:41 for his 12th of the campaign.
Thorburn atoned for his miscue later in the session, banging in a knuckling rebound from the doorstep with 4:32 remaining to give Atlanta a 2-1 advantage. But Spezza converted a man-advantage opportunity with 1:51 to go, beating Lehtonen to the stick side with a slap shot from the top of the left circle to again knot the game.
Lehtonen turned aside 27 shots for the Thrashers, while All-Star Ilya Kovalchuk had his three-game goal-scoring streak snapped in his debut as team captain. The 25-year-old Russian received the honor on Monday.
WASHINGTON 6, PITTSBURGH 3
PITTSBURGH All-Star Alex Ovechkin scored two goals and set up another and Tomas Fleischmann netted the game-winner and added an assist as the Washington Capitals snapped a season-high, three-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Viktor Kozlov, Alexander Semin and defenseman Jeff Schultz also tallied while Nicklas Backstrom collected three assists for Washington, which won its third consecutive game at Mellon Arena for the first time since capturing four straight from January 16-November 20, 1985.
Miroslav Satan recorded a goal and an assist and All-Star Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Ryan Whitney also scored for the Penguins, who lost for the eighth time in 10 games.
Captain Sidney Crosby registered two assists for the Penguins, but the All-Star dropped to 10-3-0 in head-to-head career matchups with Ovechkin and the rival Capitals. Crosby also left in the third period with a right leg injury and did not return.
CHICAGO 4, BUFFALO 1
CHICAGO Captain Jonathan Toews recorded a goal and an assist and rookie Kris Versteeg set up a pair of tallies as the Chicago Blackhawks skated to a 4-1 triumph over the Buffalo Sabres.
Patrick Sharp, Martin Havlat and defenseman James Wisniewski also scored for the Blackhawks, who have won eight of their last nine home games, with the only loss coming against the Detroit Red Wings in the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field.
Cristobal Huet made 22 saves for Chicago, which halted a four-game winless streak against Buffalo (0-3-0 with one tie).
Ales Kotalik tallied for the Sabres, who have dropped two in a row following a four-game winning streak.
DETROIT 4, ANAHEIM 3
ANAHEIM, California Daniel Cleary and Johan Franzen scored 35 seconds apart midway through the third period, helping the Detroit Red Wings erase a deficit and post a 4-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks in a battle of Western Conference heavyweights.
Tomas Holmstrom and Jiri Hudler also tallied while All-Star Pavel Datsyuk and defenseman Niklas Kronwall notched two assists apiece for the Red Wings, who bounced back from Mondays 5-4 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars to win for the seventh time in eight games.
All-Star Ryan Getzlaf netted a goal and set up two others and Corey Perry and defenseman Steve Montador each notched a tally and an assists for Anaheim, which fell to 14-1-0 when leading after two periods.