WASHINGTON (AP) — T.J. Oshie left for the second time after taking Evgeni Malkin's shoulder to the head but returned to score late and lift the Washington Capitals over the rival Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 on Wednesday night in a meeting of the two most recent Stanley Cup champions.
Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby traded goals, and Oshie got the winner with 1:14 left following a dangerous hit from Malkin. The Penguins star was thrown out of the game for an illegal check to the head and could get a hearing with the NHL's department of player safety.
Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby stopped 41 of 42 shots for his first victory since Oct. 22. The only goal he allowed was Crosby's eighth of the season, which came on the power play.
Pittsburgh's Casey DeSmith stopped 20 of 22 shots in his first career start against Washington. The Penguins lost their fifth in a row and could be without Malkin in the near future.
DUCKS 3, FLAMES 2
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Ryan Getzlaf scored 27 seconds after Calgary got a tying goal in the third period to lift Anaheim.
The Flames trailed 2-0 in the first but rallied to tie it six minutes into the third on Mark Jankowski's short-handed goal. Getzlaf then was able to corral a loose puck in front of the goal and directed a backhand through Mike Smith's legs for his second game-winner of the season.
Jakob Silfverberg and Adam Henrique also scored for Anaheim. Ryan Miller made 37 saves and tied Andy Moog (372) for 17th on the career wins list.
Matthew Tkachuk also scored for Calgary, and Smith stopped 21 shots.
PREDATORS 4, AVALANCHE 1
DENVER (AP) — Colton Sissons got his second career hat trick and Colorado had two apparent goals nullified on replay review as Nashville beat the Avalanche.
Ryan Hartman added an empty-net goal with 2:54 left in Nashville's 11th consecutive regular-season victory against Colorado, which has lost four straight overall.
Trailing 2-0, the Avalanche had an apparent goal at 1:29 of the second period waived off after a replay review showed the puck had drifted across the blue line, making it offside. Samuel Girard was straddling the blue line when he passed to Ian Cole, whose shot zoomed into the net past goalie Pekka Rinne only to have it erased after the Predators' challenge was upheld.
A second Avalanche goal was disallowed, on a shot by Colin Wilson, with 12:33 remaining in the third following a Predators challenge. Officials took away the score after the replay review, saying the Avs were offside when the play started.
___
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
