Crosby scores twice in win
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The Associated Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Sidney Crosby scored twice, Evgeni Malkin also had a goal and Tristan Jarry made 30 saves and had an assist to help the Pittsburgh Penguins snap a four-game skid with a 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.
Jarry made his first start since being sent to the minors on Jan. 16 as Pittsburgh won for only the second time in regulation in its last 11 games.
Ryan Hartman scored for Minnesota, which lost for the fifth time in seven games. In likely his last game against the franchise with which he won three Stanley Cups during 13 seasons, Marc-Andre Fleury made 20 saves.
Malkin put the puck past Fleury with 3 seconds left on a power play in the second period for a 1-0 lead. Minnesota has the league's worst home penalty kill at 66.7%.
Crosby scored on a rebound midway through the third period for a 2-0 lead and later added an empty-netter.
Takeaways: Penguins: With the win, coach Mike Sullivan is the 14th head coach in NHL history -- and first American-born head coach -- to win 400 games with one franchise. Wild: This was the first game of a stretch during which Minnesota plays seven straight at home and nine of 10. The Wild are a league-best 22-10-3 on the road, but just 14-14-1 at Xcel Energy Center.
Key moment: With the game scoreless midway through the second, Minnesota didn't move well without the puck, largely stayed on the perimeter and managed just two shots during a four-minute power play. The Wild finished 1 for 6 with a man advantage.
Key stat: Fleury's start was the 1,015th of his career, breaking a tie with Roberto Luongo for second-most in league history. Martin Brodeur started 1,251 games in his Hall of Fame career.
Late Friday: Ilya Samsonov made 22 saves for his 15th career shutout and second this season, Mark Stone had a goal and two assists and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Penguins 4-0 on Friday night.
Tanner Pearson had a goal and an assist, while Ivan Barbashev and Brandon Saad also scored for the Golden Knights.
Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 23 shots for the Penguins.
The night was punctuated by the return of the Golden Knights' Reilly Smith, an original member of Vegas' expansion roster in 2017. Smith helped the Knights win the Stanley Cup in 2023 and was traded to Pittsburgh less than a month after the finals.
Up next: Pittsburgh starts a five-game homestand Tuesday against Vegas.
Ovechkin 9 back
WASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin scored his 886th career goal into an empty net Sunday to move nine back of breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL record.
Ovechkin backhanded the puck in from center ice with 1:29 left in the third period to seal the Washington Capitals' 4-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken that extended their winning streak to four games.
"He's still getting a couple of looks here and there, but he's finding ways to score," linemate Dylan Strome said. "It's what he's done his whole career and especially this year. He's getting to the right areas. And obviously when the goalie is pulled, we're all thinking it. I'm sure everyone else is thinking it, too. It's still a pretty skilled play to go backhand through a guy's leg or stick and find a way to score that. Nine more."
It was Ovechkin's league-leading eighth empty-netter of the season and 65th of his career, which is the most of any player in NHL history.