NHL scores: Capitals win streak ends in 4-2 loss to Hurricanes

Carolina Hurricanes' Jeff Skinner scores on Washington Capitals goalie Philipp Grubauer as Capitals' Dmitry Orlov defends during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, Dec. 31, 2015. (AP / Gerry Broome)

RALEIGH, N.C. - Eric Staal broke a tie 51 seconds into the third period and the Carolina Hurricanes went on to beat the Washington Capitals 4-2 on Thursday night.

Phillip Di Giuseppe, Jeff Skinner and Andrej Nestrasil also scored, and Eddie Lack made 30 saves to help the Hurricanes end the Capitals' winning streak at nine games.

Alex Ovechkin had his 21st goal for Washington, and Nicklas Backstrom also scored.

Staal gave Carolina a 2-1 lead, and Skinner followed with his 15th of the season. Ovechkin cut it to one with 5:44 left, and Nestrasil had an empty-net goal in the final minute.

BLACKHAWKS 4, AVALANCHE 3, OT

DENVER - Jonathan Toews scored a power-play goal at 3:29 of overtime, Patrick Kane extended his NHL points lead with a goal and two assists and Chicago beat Colorado.

Artem Anisimov and Andrew Desjardins also scored for Chicago, which snapped a four-game losing streak to Colorado. Scott Darling, meanwhile, filled in for starter Corey Crawford and had 26 saves.

Colorado erased a 3-1 deficit as Erik Johnson tied the game with less than 5 minutes remaining in regulation.

Toews then answered on a man advantage after the Avalanche were called for too many players on the ice.

Carl Soderberg and Cody McLeod scored for Colorado. Semyon Varlamov had 39 saves for Colorado and suffered his first loss in nine consecutive decisions against Chicago.

STARS 5, PREDATORS 1

DALLAS - Rookie Mattias Janmark's sixth December goal broke a tie late in the second period and Tyler Seguin scored twice in the third period to help Dallas beat Nashville.

Jamie Benn and Patrick Eaves also scored for the Stars, who moved one point ahead of the East-leading Washington Capitals in the overall standings. Dallas and Washington, which lost on Thursday night, share the league-lead with 28 wins.

Only the Stars, who lost on Tuesday night at Columbus, and the Capitals haven't lost consecutive games this season.

Craig Smith scored his ninth goal of the season for the Predators in the second period, giving Nashville a lead that lasted about a minute and a half.

WILD 3, BLUES 1

ST. LOUIS - Erik Haula broke a third-period tie, Devan Dubnyk made 33 saves and Minnesota beat St. Louis.

Nino Niederreiter and Thomas Vanek also scored to help the Wild start a four-game trip with just their sixth road win of the season.

Vladimir Tarasenko, the Blues' leading scorer, sat with a stomach ailment. St. Louis had won seven of its previous eight home games against Minnesota.

Haula scored his third goal of the season and first since Nov. 10, a span of 18 games. He converted from a bad angle on the right side, slipping the puck past Jake Allen with 8:32 left in the third period for a 2-1 lead.

Vanek added an empty net goal with 1:37 left.

PENGUINS 5, RED WINGS 2

DETROIT - Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin scored goals 34 seconds apart in the third period to help lift Pittsburgh over Detroit.

The Penguins have a five-game unbeaten streak at Joe Louis Arena, going 3-0-2 in that span.

Crosby got a nice pass right in front of the net from David Perron and beat Detroit goaltender Petr Mrazek at 7:48 of the third, snapping a 2-2 tie.

Crosby has three goals and five assists in his last six games.

Malkin quickly made it a two-goal lead, scoring his 18th of the season at 8:22.

Justin Abdelkader kicked off the scoring, collecting a rebound of Dylan Larkin's wraparound attempt and beating Penguins goaltender Jeff Zatkoff at 6:47 of the first period.

ISLANDERS 2, SABRES 1

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Nikolay Kulemin extended his goal streak to three games, Thomas Greiss made 42 saves and New York beat Buffalo.

Frans Nielsen scored on a power play 9:35 into the second period for the Islanders.

Ryan O'Reilly scored his 15th goal of the season and Linus Ullmark made 31 saves for Buffalo. The Sabres lost their third straight.

Kulemin got his goal 1:07 into the third period with an in-tight score. O'Reilly cut the deficit with 8:42 left off Jack Eichel's needle-threading pass into the slot during a power play.

The Sabres kept pressure on Greiss all night, starting with an early power play. With Matt Martin in the box for interference, Greiss made six saves, including three on Rasmus Ristolainen.