Nylander lifts Capitals in shootout

The Washington Capitals won't pretend they're as good without Alex Ovechkin as they are with him.

That doesn't mean the Capitals must have their star performer to win, and they proved that last night by beating the Nashville Predators, 4-3, in Washington.

Michael Nylander scored the pivotal goal in a shootout, and Washington generated enough firepower to overcome the absence of Ovechkin.

Ovechkin, the NHL's leading scorer and MVP last season, left for Russia Monday to be with his ailing grandfather. The slick-shooting left winger had played in 203 consecutive games and 253 of 254 in his career. The only other time Ovechkin missed a game was during his rookie season, because of a groin injury.

"Obviously, we miss Ovie. Our hearts are with him, and what he's dealing with," said Brooks Laich, who filled the void on Ovechkin's line. "But we want to be known as the Washington Capitals - a good hockey team, not just a team with one or two good players."

Six players had points for the Capitals, including Alexander Semin, who had a goal and an assist before scoring in the shootout. Semin came in tied for the NHL scoring lead with 14 points; he has eight goals in nine games.

"Obviously [Ovechkin] is the star of our team, but Alex Semin is, I think, the best player in the league right now," Laich said. "Everything he touches turns to gold and goes in the net."

In the shootout, Semin scored as Washington's second shooter before Ville Koistinen tied it on Nashville's third try at Jose Theodore. Nylander then beat Dan Ellis, and Theodore denied Martin Erat.

Jason Arnott scored two goals and Koistinen had one for the Predators.

Lightning 3, Maple Leafs 2 - Vincent Lecavalier scored a pair of highlight-reel goals and Mike Smith made 37 saves to lead visiting Tampa Bay over Toronto.

Jussi Jokinen also scored, and No. 1 overall draft pick Steven Stamkos earned his first NHL point for the Lightning. Matt Stajan and Mike Van Ryn scored for the Maple Leafs, who played well but had their two-game winning streak end.

Lecavalier put the Lightning up, 2-1, at 15:37 of the first period. Skating through the neutral zone, he dragged his leg at the Leafs blue line to allow Vaclav Prospal's breakaway pass to slide past him into the zone onside. Lecavalier cut in on Vesa Toskala and tucked in an against-stride, one-handed backhander.

Lecavalier stretched Tampa Bay's lead to 3-1 at 4:08 of the second, taking a pass from Prospal in the slot and made a move before beating Toskala high during a power play. Stamkos earned the second assist.

The Maple Leafs scored on a power play at 13:15 when Van Ryn flipped a shot over a prone Smith to make it 3-2.

Smith made a terrific stop on Alexei Ponikarovsky with five minutes to go and another on John Mitchell with two minutes left. He stopped 13 shots in the third period.

Canadiens 3, Hurricanes 2 - Saku Koivu scored a shootout goal and Carey Price stopped all three shots in the tiebreaker to lift host Montreal over Carolina.

Koivu beat Cam Ward with a backhand on Montreal's second attempt. Price stopped Matt Cullen, Eric Staal, and Ray Whitney to seal the win.

Alex Tanguay scored on a penalty shot in the final seconds of the first period and Price stopped 31 shots for Montreal, which closed out a 4-1 homestand despite falling, 6-4, to Anaheim on Saturday in the team's first regulation loss of the season.

The Canadiens honored coaching legends Dick Irvin, Toe Blake, and Scotty Bowman as part of their 100th season celebration.

Flyers 7, Thrashers 0 - Mike Knuble, Simon Gagne, and Joffrey Lupul each scored two goals and visiting Philadelphia earned its 11th straight win over Atlanta.

The Flyers won their third consecutive game overall after a 0-3-3 start.

Antero Niittymaki stopped 24 shots in his fourth career shutout and improved to 10-0 against the Thrashers.

Knuble, who made it 2-0 at 3:13 of the second period, has four goals in three games and 7 points in the last five.

Glen Metropolit got his first goal, a power-play tally with 3:40 left.

Sharks 2, Penguins 1 - Joe Pavelski scored an early shorthanded goal, Evgeni Nabokov made just 10 saves, and San Jose stayed perfect at home with a win over Pittsburgh.

Mike Grier added a backhand goal with 7:08 left to cap another smooth effort by the Sharks, who are off to the best 10-game start in franchise history at 8-2, including a 5-0 mark at the Shark Tank.

Ruslan Fedotenko ended Nabokov's bid for his 41st career shutout, scoring with 5:33 to play on a setup from Sidney Crosby.

Flames 3, Avalanche 0 - Miikka Kiprusoff made 22 saves, and Curtis Glencross snapped a scoreless tie 8:22 into the third period to lift host Calgary to its fourth win in a row.

Kiprusoff earned his first shutout of the season - 27th overall - and his 150th NHL victory.