The New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs are going in opposite directions.
Brandon Dubinsky had a goal and an assist for the streaking Rangers, who beat the winless Maple Leafs, 4-1, in front of a disgruntled Toronto crowd last night.
After an opening-night loss at Pittsburgh, the Rangers have won seven straight.
“A lot of it is confidence,’’ goalie Henrik Lundqvist said. “Even though we know we’re not having the best night, we have the confidence right now that we can win.’’
Toronto and the New York Islanders are the only NHL teams that haven’t won a game this season. The Leafs will face another week of questions about their poor record because they don’t play again until next Saturday, when they open a five-game road trip in Vancouver.
“We’ve hit rock bottom,’’ Leafs forward Lee Stempniak said. “There’s no lower to go.’’
The players plan to use the week of practice to try to repair their shaken confidence.
“This has been a tough stretch,’’ forward Matt Stajan said. “I think maybe a week off might be beneficial. We’re going to have to make it beneficial because that’s the way the schedule is.’’
Marc Staal, Michael Del Zotto, and Enver Lisin also had goals for the Rangers. The Rangers were buoyed by a strong performance from Lundqvist, who made 34 saves.
“I think when you boil it all down, Lundqvist was just unbelievable,’’ Toronto coach Ron Wilson said.
Ian White had the lone goal for the Leafs (0-6-1). After missing the playoffs the last four years, the Leafs seem to have taken another step in the wrong direction.
“I understand how frustrated the fans are - I do understand that,’’ Wilson said. “But booing doesn’t help.’’
Toronto moved the puck nicely on an early power play and speedy forward Jason Blake had a breakaway, but the Leafs couldn’t put a puck behind Lundqvist.
Capitals 3, Predators 2 - Alex Ovechkin scored twice and added the deciding goal in a shootout for host Washington.
Ovechkin, the second Capitals shooter, beat Nashville goalie Dan Ellis. He was the lone Capitals’ shooter to score in the shootout. None of the three Predators shooters scored off Washington goalie Semyon Varlamov.
Ovechkin had the Capitals’ two goals in regulation, and when he scored, the fans littered the ice with hats, mistakenly thinking it was a hat trick.
“I don’t think it’s ever been done in the history of hockey,’’ coach Bruce Boudreau said with a wry smile. “It’s a Washington original.’’
Play was halted for about two minutes while the hats were collected from the ice.
“Find out if anyone has ever thrown hats for a goal that doesn’t count as a hat trick,’’ Boudreau said.
The shootout began after an overtime that featured just one shot on goal - by Ovechkin with 22.5 seconds to play. As Ovechkin’s coach, he’s continually asked to explain his goals - and he has given up trying.
“I have no idea what he does,’’ Boudreau said. “Sometimes when you score two goals and your name is Alex Ovechkin, the goalie is thinking too much.’’
Senators 3, Candiens 1 - Alex Kovalev had a goal and an assist to lead Ottawa in his first game against Montreal at the Bell Centre.
Kovalev beat former teammate Carey Price with a shot from the slot 11:28 into the third period after he set up Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson’s power-play goal during a two-man advantage in the second. Kovalev left Montreal to sign a two-year, $10 million contract with Ottawa July 6.
A loud cheer went up when Kovalev’s name was called by PA announcer Michel Lacroix following his third goal of the season, the 397th of his 17-season NHL career, which put the Senators up by two with 8:32 remaining.
“It means a lot,’’ said Kovalev, the MVP of the 2009 All-Star Game at the Bell Centre. “It’s appreciation for what I’ve done for the city.’’
Devils 2, Hurricanes 0 - Martin Brodeur made 26 saves and moved within one shutout of tying Terry Sawchuk’s NHL career record as host New Jersey shut out Carolina.
Jamie Langenbrunner scored a flukey goal off his body in the opening seconds of the third period to break a scoreless tie, and Zach Parise scored into an empty net with 40 seconds to go as Brodeur picked up his 102d career shutout.
Brodeur made about four saves between Langenbrunner’s goal and Parise’s clincher to secure his first shutout of the season and the Devils’ first victory at home in four tries.
Sharks 4, Islanders 1 - Joe Thornton had a power-play goal and two assists to lead visiting San Jose past New York.
San Jose’s Evgeni Nabokov made 31 saves in his 500th NHL game and Ryan Vesce’s first NHL goal broke a 1-all tie as the Sharks (4-3-1) snapped a two-game losing streak. Thornton assisted on San Jose’s first two goals to extend his league-leading total to 11.
Blue Jackets 4, Kings 1 - Raffi Torres broke a tie with a power-play goal late in the second period and Rick Nash added a short-handed goal as host Columbus won its third straight by beating Los Angeles.
Thrashers 4 Sabres 2 - Ilya Kovalchuk scored twice, and Johan Hedberg made 40 saves and added an assist in his first start of the season to help send visiting Atlanta (4-1-0) to its best start in franchise history and Buffalo (4-1-1) to its first regulation loss.
Penguins 4, Lightning 1 - Sergei Gonchar had a goal and an assist and host Pittsburgh improved to 7-1.
Avalanche 4, Red Wings 3 - Marek Svatos and Milan Hejduk scored shootout goals to lift visiting Colorado over Detroit.
Stars 4, Blackhawks 3 - Stephane Robidas scored when his third-period dump-in bounced and slipped past goalie Cristobal Huet as visiting Dallas ended Chicago’s four-game winning streak.
Canucks 2, Wild 1 - Mikael Samuelsson scored the go-ahead goal on a power-play rebound 3:49 into the third period to lead host Vancouver.
Blues 5, Ducks 0 - Andy McDonald had two goals and an assist as visiting St. Louis ended a three-game losing streak.
