SAN JOSE Los Angeles Kings Hoodies Authentic , Calif. (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 39th goal, T.J. Oshie had two goals and an assist, and the Washington Capitals beat the San Jose Sharks 5-1 on Thursday night.Jakub Vrana and Tom Wilson each had a goal and an assist, and Nicklas Backstrom had two assists for Washington. Braden Holtby stopped 24 shots, and Ovechkin added an assist as the Capitals won for the fifth time in seven games after dropping seven straight.San Jose ended a six-game winning streak, which began with a 7-6 overtime win at Washington on Jan. 22. Sharks goalie Martin Jones turned back 18 shots.The Sharks took an early lead on Kevin Labanc’s 11th goal at 2:06 of the first period, but it was all Washington after that.MAPLE LEAFS 6, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3LAS VEGAS (AP) — Auston Matthews scored two goals, including the 100th of his career, to lead Toronto over Vegas.The Maple Leafs, who improved to 36-18-3 this season and 19-7-2 on the road, are 15-7-0 against the Western Conference and 9-2-0 against Pacific Division opponents this season.Morgan Rielly scored his fifth game-winner when his shot made its way through traffic to beat Marc-Andre Fleury and put Toronto ahead 4-3 at the midway point of the third period.Vegas, meanwhile, has lost three in a row and a franchise-record five straight at T-Mobile Arena, including the first three of a four-game homestand.ISLANDERS 3, BLUE JACKETS 0COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Thomas Greiss stopped 31 shots for his fourth shutout of the season and New York beat Columbus.Casey Cizikas scored twice on breakaways and Josh Bailey also had a goal for the Islanders, who cruised to their fifth win in the last seven games.Greiss was outstanding in getting his 12th career shutout and the Islanders defenders showed why they are tops in the NHL in keeping opponents’ pucks out of their net. New York Los Angeles Kings Hats Authentic , which began the night three points ahead of Washington atop the Metropolitan Division, snapped the Blue Jackets‘ four-game win streak.Sergei Bobrovsky had 24 saves for the Blue Jackets, who is tied with Pittsburgh with 67 points but holds third place in the Metropolitan due to a game in hand. The game was a letdown for Columbus, which seemed to have momentum after shutting out the Capitals by the same score on Tuesday.LIGHTNING 6, STARS 0TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist, Nikita Kucherov added a goal and three assists, and Tampa Bay beat Dallas.Tyler Johnson, Mikhail Sergachev and Alex Killorn also scored to help the Lightning improve to 6-0-2 in the last eight games and reach 90 points in 58 games this season. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 32 shots for his fifth shutout of the season and 17th of his career to tie Ben Bishop for most in team history.Dallas goalie Anton Khudobin was pulled from the game twice, allowing five goals on 21 shots. Landon Bow finished with four saves in 27:07 of ice time for Dallas, which fell to 1-2-1 in the past four games.BLACKHAWKS 5, DEVILS 2CHICAGO (AP) — Patrick Kane scored his 34th goal and added two assists to lead Chicago over New Jersey for its eighth victory in nine games.Brandon Saad and Artem Anisimov each had a goal and an assist, and Jonathan Toews and Drake Caggiula also scored for the Blackhawks. Cam Ward stopped 41 shots.Damon Severson and Travis Zajac scored to give the Devils a 2-0 lead with a little more than three minutes left in the first period before the Blackhawks took over. New Jersey has lost two straight and five of its last six.Devils goalie Cory Schneider finished with 31 saves to extend his regular-season winless streak to 24 games. He is now 0-17-4 since his last win Dec. 27, 2017.BLUES 4, COYOTES 0GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Jordan Binnington matched a franchise rookie record with his seventh straight victory, Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice and St. Louis stretched its longest winning streak in 18 years to eight games.Joel Edmundson scored early in the first and had an assist on Tarasenko’s goal late in the period. Tarasenko put the Blues up 3-0 late in the second period with a power-play goal, giving him nine goals and eight assists during a career-high 10-game points streak.Robert Bortuzzo scored his second goal of the third period for the Blues Custom Los Angeles Kings Jerseys , who have their longest winning streak since 2000-01. St. Louis is 14-4-1 in 2019, including 9-2-1 on the road. Binnington made 21 saves.CANUCKS 4, KINGS 3, SOLOS ANGELES (AP) — Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser scored in a shootout after Adam Gaudette tied it with 1:38 remaining in the third period to lift Vancouver.Pettersson and Boeser also scored in regulation for the Canucks, who had lost four straight road games. Jacob Markstrom made 35 saves through overtime, before allowing a shootout goal to Ilya Kovalchuk and then stopping Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe.Alec Martinez had a goal and an assist for the Kings, who had not played at home since Jan. 21 because of the All-Star Game, bye week and a six-game road trip while Staples Center hosted the Grammys. Jonathan Quick made 24 saves.PANTHERS 3, FLAMES 2, SOSUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Vincent Trocheck scored in the third round of the shootout to lift Florida over Calgary.Elias Lindholm scored for Calgary late in the third period to extend the game, but Matthew Tkachuk missed in the third round of the shootout with a chance to do the same.Mike Hoffman had a goal and an assist, and Evgenii Dadonov scored for Florida. Mark Jankowski also had a goal for the Flames, who lost their fourth straight. Florida goalie James Reimer, pulled to start the third period in Sunday’s 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay, stopped 41 shots. Mike Smith had 30 saves and lost his third straight.AVALANCHE 4, JETS 1WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Gabriel Landeskog scored his team-leading 30th goal of the season as Colorado beat Winnipeg to snap its season-high eight-game losing streak.Dominic Toninato got his first NHL goal www.officialwild.com , and J.T. Compher and Sven Andrighetto also scored for the Avalanche, who were 0-5-3 during their skid. Matt Nieto had two assists, and Semyon Varlamov stopped 24 shots.Brandon Tanev scored his career-high 12th goal of the season for Winnipeg, which lost in regulation at home for the first time in 10 games (8-1-1). Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves.PREDATORS 3, CANADIENS 1NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Pekka Rinne made 34 saves, Viktor Arvidsson scored and Nashville beat Montreal.Ryan Hartman and Brian Boyle also had the goals for Nashville, which snapped a three-game skid.Tomas Tatar scored and Carey Price made 35 saves for Montreal, which has lost consecutive games for the first time since early January.RED WINGS 3, SENATORS 2DETROIT (AP) — Andreas Athanasiou scored twice, including a penalty shot, and Jimmy Howard made 40 saves in his 500th game to lead Detroit over Ottawa.Frans Nielsen scored to break a 2-2 tie late in the second period.Brady Tkachuk and Matt Duchene scored for Ottawa, and Anders Nilsson stopped 26 shots. WASHINGTON (AP) Henrik Lundqvist got an early glimpse into the New York Rangers‘ rebuilding future.It’s not pretty.Lundqvist roiled with frustration after a rookie defensemen left an opponent wide open for a tying goal that led to New York’s 44th loss of a lost season. As Zen-like as he was earlier in the day about the new organizational direction toward youth and away from trying to win now, the face of the franchise for more than a decade was bothered by a mistake caused by inexperience that’s sure to be repeated over the coming years.”So frustrating,” Lundqvist said.When general manager Jeff Gorton committed the Rangers to a roster refresh that laid waste to 2018 playoff hopes and set the stage for pain that could last longer than Lundqvist’s prime, the star goaltender battled his own internal conflict. The 36-year-old from Sweden had never played in an NHL game with no chance of making the playoffs.”As a competitor, you want to win, and I never experienced that before where you’re like Minnesota Wild T-Shirts Authentic , `We can’t go for this,”’ Lundqvist said Wednesday, hours after the Rangers were eliminated from contention but several weeks since it became clear they wouldn’t make the postseason. ”It was definitely a new experience. But we’re all on board in this.”Lundqvist and his veteran Rangers teammates have two choices: get on board or be tossed overboard. When it became apparent this team didn’t have the stuff to compete for the Stanley Cup, Gorton traded captain Ryan McDonagh and forwards Rick Nash, J.T. Miller and Michael Grabner before the deadline and set a course for the future.With three years left on Lundqvist’s contract at $8.5 million per season, how far away that future is remains painfully unclear. After 11 playoff appearances and a trip to the final with Lundqvist as the backbone, the Rangers may not get within reach of the Cup in his prime or even his career – but even current players see the need for change.”I think it’s good for this organization to get some fresh air and some new young players and go from there,” 30-year-old winger Mats Zuccarello said. ”But it’s going to be a process.”The process began last summer with the trade of veteran center Derek Stepan to Arizona for the seventh overall pick that turned into Lias Andersson and the selection of Filip Chytil later in the first round. Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Brady Skjei are young building blocks already in place, and there’s hope that free agent addition Kevin Shattenkirk and trade acquisition Vladislav Namestnikov become part of the long-term solution.When the Rangers played at Washington on Wednesday night in their first game with no hope of playoffs since 2004, they dressed 15 players age 26 and younger. New York’s future is its present, which can mean blunders like Neal Pionk’s missed assignment in front, along with the excitement and potential of prospects like the 22-year-old defenseman, Andersson and Chytil.”When you see the progress of the group, especially the young players, that gives you hope for what’s ahead of us,” Lundqvist said.With a full no-movement clause and the equity he has built up with the Rangers, Lundqvist can choose his future. Others Minnesota Wild Hoodies Authentic , like Zuccarello and coach Alain Vigneault, aren’t so fortunate.In February, when he announced plans to go young, Gorton didn’t want to answer a question about whether Vigneault would be back next season other than to praise his coaching and say, ”We’re all responsible in some way here for what we’re seeing.” This spring will be the first time in a decade Vigneault hasn’t coached in the playoffs, a tough turn for the 56-year-old who almost certainly will be behind an NHL bench somewhere next season.”A tough decision was made for the long-term future of this organization and you have to respect it and you have to do your jobs,” Vigneault said Wednesday. ”That’s what I’m trying to do, that’s what my staff is trying to do and that’s what the players are trying to do.”Try as they might to focus on the final few games of the season, the Rangers feel the threat of drastic change that hangs over them. Lundqvist said ”now is not the time” to talk about the bumpy road ahead.Describing one of the most successful runs in franchise history, Zuccarello used words like lucky, fortunate and even spoiled. In a sport with a salary cap, it’s difficult to remain among the top teams for even this long, and now everyone is bracing for the uncertainty of what’s next.”This is a new situation for most of the guys that have been here for a while, but you have to buy in, you know?” Zuccarello said. ”It is what it is. It’s nothing you can do about it. … Hopefully I have some good years – five, six good years – left and can be part of the rebuild and come to the good times again.”—