Washington Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson posted his second-straight shutout on Thursday evening against the Ottawa Senators. Thompson stopped all 24 shots he faced, which set up Alexander Ovechkin's overtime game-winner.

It wasn't the most exciting showdown between the Washington Capitals and Ottawa Senators, but instead, a goalie duel between rising starter Logan Thompson and rookie Leevi Meriläinen. Then, Alex Ovechkin did what he does best: steal the show.

Sometimes divorces end in happiness for both partners. That’s what happened with the Ottawa Senators and Jakob Chychrun, who are separately thriving this season, writes .

Ovechkin, 39, entered the season 42 short of breaking Gretzky's career record of 894 goals. The Russian, in his 20th NHL season, was on pace to get to 895 in February before breaking his left leg in a shin-on-shin collision in November. He missed 16 games but resumed his pursuit after the Christmas break.

Tom Wilson sealed it with an empty-netter with 37.5 seconds left, and Logan Thompson made 28 saves to compensate for giving the puck away to Chris Kreider for his goal into a wide-open net. Sam Carrick also got a goal off a turnover by Ovechkin and Filip ...

OTTAWA - The Ottawa Senators fell short against the NHL-leading Washington Capitals in Thursday's 1-0 overtime loss, but proved they can hold their own against the best.

The left wing practiced Monday on a line with Dubois at center and Aliaksei Protas at right wing. Ovechkin, who has 20 goals in 27 games this season and is 22 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky ’s NHL record of 894 goals, has played regularly with Dylan Strome, who practiced on a line with Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson.

The 39-year-old winger took a pass from Rasmus Sandin on a 2-on-1 breakaway and fired it past rookie Leevi Merilainen, the record 179th goaltender he's scored on.

The Ottawa Senators return home with a tall order as they take on the best team in the East and League — the Washington Capitals. Washington leads the league with a 0.716 save percentage at 63 points in 44 games.

Artemi Panarin scored twice, Chris Kreider got the go-ahead goal with 9:38 left and the New York Rangers rallied for a 5-3 victory over the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday night. Reilly Smith tied it 3-all with a short-handed goal 28 seconds into the third period for the Rangers,

The Ottawa Senators entered tonight's matchup with the Washington Capitals riding the momentum of an series of wins, fueled by the standout performances of young goaltender Leevi Meriläinen. Adding to the excitement was the NHL debut of Ottawa-born rookie Donovan Sebrango.