Washington netminder Michal Neuvirth stopped 20 shots as the Capitals snapped the Nashville Predators' five-game winning streak with a 4-1 victory Tuesday. Neuvirth, who shut out Winnipeg 1-0 Thursday, benefited from a tight-checking Washington defense to hike his record to 5-6-1 this season after a slow start. Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom scored first-period goals against the Predators' seldom-used netminder Anders Lindback to give the Capitals all the offense they needed. Ovechkin skated in alone on Lindback and beat him to the glove side, giving the Capitals a 1-0 lead midway through the period. Backstrom made it 2-0 on a wrap-around goal against a Predators defense caught napping. A long slap shot by Sergei Kostitsyn trimmed the Capitals' lead to 2-1 early in the final period but Washington's Alexander Semin countered with nine minutes left to pad the lead to 3-1 and give the Capitals some breathing room. Capitals right wing Troy Brouwer ended the scoring with his ninth goal of the season, tipping in a shot from just inside the blue line by defenseman Dennis Wideman. The victory lifted the record of new Capitals coach Dale Hunter to 5-5 since taking over for Bruce Boudreau last month. Penguins 3, Blackhawks 2: The Pittsburgh Penguins survived a nail-biting third period to hold off the NHL-leading Chicago Blackhawks 3-2. Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made 36 saves and kept the visitors at bay during a power-play in the closing 90 seconds. Pittsburgh (19-11-4) were playing without Sidney Crosby for a sixth consecutive game while Kris Letang was also absent, but they once again rode the hot hand of Evgeni Malkin, who set up all three goals. Malkin has six goals and nine assists in his last six games to carry the load for an understrength Pittsburgh side. Islanders 3, Jets 2: P.A. Parenteau scored in regulation and added the shootout winner to give the visiting Islanders a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. Parenteau and Frans Nielsen beat goalie Ondrej Pavelec in the shootout. Islanders goalie Evgeni Nabokov stopped Blake Wheeler and Kyle Wellwood on their attempts in the tiebreaker. Senators 4, Sabres 1: Erik Condra combined with the newly acquired Ottawa center Kyle Turris on the first of Condra's two goals and lifted the Senators over visiting Buffalo. Coyotes 2, Panthers 1: Radim Vrbata and Ray Whitney scored goals to lift Phoenix over host Florida, giving the Coyotes just their second win in their last six games. Flames 2, Wild 1: Jarome Iginla scored the go-ahead goal and added an assist for Calgary, which made a successful return home with a win over Minnesota.
