Capitals goalie Brent Johnson shut down the Eastern Conference's top offense, and Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Alexandre Giroux scored to lead the Washington Captials to a 3-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday. Boston, which has the most goals and the best record in the East, had won five consecutive games and 14 of 16. The Southeast Division-leading Capitals improved to 11-1-1 at home, thanks to Johnson. The only goal he allowed came with 35 seconds left in the second period, when Phil Kessel passed the puck to a wide-open Milan Lucic. By then, though, Backstrom and Giroux had given the Capitals a 2-0 lead. Ovechkin, the NHL's reigning MVP, added an empty-netter in the final minute for his 15th goal. Devils 4, Penguins 1: At Newark, New Jersey, Scott Clemmensen made 26 saves, Travis Zajac scored the first goal and New Jersey kept rolling to beat Pittsburgh. Clemmensen, who has emerged as the Devils go-to goalie with Martin Brodeur sidelined, improved to 7-1 in his last eight starts. Zajac, Zach Parise, Dainius Zubrus and Patrik Elias provided the scoring for the Devils, who won for the eighth time in nine games. They avenged the lone loss in that span, a 4-1 defeat in Pittsburgh on Nov. 29. Matt Cooke scored for Pittsburgh, ending Clemmensen's shutout bid with 3:58 remaining. Sabres 4, Lightning 2: At Buffalo, New York, Thomas Vanek scored twice, including his NHL-leading 22nd goal, as Buffalo rallied to deal Tampa Bay its ninth straight defeat. Vanek snapped a 2-2 second-period tie with his second goal of the game on the power play, sending the Sabres to their third straight win. Jason Pominville had a goal and two assists, and Drew Stafford also scored for Buffalo (14-11-3). Ryan Miller made 26 saves in his fifth straight start. Martin St. Louis and Mark Recchi scored for Tampa Bay (6-14-8), which blew a 2-0 first-period lead. The Lightning, who have an NHL-low 20 points, dropped to 0-7-2 during their skid. Rangers 3, Thrashers 2, OT: At Atlanta, Scott Gomez scored 15 seconds into overtime and New York snapped a two-game losing streak by beating struggling Atlanta. Gomez took advantage of goaltender Johan Hedberg's mishandling of the puck, and put in a backhander. Ilya Kovalchuk, who was trailing Callahan on his goal, redeemed himself 1:29 later by scoring his 10th of the season and second in two games. Colton Orr gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead with his first goal in 83 games. Atlanta rookie Joey Crabb tied it with his first NHL tally. Other results: Red Wings 4, Flames 3, OT; Blackhawks 2, Senators 0; Coyotes 5, Stars 3; Ducks 4, Blues 2.
