Highlights of Wednesday's NHL games

[February 02, 2017]  Feb 2 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Wednesday's National Hockey League games:

Capitals 5, Bruins 3

Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and two assists, Braden Holtby made 29 saves and the Washington Capitals beat the Bruins 5-3 at Verizon Center on Wednesday, snapping Boston's three-game winning streak.

Alex Ovechkin gave Washington a 3-2 lead late in the second period, and Brett Connolly made it 4-2 at 3:29 of the third when he scored against his former team.

Evgeny Kuznetsov had a goal and an assist. He has six goals in his last seven games. T.J. Oshie also had a goal and an assist for the NHL points leaders. Matt Niskanen added two assists for the Capitals

Brad Marchand scored two power-play goals and had an assist for Boston (26-22-6), and David Krejci scored with 1:31 left to play.

Flames 5, Wild 1

Sean Monahan scored two power-play goals and Brian Elliott made 28 saves as Calgary bounced Minnesota.

Alex Chiasson, Deryk Engelland and Micheal Ferland also scored for the Flames, who won their second straight.

Jason Zucker replied for the Western Conference-leading Wild, who saw their franchise record road point streak end at 14 games.

Kings 5, Avalanche 0

Jeff Carter scored twice and Peter Budaj recorded his sixth shutout, as Los Angeles crushed Colorado at Staples Center.

Marian Gaborik, Dustin Brown and Dwight King also scored goals for the Kings, who won their fourth in a row. Carter leads the Kings with 26 goals. Budaj stopped 22 shots.

Spencer Martin had 35 saves for the Avalanche, who have dropped nine consecutive games. (Editing by John O'Brien)

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