UNDATED (AP) — The New York Rangers weren’t too happy when Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson avoided a suspension for his role in Monday’s brawl at Madison Square Garden. They demonstrated their displeasure by engaging Wilson in a couple of melees, but the Caps rode TJ Oshie’s hat trick to a 4-2 victory over the Blueshirts.
Oshie’s first two goals came with Pavel Buchnevich in the penalty box, two days after Buchnevich was crosschecked in the back by Wilson.
Wednesday’s game had six fights in the first period, commencing with a center-ice brawl right off the opening faceoff. Wilson was involved in a fight in the opening minute and received a 10-minute misconduct later in the period.
The outcome puts the Capitals in a first-place tie with Pittsburgh in the East Division. The Caps have three games remaining, one more than the Penguins.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
— Alex Pietrangelo scored 1:53 into overtime to send the Golden Knights past the Wild, 3-2. Reilly Smith furnished the tying score late in the third after Kirill Kaprizov scored two goals in a 2:10 span midway through the period for the Wild. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 26 shots for the West-leading Knights, who are five points ahead of the third-place Wild.
— The Avalanche are four points off the West Division lead after wasting a 2-0 lead in a 3-2 loss to the Sharks. Tomas Hertl had two goals and an assist in his 500th career NHL game. Erik Karlsson scored the go-ahead goal and Evander Kane added three assists.
— Troy Terry provided the shootout winner in the Ducks’ 3-2 victory over the Blues. Haydn Fleury and Max Jones scored in regulation for Anaheim, and Anthony Stolarz made 25 saves before stopping all three St. Louis shootout attempts. Mike Hoffman and Kyle Clifford tallied for the Blues.
— Defenseman Erik Cernak had a goal and two assists in the Lightning’s sixth win in seven games, 6-2 over the Stars. Brayden Point and Alex Killorn each had a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay, which pulled into a tie with the Panthers for second place in the Central Division. The Stars remained alive for the fourth and final spot in the Central Division after Nashville’s loss in Columbus.
— The Predators failed to wrap up a playoff berth as Mikhail Grigorenko scored the go-ahead goal in the third period of the Blue Jackets’ 4-2 victory against Nashville. Oliver Bjorkstrand had two goals, including an empty-netter with less than a second remaining, and Jack Roslovic also scored for the Blue Jackets, who stopped a two-game skid and won for just the second time in 12 games.
— Adam Lowry and Blake Wheeler each scored twice and the Jets claimed their fourth straight playoff berth with a 4-0 shutout of the Flames. Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves for his third shutout of the season, helping Winnipeg stop a seven-game losing streak. Wheeler collected his 800th career point, Mark Scheifele reached the 500-point plateau and Paul Maurice picked up his 300th win as Jets coach.
— Erik Brannstrom had three assists, Shane Pinto scored his first NHL goal and the Senators stalled the Canadiens’ playoff charge with a 5-1 win. The Canadiens entered the game looking for their first four-game winning streak of the season after reeling off three straight come-from-behind victories. Brady Tkachuk, Nick Paul, Connor Brown and Alex Formenton also scored for the Senators, who improved to 8-2-1 over their past 11 games.
— Anze Kopitar collected his 1,000th career point by getting an assist in the Kings’ 4-2 victory against the Coyotes. Gabriel Vilardi scored twice to help Los Angeles eliminate Arizona from playoff contention.
