National Sports

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored his 872nd career goal to move 23 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record , and the Washington Capitals beat the struggling New York Rangers 7-4 on Saturday.

SEATTLE (AP) — Vasily Podkolzin and Jeff Skinner scored in the first 5 1/2 minutes and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Seattle Kraken 4-2 on Saturday night for their third straight victory.

CALGARY — Ryan O'Reilly scored his fifth career hat trick on Saturday to lead the Nashville Predators to a 4-1 victory over the Calgary Flames.

Saturday's Scoreboard NHL Edmonton 4 Seattle 2 Toronto 6 Boston 4 Montreal 2 Colorado 1 (SO) Nashville 4 Calgary 1 Detroit 4 Winnipeg 2 Washington 7 N.Y. Rangers 4 San Jose 3 New Jersey 2 Minnesota 4 Carolina 0 Columbus 6 St.

MOOSE JAW, Sask. — Tyler Parr scored twice and Grayden Siepmann pitched in with two assists as the visiting Saskatoon Blades defeated the Moose Jaw Warriors 4-2 in Western Hockey League action on Saturday at the Moose Jaw Events Centre.

WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg Jets were hurting from more than a third consecutive loss on Saturday. The 4-2 setback to the Detroit Red Wings came with a pair of injuries to defencemen — one that was manageable and one that’s up in the air.

TORONTO — The return from injury of Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews proved to be quite the tonic for linemates Matthew Knies and Mitch Marner on Saturday night.

OTTAWA — The United States sits one win from history. Gabe Perreault and Ryan Leonard had a goal and an assist each Saturday as the Americans beat Czechia 4-1 to book a place in the gold-medal game at the world junior hockey championship.

DENVER (AP) — Kirby Dach and Cole Caufield scored in the shootout, Jakub Dobes had 22 saves in regulation, and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 on Saturday night.

BRAMPTON, Ont. — Finn Harding scored 27 seconds into overtime and the Brampton Steelheads edged the visiting Flint Firebirds 5-4 in Ontario Hockey League action on Saturday at the CAA Centre.