WASHINGTON - Antti Raanta made 32 saves while subbing for the injured Henrik Lundqvist and Derek Stepan scored as the New York Rangers bounced back from a loss in Pittsburgh to beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 Friday night.
Raanta was pressed into duty after Lundqvist was ruled out because of neck spasms. He was stellar against the NHL's top team, helping the Rangers extend their streak of not losing consecutive games that dates to mid-December.
Jesper Fast and Keith Yandle also scored for the Rangers against Braden Holtby, who made 20 saves. Jay Beagle and T.J. Oshie had the Capitals' goals in the first game between the teams since New York acquired Eric Staal at the trade deadline.
STARS 4, DEVILS 2
DALLAS (AP) — Valeri Nichushkin had a goal and an assist on his 21st birthday, and the Stars stopped a four-game slide.
Vernon Fiddler, Jason Spezza and Colton Sceviour also scored for Dallas, and Kari Lehtonen made 18 saves. Fiddler's short-handed score into an empty net with 20 seconds left was his 100th career goal.
With about a month left in the season, Dallas, Chicago and St. Louis are locked up in a tough race for the Central Division title. The Stars (39-20-7) and Blackhawks (40-21-5) each have 85 points, followed by the Blues (37-20-9) with 83.
New Jersey has lost seven of nine. Adam Henrique and Devante Smith-Pelly scored for the Devils, and Cory Schneider had 15 saves before leaving at 2:05 of the third due to an injury. Keith Kinkaid made six saves.
BLUE JACKETS 6, OILERS 3
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Defenceman David Savard had two goals, and the Blue Jackets scored on their first two shots.
Boone Jenner and Scott Hartnell each had a goal and an assist as last-place Columbus won for the third time in four games. Cam Atkinson and Fedor Tyutin also scored, and Joonas Korpisalo had 25 saves.
Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist for Edmonton, which had won three in a row. Taylor Hall and Leon Draisaitl also scored.
McDavid, the No. 1 overall pick in last year's draft, has eight goals and 14 assists in 17 games since returning from a broken left collarbone.
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