National Hockey

BOSTON — Nick Holden has only been in Boston for about a month, and he's already learned that he needs to keep his stick on the ice when he's playing with David Krejci.

DENVER — The playoff-chasing Colorado Avalanche received a big blow when goalie Semyon Varlamov and defenceman Erik Johnson were ruled out for the remainder of the regular season due to injuries.

WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin is built like a linebacker with the motor of a steam engine and the mentality of a wrecking ball. He can score like no other player of this generation and few in history and has the physicality to match.

LAS VEGAS — Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee stood alone in the hallway outside of his team's locker room Friday night, as someone walked by and blurted: "One more George.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Rickard Rakell scored 4:41 into overtime, and the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 on Friday night. Nick Ritchie also scored and John Gibson saved 28 shots for the Ducks, who are 6-1-1 in their last eight games.

NEW YORK — Brayden Point and Cedric Paquette each scored two goals, and the Tampa Bay Lightning stopped a three-game slide with a 7-3 victory over the New York Rangers on Friday night. J.T.

DENVER — Semyon Varlamov stopped everything — including a hard-crashing Chicago player late in the third period. Only, the collision took its toll: sending the Colorado goaltender flying into the net and knocking him out of the game.

NEW YORK — Coming off an emotional loss that knocked them out of first place, the Tampa Bay Lightning took a little while to get going against the New York Rangers. They eventually found their stride.

NEW YORK — With the score tied late in the third period, Auston Matthews saw an opening and got himself in position. And when he got the puck from William Nylander, he was able to knock in the winning goal.

WASHINGTON — Carolina is a long shot to make the playoffs. Coach Bill Peters is still looking for a strong finish for the Hurricanes.