NEW YORK (AP) Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby had two goals and an assist during a five-goal second period that powered the Penguins to a 6-1 rout of the New York Rangers on Wednesday, cutting the gap at the top of the NHL’s Metropolitan Division to two points.
The Penguins also remained a point ahead of Washington, which beat St. Louis thanks to an Alex Ovechkin hat trick.
Elsewhere, San Jose edged Western Conference pace setter Chicago, and Tampa Bay closed in on the Atlantic Division lead by defeating Philadelphia.
Pittsburgh held New York without a shot on goal over 23:59 spanning the second and third periods.
Scott Wilson, Conor Sheary, Phil Kessel and Matt Cullen also scored for the Penguins, who avenged a heavy loss to the Rangers earlier in the week.
Pittsburgh trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes, but then the defending Stanley Cup champions took control, chasing Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist after four goals on 17 shots.
Washington’s Ovechkin scored his first hat trick this season and the 16th of his 10-year NHL career to lead the Capitals over St. Louis 4-3.
Ovechkin had a goal in each period to move one hat trick ahead of Florida’s Jaromir Jagr for the most among active players.
Evgeny Kuznetsov had a goal and an assist for Washington.
Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice and Alex Pietrangelo added a late goal for the Blues, who had won four straight.
San Jose’s Logan Couture and Joel Ward scored in the first period and that was enough for a 2-1 win against Chicago.
Artemi Panarin scored for the Blackhawks, who lost in regulation against the Sharks for only the third time in 13 meetings.
Chicago captain Jonathan Toews left with an unspecified injury following the second period. He leads the league with 292 faceoff wins and had a game-high eight after two periods.
Tampa Bay’s Alex Killorn and Ryan Callahan scored 12 seconds apart in the third period to help the Lightning beat Philadelphia 4-2.
The Lightning also got goals from Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov.
Dale Weise and Ivan Provorov scored for the Flyers, who were short-handed three times in the first 12 minutes of the third before Killorn (13:28) and Callahan (13:40) scored to give Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead.
Edmonton’s Connor McDavid extended his scoring surge with a goal and two assists in the third period to lift the Oilers to a 6-3 win against Colorado.
McDavid, the NHL’s leading scorer, has four goals and four assists in Edmonton’s three-game winning streak.
The Oilers trailed 3-2 entering the third but scored three times in the first 7:25. Milan Lucic tied it 32 seconds in when he knocked in McDavid’s shot on goalie Semyon Varlamov.
McDavid gave Edmonton a 4-3 lead when his shot from the backboards went off Varlamov and in at 6:35. The second-year star then assisted on Leon Draisaitl’s goal 55 seconds later.
Jordan Eberle had two goals and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored for Edmonton.
New Jersey’s Mike Cammalleri had four points in his return to the lineup as the Devils edged Toronto 5-4 after a shootout.
Jacob Josefson scored in the shootout for the Devils, who overcame an early 3-0 deficit.
Cammalleri had a goal and three assists. He missed six games after his 5-year-old daughter was hospitalized with pneumonia.
Travis Zajac, Beau Bennett and Yohann Auvitu also scored for New Jersey.
Top draft pick Auston Matthews had two goals and set up another by Nazem Kadri in Toronto’s big first period. Matt Martin also scored.
Calgary goalie Chad Johnson made 34 saves for his second shutout in five starts, leading the Flames over Columbus 2-0.
Nashville’s Filip Forsberg, James Neal and Ryan Johansen each had a goal and an assist to lead the Predators over Dallas 5-2.
Minnesota’s Mikko Koivu, Jonas Brodin and Zach Parise scored to lead the Wild past road-weary Winnipeg 3-1.
Los Angeles’ Dwight King scored twice in a 20-second span late in the third period as the Kings beat the New York Islanders 4-2, extending their winning run to four games.
Detroit’s Gustav Nyquist scored in regulation and in a shootout to help the Red Wings snap a four-game losing streak, beating Buffalo 2-1.
Vancouver’s Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi each had a goal and two assists in the Canucks’ 4-1 victory over Arizona.
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