VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The Vancouver Canucks returned to the ice after a COVID-19 outbreak prompted nearly four weeks of worrying, wondering and waiting.

They were finally able to play for the first time since March 24 — and celebrated their first game back with an overtime victory.

Bo Harvat scored his second goal of the game 1:19 into the extra period, giving the Canucks a 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday night.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Bo Harvat scored his second goal of the game 1:19 into overtime, giving the Vancouver Canucks a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday night in their return from a nearly four-week layoff because of a COVID-19 outbreak.

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Brock Boeser had a goal and two assists to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 5-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night.

“I like to score when our team’s winning,” Boeser said. “It feels so much better when you do that.

“Just for our team to play a complete game tonight, it’s huge for us.”

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Sean Monahan, Dillon Dube and Matthew Tkachuk scored power-play goals and Jacob Markstrom’ made 32 saves and shut out his former team as the Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-0 Saturday night.

Calgary’s home-opener was the first NHL game at Scotiabank Saddledome since March 8, 2020, a span of 10 months and eight days.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — T.J. Oshie had a goal and two assists and Washington made a winner of coach Peter Laviolette in his Capitals' debut, beating the Buffalo Sabres 6-4 on Thursday night.

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Brock Boeser scored twice, including the winner, as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 on Wednesday night.

Bo Horvat, Adam Gaudette, and rookie Nils Hoglander also scored for Vancouver in the first of two games in two nights between the teams. Braden Holtby made 28 saves for his first win as a Canuck.

“I think our team played a really good hockey game for our first game of the year,” Boeser said. “We've got to build off it.”

Nets around the NHL will look very different next season after a flurry of musical goaltenders in free agency.

Henrik Lundqvist is joining a team he tormented in the playoffs for years, Braden Holtby is leaving the franchise he led to the Stanley Cup, Jacob Markstrom got big bucks to join the Battle of Alberta and Anton Khudobin is staying home, after all.

After losing one defenseman possibly for the season and bringing back another one, the Washington Capitals could be on the verge of adding a big name in goal.

TORONTO (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored twice, including the go-ahead goal early in the third period, as the Washington Capitals rallied from two goals down to beat the New York Islanders 3-2 Tuesday night and avoid a sweep in their first-round series.

TORONTO (AP) — T.J. Oshie and Tom Wilson scored, Braden Holtby made 30 saves and the Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 in round-robin play Sunday to clinch the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and set up a first-round matchup against former coach Barry Trotz’s New York Islanders.

TORONTO (AP) — T.J. Oshie and Tom Wilson scored, Braden Holtby made 30 saves and the Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 in round-robin play Sunday to clinch the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and set up a first-round matchup against former coach Barry Trotz's New York Islanders.

“We know their system well,” captain Alex Ovechkin said. “It’s gonna be tight games, it’s gonna be tough games. It’s not gonna be easy.”

Alex Pietrangelo and his wife had ongoing discussions about whether he should return to the ice when the NHL season resumes.

In addition to wanting to keep the couple’s infant triplets safe during the pandemic, the 30-year-old captain of the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues is heading into free agency while in his prime. He decided to play.

“The focus right now is just kind of getting through this healthy and playing and we’ll see where things end up,” Pietrangelo said.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Sabres coach Ralph Krueger liked the resolve he saw from a Buffalo team that could have easily quit.

Rather than let down after squandering a 2-0 third-period lead and having a third goalie interference call in three games go against them, the Sabres rallied to snap a six-game skid by beating the Washington Capitals 3-2 on Dominik Kahun's goal in the seventh round of a shootout Monday night.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Nic Dowd scored twice for the first career multigoal game, Braden Holtby stopped 26 shots and the Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 on Saturday.

Nicklas Backstrom, Richard Panik and TJ Oshie also scored for the Capitals, who created a little breathing room over their longtime rivals in the scramble atop the Metropolitan Division. First-place Washington moved five points clear of third-place Pittsburgh with less than a month to go in the regular season.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The playoffs are still a month away. It just feels like they've already started for the Washington Capitals.

Dominant at the start and disciplined at the finish, the Capitals pushed the Pittsburgh Penguins around 5-2 on Saturday to give them a little breathing room over their longtime rivals in the crowded race for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Travis Konecny scored just over a minute after a questionable video review wiped out a goal, and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Washington Capitals 5-2 on Wednesday night to extend their winning streak to seven games.

ST. PAUL, Minn (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored twice as part of a three-point night and the Washington Capitals ended a season-high four-game road slide by holding off the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Sunday night.

Richard Panik and Tom Wilson also scored, Evgeny Kuznetsov had two assists, and Braden Holtby stopped 37 shots for his fourth straight victory. Washington moved into a tie with Colorado for the league lead with 22 road wins.

WASHINGTON (AP) — T.J. Oshie scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period, Braden Holtby made 33 saves and the Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 on Sunday to snap their losing streak at four and leapfrog their archrivals into first place.

The Capitals endured a back-and-forth, chippy game to win for just the second time in their past eight games.

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — For the first time since October, the Washington Capitals took the ice for practice as something other than a first-place team.

Defensive lapses and a glaring lack of structure have added up to losses in six of nine games and a .500 record over the past 10. It’s a struggle for the Capitals right now, but they hope a trade for defenseman Brenden Dillon and a few adjustments will shake them out of their midseason doldrums.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Anthony Beauvillier scored twice, Josh Bailey had three assists and the New York Islanders kept Alex Ovechkin stuck at 698 career goals in beating the Washington Capitals 5-3 Monday night.

The Islanders jumped out to a 5-1 lead and held on to hand the Capitals a second consecutive regulation loss at home. Washington also lost center Evgeny Kuznetsov to a scary-looking upper-body injury when he was crunched into the boards in the second period.

MONTREAL (AP) — Jakub Vrana had a goal and an assist as the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 Monday night for their fourth straight win.

Tom Wilson, Travis Boyd and Nicklas Backstrom also scored for the Capitals, and T.J. Oshie had two assists. Washington, 7-1-0 in its last eight games at Bell Centre, was without star forward Alex Ovechkin while he missed his first game this season to serve a one-game suspension for skipping the All-Star Game.

MONTREAL (AP) — The Washington Capitals proved they can score a lot of goals even without Alex Ovechkin.

Jakub Vrana had a goal and an assist as the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 Monday night for their fourth straight win.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored three goals to tie Steve Yzerman for ninth on the career goals list Saturday, and the Washington Capitals rallied with five goals in the third period for a 6-4 victory over the New York Islanders.

Jakub Vrana scored the go-ahead goal with 2:30 left to help the Capitals extend their wining streak to four games. The Islanders lost for the fourth time in their last five games.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kevin Hayes scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period short-handed to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.

Robert Hagg and Travis Konecny also scored for the Flyers, who improved their NHL-best home record to 14-2-4. The Flyers returned to Philadelphia after losing five of six games on a disappointing road trip.

Carter Hart made 26 saves for Philadelphia while upping his home mark to 12-1-2.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lars Eller scored with 2:59 remaining in overtime after the Washington Capitals rallied from two goals down in the final minute of regulation, completing a stunning 5-4 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Sunday.

T.J. Oshie tied it with 14.2 seconds left, and Eller also assisted Jakub Vrana’s second goal of the game inside the final minute.

NEW YORK (AP) — The host St. Louis Blues will have three players at NHL All-Star Weekend.

Captain Alex Pietrangelo, goaltender Jordan Binnington and playoff MVP Ryan O'Reilly will represent the defending Stanley Cup champion Blues for All-Star festivities Jan. 24-25. Forward David Perron was not chosen as an All-Star despite being in the middle of a career season.

BOSTON (AP) — Brad Marchand and Anders Bjork scored 27 seconds apart in a four-goal first period that chased Braden Holtby, and Charlie Coyle added a short-handed goal to help the Boston Bruins beat the Washington Capitals 7-3 on Monday night.

Tuukka Rask made 39 saves to snap his five-game losing streak as the Bruins opened a 5-0 lead and sat on it while the Capitals outshot them 34-6 over the last two periods.

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Bruins had one goal taken away by an inadvertent whistle, and the Capitals were about to go on the power play.

Boston's four first-period goals had chased Washington starter Braden Holtby, but no one on the Bruins bench was all that confident Monday night with almost 35 minutes left in the game against a team that had beaten them in 16 of the previous 17 tries.

WASHINGTON (AP) — It looked like curtains for the Washington Capitals when Lars Eller went to the penalty box with the score tied and the Tampa Bay Lightning's NHL-best power play given more than a minute of 5-on-3 time.

Instead, goaltender Braden Holtby and Washington's penalty killers were at their best. The Capitals killed off that Lightning power play and several others to come away with a 3-1 victory Saturday night.