Alexander Ovechkin teamed with Alexander Semin for shootout goals to give the Washington Capitals a 6-5 home win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday.

Ovechkin, who had two goals and an assist in regulation, scored in the second round of the shootout and Semin followed in the third round after Jarkko Ruutu was on target for the Penguins.

"It was an important game in our season right now," Ovechkin, who took over the NHL scoring lead with 38 goals, told reporters.

"We are at .500 (for the season), but we don't want to stop. We want to keep it going."

Vikor Kozlov's second goal for Washington, a powerplay score 15:29 into the third period, forced overtime in a game that was a scoring duel between Ovechkin and fellow Russian Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins.

Malkin also had two goals and an assist but did not participate in the shootout.

The efficient Penguins scored five goals off 15 shots against Washington netminder Olie Kolzig.

"It wasn't a great night for me, obviously," Kolzig told reporters. "But the guys perservered."

Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby missed his second consecutive game with a high ankle sprain.

Cory Stillman's powerplay goal 52 seconds into overtime capped a two-goal comeback when the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders 3-2 on the road. Mike Commodore and Niclas Wallin scored third-period goals to force overtime after New York had taken a 2-0 lead on second-period goals by Andy Hilbert and Miroslav Satan.

Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored twice and had two assists and the Minnesota Wild took over first place in the Northwest Division with a 4-2 road win over the Vancouver Canucks.

Alexander Radulov and Martin Gelinas each had two goals and an assist when the Nashville Predators beat St. Louis 6-3 to hand the Blues their fifth consecutive loss.

The Phoenix Coyotes cruised to a 6-2 win to condemn the Buffalo Sabres to their eighth consecutive defeat. Shane Doan had a goal and an assist for the Coyotes in getting a point for the 11th successive game.

Reuters