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  • Posted August 2, 2018
    BOSTON -- Alex Ovechkin looks as if hes ready to carry the Washington Capitals to one of the Eastern Conferences final playoff spots. Maurice Cheeks Jersey . Coming off a strong game two days earlier, Ovechkin collected his 800th career point and raised his league-leading total to 43 goals with a pair of power-play scores, leading the Capitals to a 4-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Saturday afternoon. "I think were just playing more solid right now," said Ovechkin, who became the 150th player to collect 800 points. "We dont have time to make mistakes. Every point right now is very important for us." Joel Ward and Eric Fehr also scored, and Braden Holtby made 36 saves for the Capitals, who won their fourth straight in their push for the playoffs. "I think we were missing our swagger a little bit," Ward said of his teams play before the Olympic break. "When our team plays with a little bit of cockiness we seem to get wins. We were missing that before the break. Were finding ways to win. The bottom line is were winning games." Ovechkin had the go-ahead goal and two assists in a 5-4 win at Florida on Thursday. Its his first season of 40-plus goals since collecting 40-plus in his first five seasons from 2005-06 to 2009-10. The Capitals star winger even impressed Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask with his second goal. "The second one it seemed like he was going short side and it just kind of knuckled in," Rask said, breaking into a slight smile to show how impressed he was with the shot. "I was trying to ask him and he was kind of shaking his shoulders. Its funny when you see those. He was kind of leaning into it. Its like impossible to go the other way and it goes the other way. Youre like, Come on, buddy." Washington, which hosts Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon, remained one point behind the Flyers for the conferences eighth and final playoff spot. Patrice Bergeron and Shawn Thornton had Bostons goals. Rask stopped 27 shots in his first start since winning the bronze medal with Finland at the Sochi Olympics. It was just the Bruins second regulation loss in their past 13 games (8-2-3). The Bruins lost 5-4 in overtime at Buffalo on Wednesday. "Were getting caught cheating too much in the offensive side and its ending up in the back of the net," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "Its something we need to fix because were giving up too many goals." Bruins captain Zdeno Chara was disappointed how his team started out. "For sure that wasnt our best game," he said. "We could have done a number of things differently and better. We have to learn from games like this, especially against an opponent like this." The Capitals opened a 3-0 lead on second-period goals by Ovechkin and Ward. Similar to his first score of the game, Ovechkin one-timed a blistering shot over the right shoulder of Rask inside the far post from the left circle for his milestone point. Ward stole a puck near the blue line from defenceman Johnny Boychuk, broke in alone and shifted to his backhand before tucking a shot behind Rask for an unassisted score midway into the period. The Bruins cut it to 3-1 on Bergerons power-play goal 41 seconds later when he snapped off a shot from the slot that beat Holtby inside the left post. Thorntons centring pass was inadvertently tipped past Holtby by defenceman Mike Green as he was skating hard to the net battling for position with Bruins forward Gregory Campbell at 17:32. The goal was originally credited to Campbell, but changed early in the third. But the Capitals made it 4-2 when Fehr scored on a clean breakaway midway into the third. He poked the puck into an open area near centre ice from his own blue line, skated in on Rask and beat him between the pads. Holtby made a key pad save on Chris Kellys breakaway bid while his team was on a power play with 3:06 to play. Washington led 1-0 after one on Ovechkins first goal. He one-timed John Carlsons pass from the left circle inside the far post at 18:39. The Capitals held Boston to one shot on goal when they were short-handed for a full two minutes after Jay Beagle was called for holding and Tom Wilson high-sticking during the delayed penalty early in the first period. "That was a big kill for us," Holtby said. "I didnt know it was a 5-on-3 until I looked up on the faceoff. The guys made some big plays. I think one or two shots got through." NOTES: Capitals RW Martin Erat, who had to leave Thursdays game after injuring his left foot, tried to skate during pregame warmups but came off quickly and was not in the lineup. ... Washington C Mikhail Grabovski was also out after re-injuring his left ankle Thursday. ... It was the first of three meetings between the teams. ... Nicklas Backstrom collected an assist on Ovechkins first goal to pass Peter Bondra for seventh place on the clubs all-time list with 354 assists. ... It was the second game since the Olympic break for both teams. ... Boston faces the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night. ... Washingtons entered the game with the leagues second-best power play. Joel Embiid Jersey . The Henry Burris-led squad finished second in the East Division before advancing to the Grey Cup where they ultimately fell to the home field advantage wielding Saskatchewan Roughriders. Darryl Dawkins Jersey .Murray has played 20 matches in five weeks, winning three titles to climb to fifth in the ATP Race.The two-time Grand Slam champion also seeks to qualify for next months ATP World Tour Finals.Murray said: I always wanted to qualify for it, but also I want to get back into the top 8 players in the world and it makes a huge difference for seedings in the major events.Minneapolis, MN (Sports Network) - Josh Willinghams upper-deck two-run blast in the eighth inning gave the Minnesota Twins a 4-3 win over the Oakland Athletics in the opener of a three-game set. Willingham also hit a solo home run as did Oswaldo Arcia for the Twins, who have won their past two. Liam Hendriks pitched 5 1/3 innings in the start as he gave up three runs on seven hits with six strikeouts. Anthony Swarzak (2-2) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win. Alberto Callaspo smacked a two-run home run while Yoenis Cespedes had an RBI and a run scored for the Athletics, who are two games up on the Rangers in the AL West. Jarrod Parker was in line for the win as he gave up just two runs on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts in six innings. He hasnt lost a game since May 22 and is 9-0 over his last 19 startts. Moses Malone Jersey. . In the eighth with Sean Doolittle on the mound, Arcia singled to start and Ryan Doumit struck out. Ryan Cook (6-4) then took the mound and Willingham blasted a shot into the upper-deck seats in left for his 14th home run of the season. Glen Perkins pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 34th save of the year. Willingham homered with one out in the second to get the scoring started, while Callaspo went deep with Cespedes on board in the fifth for a 2-1 lead. Cespedes gave the As a 3-1 advantage in the sixths with an RBI single, but Arcia made it a one-run game once again with his leadoff homer in the sixth. Game Notes Oakland had a three-game winning streak snapped ... Each team has won five times in the season series ... Minnesota was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight. Wholesale Throwback Jerseys Youth NFL Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys OnlineCheap NFL Womens Jerseys Discount Jerseys NFL Jerseys Wholesale ' ' '