Thomas leads Bruinsto 4-1 win against Caps

Tim Thomas' return to the nation's capital was less political and more successful, with the goaltender making 35 saves Sunday in the Boston Bruins' 4-1 win against the Washington Capitals.

Playing about 10 blocks from the White House — a place he famously avoided because of his political views two weeks ago when the reigning Stanley Cup champions were honored by President Barack Obama — Thomas shut out the Capitals until late in the third period as the Bruins snapped a two-game losing streak.

First Period — 1, Boston, Lucic 19 (Peverley), 10:45. 2, Boston, Marchand 19 (Bergeron, McQuaid), 18:38.

Second Period — None.

Third Period — 3, Boston, Seguin 20 (Marchand, Bergeron), 6:38. 4, Washington, Johansson 11 (Perreault, Ward), 12:04. 5, Boston, Peverley 9 (Kelly, Chara), 19:19 (en).

Shots on Goal — Boston 12-9-9 — 30. Washington 11-10-15 — 36. Goalies — Boston, Thomas. Washington, Vokoun. A — 18,506 (18,398). T — 2:30.

DEVILS 5, PENGUINS 2: Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and two assists, and New Jersey extended its winning streak to four.

Anton Volchenkov, Dainius Zubrus, Zach Parise and David Clarkson also scored for the Devils, who remained perfect since the All-Star break while equaling their season-best win streak. Kovalchuk has been the key to the surge with three goals and seven assists in the four games.

First Period — 1, New Jersey, Kovalchuk 22 (Elias, Parise), 2:21. 2, New Jersey, Volchenkov 1 (Kovalchuk, Ponikarovsky), 9:33.

Second Period — 3, New Jersey, Zubrus 15 (Kovalchuk), 2:28 (sh). 4, Pittsburgh, Niskanen 3 (O'Reilly, Cooke), 3:02 (pp). 5, New Jersey, Parise 20 (Bernier, Greene), 11:22.

Third Period — 6, Pittsburgh, Malkin 29 (Sullivan), 11:43 (pp). 7, New Jersey, Clarkson 20 (Brodeur), 19:13 (en).

Shots on Goal — Pittsburgh 11-10-9 — 30. New Jersey 10-9-6 — 25. Goalies — Pittsburgh, Fleury, Johnson. New Jersey, Brodeur. A — 14,707 (17,625). T — 2:20.

RANGERS 5, FLYERS 2: Artem Anisimov had a goal and two assists, Henrik Lundqvist made 21 saves and the Rangers continued their recent success against the Flyers.

Marian Gaborik, Michael Del Zotto, Brandon Dubinsky and Ruslan Fedotenko also scored for Eastern Conference-leading New York, which has won six straight against Philadelphia, including their four games this season. It was Anisimov's first points in 18 games.

First Period — 1, N.Y. Rangers, Anisimov 8 (Girardi, Stepan), 1:04.

Second Period — 2, Philadelphia, Schenn 5 (Voracek, M.Talbot), 12:02. 3, N.Y. Rangers, Gaborik 26 (Stepan, Anisimov), 19:54.

Third Period — 4, Philadelphia, Simmonds 17 (Hartnell, Giroux), :57 (pp). 5, N.Y. Rangers, Del Zotto 7 (Gaborik, Anisimov), 1:33. 6, N.Y. Rangers, Dubinsky 6 (Boyle, Prust), 12:15. 7, N.Y. Rangers, Fedotenko 7 (Hagelin, Richards), 18:44 (en).

Shots on Goal — Philadelphia 5-10-8 — 23. N.Y. Rangers 14-14-10 — 38. Goalies — Philadelphia, Bryzgalov. N.Y. Rangers, Lundqvist. A — 18,200 (18,200). T — 2:30.

CANADIENS 3, JETS 0: Carey Price made 23 saves for his third shutout of the season, Tomas Plekanec had a goal and an assist, and the Canadiens ended a three-game losing streak.

Max Pacioretty scored his 19th goal in the first and Alexei Emelin made it 2-0 with a short-handed goal 7:20 into the second. Plekanec, who set up Emelin's goal, was credited with his 11th goal on a power play at 11:28.

First Period — 1, Montreal, Pacioretty 19 (Weber, Palushaj), 18:02.

Second Period — 2, Montreal, Emelin 2 (Plekanec, Darche), 7:20 (sh). 3, Montreal, Plekanec 11 (Kaberle, Subban), 11:28 (pp).

Third Period — None.

Shots on Goal — Winnipeg 7-8-8 — 23. Montreal 11-11-1 — 23. Goalies — Winnipeg, Pavelec. Montreal, Price. A — 21,273 (21,273). T — 2:22.