Tuesday in the NHL | The Blues beat the Capitals 5-2

Nathan Walker gave his team the lead hours after his recall to the National Hockey League, and the St. Louis Blues snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the Washington Capitals by a score of 5-2, Tuesday evening.

Brandon Saad and Brayden Schenn contributed to the victory with a goal and an assist each. Ryan O’Reilly, on the power play, also found the back of the net for the Blues, who had lost seven of their previous nine meetings.

David Perron extended his streak to seven games with at least one goal by scoring in an empty net.

Goaltender Ville Husso blocked 19 pucks and recorded his 16^and win of the season.

Along the way, however, the Blues lost defenseman Torey Krug, who left the game in the second period after suffering an upper-body injury.

Victims of turnovers and errors in the defensive zone, the Capitals lost a second straight game in regulation and went 7-2-1 in March.

Tom Wilson scored a goal and added an assist on Evgeny Kuznetsov’s.

Goaltender Vitek Vanecek conceded four goals on 37 shots.

Stephen Whyno, Associated Press 

Penguins thrash Blue Jackets 5-1

Jake Guentzel scored twice during a furious second-period push as the Pittsburgh Penguins crushed the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-1 on Tuesday night.

Radim Zohorna and Bryan Rust also hit the mark during that wild second period for the Penguins. Evgeni Malkin added a power play goal in the third period to round out the scoring. The Penguins have now won their last three games.

Tristan Jarry stopped 26 shots to improve to 7-1 in his last eight starts.

Rickard Rakell played over 14 minutes in his first game for the Pens, who was acquired from the Ducks on Monday.

Gustav Nyquist had given the Jackets a one-goal lead early in the game by scoring on the power play in the first half of the opening period. However, they were never able to keep up with the pace set by the locals.

Joonas Korpisalo had a lot of trouble with the heavy traffic in front of his net. Korpisalo finished his night with 32 saves, but constant pressure from the Penguins and some errors from his teammates in front of him had the effect of improving his career record against the Pennsylvania Birds to 1-5-1.

Before the game, the Blue Jackets had won four of their last five meetings to stay mathematically in the playoff race. However, they remain a good distance from the Washington Capitals who occupy the last available spot as the second team drafted.

Will Graves, Associated Press

Islanders blank Senators

Semyon Varlamov stopped all 24 shots he faced to earn his first shutout of the season and lead the New York Islanders to a 3-0 win over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.

Scott Mayfield, Anders Lee and Zach Parise, in an empty net, scored all three goals for the Isles in the third period.

Brock Nelson ended his night with three assists. The Islanders have now won their sixth victory in eight games.

In Varlamov’s case, it’s his first shutout this season, but his 35th career shutout. He notably distinguished himself by frustrating Colin White in the last minute of play in the second period.

In the Sens camp, Anton Forsberg was intractable during the first two periods by blocking 15 shots, but in the third he finally yielded twice on 11 shots.

Scott Charles, Associated Press