TOP GAME

Capitals 4, Bruins 1

Three goals in third period send Washington to 11th straight win

Washington set a franchise record with its 11th straight win and sent host Boston to its eighth consecutive loss as Brooks Laich broke a tie early in the third period last night.

The NHL's highest-scoring team trailed the league's lowest-scoring team after one period but came out aggressively in the second and tied the game on Mike Knuble's goal at 2:04. Laich then scored at 5:04 of the third, Boyd Gordon connected less than three minutes later and Alex Ovechkin added an empty-net goal at 19:28 against the Bruins, who are 0-6-2 in their past eight games.

The Capitals broke the club record set from Jan. 27-Feb. 18, 1984. During their 11 wins, the Capitals have outscored opponents 51-22.

Laich got the go-ahead goal on a turnover by Boston defenseman Matt Hunwick, who passed the puck behind his net out to the left boards. Washington's Alexander Semin got it there and passed to Laich, who scored his 17th goal on a quick shot from the slot.

OTHER GAMES

• Maple Leafs 3, Devils 0 -- Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Dion Phaneuf made the most of their Maple Leafs debut, leading host Toronto over New Jersey to snap six-game losing streak.

Giguere finished with 30 saves, becoming only the second goaltender in team history to record a shutout in his debut. Ed Belfour was the first. By the end of the first period, Phaneuf had landed a hit, took part in a fight, and received an ovation.

Phaneuf was acquired from Calgary, and Giguere came to the Leafs from Anaheim on Sunday in a pair of big trades.

• Lightning 2, Thrashers 1 -- Antero Niittymaki stopped 26 shots for his 16th straight win over host Atlanta and Tampa Bay collected a rare road victory.

Stephane Veilleux and Martin St. Louis scored first-period goals and Niittymaki protected the lead, giving up only a second-period goal to Todd White.

• Canadiens 3, Canucks 2 -- Jaroslav Halak made 44 saves, Sergei Kostitsyn, Maxim Lapierre and Tomas Plekanec scored, and host Montreal snapped Vancouver's seven-game winning streak.

Plekanec scored during four-on-four play midway through the third to put Montreal up by two after Kostitsyn and Lapierre scored in the first to stake the Canadiens to a 2-1 lead.

• Stars 4, Wild 2 -- Marty Turco made a season-high 40 saves, Mike Modano scored his 556th career goal, and host Dallas stretched its home-winning streak over Minnesota to 12 games.

Brad Richards added a power-play goal, James Neal notched his team-high 22nd goal, and rookie Jamie Benn scored in the third period for Dallas.

• Coyotes 1, Predators 0, SO -- Adrian Aucoin lifted a wrister over the glove of Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne in the 10th round of the shootout, and visiting Phoenix won its their fifth straight game.

Lauri Korpikoski scored in the second round for Phoenix with a wrister over Rinne's stick, but David Legwand tied it as Nashville's third shooter.

NOTABLE

• The Montreal Canadians top scorer Michael Cammalleri will be out for about six weeks because a knee injury. He won't need surgery.

Cammalleri was injured Saturday in Ottawa when he fell awkwardly into the boards after being hit by Anton Volchenkov.

• The New York Rangers acquired forwards Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust from the Calgary Flames for forwards Christopher Higgins and Ales Kotalik late Monday night.

• The New York Islanders are making plans to spend part of next season's training camp in China.

The team will head to China for about 10 days in September.

Club owner Charles Wang has established several initiatives to promote the game in his native country.

-- Associated Press