Flyers pick up wild win over Capitals

Danny Briere pounced on a loose puck and knocked in the rebound at 3:52 of overtime to keep the Philadelphia Flyers perfect and lift them to a 6-5 win over the visiting Washington Capitals on Tuesday night.

Mike Richards bested Alex Ovechkin with his second career hat trick to help the Flyers improve to 3-0 for the first time since the 1998-99 season. Ovechkin scored twice and has five goals already on the season.

Ovechkin and Richards scored all their goals in a can-you-top-this second period. The teams scored seven times in the second, and Capitals goalie Semyon Varlamov was yanked for Jose Theodore.

Alexander Semin scored twice for the Capitals. Matt Carle had four assists for the Flyers.

Also Tuesday

Senators 2, Maple Leafs 1: Daniel Alfredsson's second-period goal on a penalty shot gave the Senators a victory over the host Maple Leafs.

The Senators captain used a nifty backhand deke move against Swedish countryman Jonas Gustavsson to help lift his team to its first victory of the young season. Shean Donovan had the other goal for Ottawa (1-1-0).

Matt Stajan scored the lone goal for the Maple Leafs (0-2-1).

After two losses with No. 1 goalie Vesa Toskala in net, Toronto gave Gustavsson his first career NHL start. The 24-year-old was steady in his debut but didn't get much help from the offense.

Late Monday

Blue Jackets 5, Canucks 3: Kristian Huselius, Rostislav Klesla and Nikita Filatov scored over a 3:44 span early in the second period to chase star Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo and lead the visiting Blue Jackets to a win over the Canucks.

Antoine Vermette and Fedor Tyutin also scored, Rick Nash had three assists, and Steve Mason made 40 saves as Columbus opened the season with consecutive wins for the first time in franchise history.

Notes

Lucic earns contract extension: The Boston Bruins have signed forward Milan Lucic to a three-year contract extension.

The team did not disclose financial terms of the deal.

It would keep Lucic in Boston through the 2012-13 season.

Bouchard held out: Pierre-Marc Bouchard was held out of the Minnesota Wild lineup for Tuesday's home opener with the Anaheim Ducks due to the center's recurring headaches.

On Tuesday morning, Bouchard, who played in the team's season-opening loss in Columbus on Saturday, told Minnesota coach Todd Richards that the headaches he's been suffering for a few weeks were getting worse.

Bouchard had suffered a virus during the preseason, which they suspected was causing the headaches, and was feeling better last week, but has taken a turn for the worse this week.

Canadiens sign Bergeron: The Montreal Canadiens are bolstering their defense by signing veteran Marc-Andre Bergeron to a one-year contract. Bergeron had 14 goals and 18 assists in 72 games last season.

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