Crosby outshines Ovechkin

Penguins continue dominating Caps

Sidney Crosby was booed whenever he touched the puck against the Washington Capitals. A loud group of Pittsburgh Penguins supporters in a sellout crowd of 18,277 responded in kind, jeering Alex Ovechkin when the puck was on his stick.

Players and coaches from both sides can talk all they want about how Pittsburgh vs. Washington is about much more than Sid the Kid vs. Alexander the Great. The fans feel otherwise, and so far the rivalry is as lopsided as they come.

Crosby set up the go-ahead goal on a power play, Ovechkin was held without a point for the first time this season, and Pittsburgh beat Washington 2-1 Saturday night. Crosby's Penguins have won eight of nine games against Ovechkin's Capitals since they entered the league.

"Maybe from each guy's side, there's a little more motivation," Crosby said, "because there's more attention, more eyes on the game."

ALSO SATURDAY

SENATORS 4, PANTHERS 1: Ray Emery made 31 saves in his first regular-season start of the season to help host Ottawa beat Florida.

Emery, who underwent offseason wrist surgery, played two games last weekend for the Senators' AHL affiliate in Binghamton, stopping 80 of 86 shots.

Mike Fisher and Shean Donovan scored second-period goals for the Senators, and Christoph Schubert and Daniel Alfredsson scored in the third.

WILD 3, BLUES 1: Eric Belanger had a goal and an assist, Josh Harding made 33 saves and Minnesota remained the NHL's only unbeaten team by beating host St. Louis.

Brent Burns also scored and Pierre-Marc Bouchard had two assists for the Wild, which has won six of its first seven despite not scoring more than three goals in any game. The only blemish was an overtime loss in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

ISLANDERS 4, DEVILS 3 (OT): Bill Guerin's power-play goal with 3.7 seconds left in overtime gave the host Islanders a victory over New Jersey after New York squandered a two-goal lead in the third period.

The Islanders captain got to a loose puck in front after it kicked around following a shot by Mike Comrie. He smacked it past backup goalie and former Hurricane Kevin Weekes, subbing for a rarely rested Martin Brodeur.

BLACKHAWKS 6, MAPLE LEAFS 4: Chicago scored five goals in the third period to rally past host Toronto. Jason Williams, Andrei Zyuzin, Duncan Keith, Robert Lang, Patrick Sharp and Tuomo Ruutu, with an empty-netter with 25 seconds left, scored for the Blackhawks.

CANADIENS 4, SABRES 2: Chris Higgins scored on a two-man advantage 12:38 into the third and added an empty-net goal to lift host Montreal over Buffalo.

Higgins flicked a backhand towards the net that bounced off goalie Ryan Miller's right arm and into the net with Montreal enjoying a 5-on-3. He scored again into an empty net with 24.9 seconds remaining to seal the win.

LIGHTNING 6, THRASHERS 2: Martin St. Louis and Mathieu Darche scored 39 seconds apart during a three-goal second period to help host Tampa Bay beat Atlanta.

Tampa Bay got two goals from Vinny Prospal. Chris Gratton and Vincent Lecavalier had the other goals, helping the Lightning stay unbeaten in four home games this season.

STARS 3, DUCKS 1: Mike Ribeiro and Jere Lehtinen each had a goal and an assist to help host Dallas beat Anaheim -- winless on the road.

Brenden Morrow added a goal, and Marty Turco made 20 saves as Dallas improved to 3-0-1 at home.

BRUINS 1, RANGERS 0: Phil Kessel scored the lone goal in a shootout to give host Boston a victory over New York.

After the first five shooters failed in the tiebreaker, Kessel skated in on Henrik Lundqvist and fired a wrist shot under the crossbar. The former University of Minnesota star had four shootout winners as a rookie last season.

LATE FRIDAY

KINGS 4, CANUCKS 2: Jason LaBarbera knows the Los Angeles Kings' No. 1 goaltender job is up for grabs. He made a strong case to hold onto it.

LaBarbera made 26 saves, including stopping a 2-on-none break early in the second period that sparked a three-goal outburst.