Wednesday's hockey: Maple Leafs do Red Wings a favor by beating Capitals

Washington — Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 56th and 57th goals of the season and matched his career high with five points, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 7-3 rout of the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night despite Alex Ovechkin moving closer to Wayne Gretzky.

Ovechkin scored goals 844 and 845 of his career to move 50 back of breaking Gretzky's record that long seemed unapproachable. He's now at 23 this season after scoring 15 goals since Jan. 22 to make up for just eight in his first 43 games.

Charlie Lindgren made 22 for the Capitals, who failed to move back into a playoff position with their winning streak ending at three. They sit one point back of Detroit for the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Red Wings will host the Islanders on Thursday at Little Caesars Arena.

But even on a vintage night for Ovechkin, he took a back seat to Matthews' pursuit of 70 this season. Matthews scoring twice – with a third, would-be hat trick goal getting called back on a coach's challenge for offside – put him eight away from tying Ovechkin's career-best season of 65 from 2007-08, which is the highest since the league's salary cap era began in 2005.

And while Ovechkin and Matthews combined for four goals in a showcase of the best scorer of this generation and perhaps his successor, they were far from the only ones lightning the lamp. Connor McMichael also scored for Washington, and William Nylander, Jake McCabe, Bobby McMann, Tyler Bertuzzi and John Tavares had Toronto's other goals.

The Caps lost while playing without injured winger T.J. Oshie and forward Aliaksei Protas. Toronto enforcer Ryan Reaves was also out after being poked in the right eye during a fight Tuesday night in Philadelphia, while veteran defenseman T.J. Brodie was a healthy scratch.

(At) Dallas 5, Arizona 2: Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Logan Stankoven scored in the second period to help Dallas beat Arizona.

The Stars extended their home points streak against the Coyotes to 19 games at 18-0-1. They last lost at home to the then-Phoenix Coyotes in regulation on Feb. 7, 2012.

Jason Robertson had a goal and an assist, Craig Smith also scored, Nils Lundqvist had two assists and Jake Oettinger made 23 saves.

Dallas, Winnipeg and Colorado all have 93 points atop the Central Division. The Jets have played 68 games, the Avalanche 69 and the Stars 70.

Clayton Keller and John Leonard scored for Arizona, and Connor Ingram stopped 28 shots. The Coyotes are 18 points behind the Western Conference’s final playoff position with 13 games to play.

(At) L.A. Kings 6, Minnesota 0: Captain Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist while recording his 1,200th career point and David Rittich made 30 saves in his third shutout of the season.

Viktor Arvidsson had his first goal of the season and an assist in his return from a monthlong injury absence. Kevin Fiala and Phillip Danault also had a goal and an assist as the Kings wrapped up back-to-back home victories by a combined 12-2 over the past two days.

The 36-year-old Kopitar became the 52nd player in NHL history to score 1,200 points when he got the primary assist on Fiala’s goal in the first period. Kopitar added a power-play goal late in the second, passing Dino Ciccarelli for 51st on the career scoring list.

Grand Rapids 4, Manitoba 1

Sebastian Cossa was named the first star for the Grand Rapids Griffins in a 4-1 victory against the Manitoba Moose on Wednesday at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Cossa made 32 saves, including 14 saves in the third period to earn a split in the two-game series against the Moose. Elmer Soderblom, Zach Aston-Reese, Brogan Rafferty and Matt Luff scored for the Griffins.

Playoff tracker

Atlantic

▶ Bruins (97)

▶ Panthers (94)

▶ Maple Leafs (87)

Metropolitan

▶ Rangers (94)

▶ Hurricanes (92)

▶ Flyers (78)

Wild card

▶ Lightning (80)

▶ Red Wings (76)

(Top two wild-card teams make the playoffs)

▶ Capitals (75)

▶ Islanders (73)

▶ Sabres (71)

▶ Devils (70)

▶ Penguins (69)

Ex-enforcer Simon dies at age 52

Former NHL enforcer Chris Simon has died. He was 52.

Simon died Monday night in his hometown of Wawa, Ontario, a spokesperson for the NHL Players' Association who has been in touch with the late forward's agent, said Tuesday.

Simon died by suicide, his family said Wednesday.

Simon’s family blamed his death on CTE, the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, in a statement released through agent Paul Theofanous. “We will not be releasing any further details at this time and ask for privacy during this very difficult time,” the family wrote. “We appreciate everyone who shares in our tragic loss.”

There’s no way to confirm CTE while a person is alive, though doctors can identify suspected cases based on symptoms and neurological exams.

Simon played 857 regular-season and playoff games over 15 NHL seasons from 1993-2008. Over his career, he fought more than 100 times and racked up 1,824 penalty minutes to rank 67th in league history.

“For a big tough player, he was also a very kind, caring individual who was always respectful and grateful for advice," former agent Larry Kelly said in a text message to The Associated Press.

Simon won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 1996 and was part of runs to the final with Washington in 1998 and Calgary in 2004. He also spent time with the Quebec Nordiques before they became the Avalanche and played for Chicago, Calgary, Minnesota and the New York Rangers and Islanders, before finishing with five seasons in the KHL from 2008-13 and retiring.

“Chris was a great guy, a beloved teammate and an important part of our first championship season," said Joe Sakic, Colorado's president of hockey operations who was captain when the team won in 1996. “He was a really good hockey player who could score goals, was a big presence in the dressing room and was the first person to stand up and defend his teammates. Off the ice, he was an unbelievable guy and a caring father, son, brother and friend.”

Simon, who was of Ojibwa descent, was considered a role model for First Nations hockey players across Canada.

“Chris Simon was most definitely an intimidating guy on the ice,” former teammate and ex-Red Wing Mike Commodore posted on social media. “We spent a lot of time together during Flames '04 run since we were both living in the hotel. … He couldn’t have been nicer to me. RIP Chris. You will be missed.”

Michigan-area hockey this week

Wednesday

▶ Grand Rapids 4, Manitoba 1

Thursday

▶ N.Y. Islanders at Red Wings, 7 (BSD/97.1)

Friday

▶ Michigan Tech at Bermidji State, 8

▶ NTDP U17's at Green Bay, 8

Saturday

▶ Red Wings at Nashville, 5 (BSD/97.1)

▶ Grand Rapids at Rockford, 8 (AHL/106.9/1300)

▶ Michigan at Michigan State, 8 (Big Ten)

▶ NTDP U17's at Madison, 8

Tuesday

▶ Red Wings 4, Columbus 3 (OT)

▶ Manitoba 5, Grand Rapids 1