Ovechkin scores career goal 872, Capitals beat Rangers 7-4

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored his 872nd career goal to move 23 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record, and the Washington Capitals beat the struggling New York Rangers 7-4 Saturday.

Ovechkin has four goals in five games since returning from missing the previous 16 because of a broken left leg. The 39-year-old has 19 goals this season and is on pace to pass Gretzky’s mark of 894 this spring.

Dylan Strome, Lars Eller, Andrew Mangiapane, Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas also scored against Jonathan Quick, who remains stuck on 399 career wins. Tom Wilson sealed it with an empty-netter with 37.5 seconds left, and Logan Thompson made 28 saves to compensate for giving the puck away to Chris Kreider for his goal into a wide-open net.

SHARKS 3, DEVILS 2

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Cody Ceci scored with 24 seconds left in the third period, and San Jose beat New Jersey.

With the game tied 2-2, Ceci’s slap shot from the point beat Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom.

Yaroslav Askarov stopped 28 shots for San Jose, and Markstrom made 21 saves for New Jersey.

Macklin Celebrini gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead with a hard wrist shot on his first shift of the third period, but Paul Cotter answered for the Devils.

Nikolai Kovalenko scored his first goal with the Sharks late in the first period after joining the team in a trade last month. Nico Hischier, on his 26th birthday, tied the game in the second on the power play by deflecting the puck in off a pass by Jack Hughes.

RED WINGS 4, JETS 2

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond each scored power-play goals to help lead Detroit to a victory over Winnipeg that extended their winning streak to a season-high four games.

Larkin added an empty-net goal and Alex DeBrincat also scored for Detroit. Raymond and Patrick Kane contributed a pair of assists and Moritz Seider had three assists.

Alex Lyon made 21 saves for the Red Wings.

Josh Morrissey and Nikolaj Ehlers scored for the Jets.

Connor Hellebuyck stopped 25 of the 28 shots he faced and was held at 299 career wins for the second game in a row.

Morrissey took a puck to the mouth area in the first period, but returned after getting repairs and seemed to spark his teammates.

The Jets outshot the Red Wings 11-3 in the second period.

WILD 4, HURRICANES 0

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Filip Gustavsson made 20 saves for his third shutout this season, Marco Rossi had four assists and Minnesota beat Carolina.

The Wild improved to 16-5-2 when scoring first this season as Mats Zuccarello beat Pyotr Kochetkov on a slap shot for a 1-0 lead with 6:57 left in the first period.

Zuccarello, who also assisted on Joel Eriksson Ek’s tip-in goal on the power play in the second period, added an empty net goal with 3:46 remaining. Matt Boldy also scored in the third.

The short-handed Wild won their third consecutive game despite missing leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov (sidelined for a fifth consecutive game by a lower-body injury) and captain Jared Spurgeon (out at least two weeks with a right leg injury).

BLUE JACKETS 6, BLUES 4

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Dmitri Voronkov scored two goals and Columbus beat St. Louis.

Kirill Marchenko, Adam Fantilli, Mathieu Oliver and Mikael Pyyhtia also scored for the Blue Jackets, who are 5-2-1 in their last eight. Ivan Provorov and Sean Monahan each had three assists, Zach Werenski had two, and Elvis Merzilikins stopped 29 shots.

Brayden Schenn, Jordan Kyrou and Cam Fowler each had a goal and an assist for St. Louis, and Colton Parayko also scored. Dylan Holloway had two assists and Joel Hofer made 33 saves as the Blues lost for just the second time in six games.

The Blue Jackets twice led by three goals in a wild third period which had eight goals, including five in a 3:40 span. Voronkov capped the flurry at 7:24 to make it 5-2.

CANADIENS 2, AVALANCHE 1

DENVER (AP) — Kirby Dach and Cole Caufield scored in the shootout, Jakub Dobes had 22 saves in regulation, and Montreal beat Colorado.

Caufield had the regulation goal for Montreal, which wrapped up its road trip with a 4-2 mark.

Mackenzie Blackwood made 23 saves but could only stop one of three Canadiens in the shootout. Colorado had its season-high six-game winning streak snapped.

Mikko Rantanen scored his 23rd of the season at 9:01 of the first. Montreal got the equalizer from Caufield with 6:35 remaining on an odd-man rush with Nick Suzuki.

Both teams had breakaway chances in the overtime. Blackwood stopped Kaiden Guhle’s shot in the first minute and Dobes denied Artturi Lehkonen in the final minutes.

MAPLE LEAFS 6, BRUINS 4

TORONTO (AP) — Matthew Knies had three goals and two assists, Mitch Marner had a goal and four assists, and Toronto beat Boston.

Auston Matthews had a goal and two assists in his return after missing six games with an undisclosed upper-body injury, and Jake McCabe had a goal and an assist for Toronto, which has won three straight and four of five. Joseph Woll had 26 saves to win his fourth straight start.

David Pastrnak had two goals, and Morgan Geekie and Trent Frederic also scored as Boston lost its third straight and fourth in its last five games. Jeremy Swayman finished with 23 saves.

Knies gave the Maple Leafs a 4-3 lead with his 14th of the season at 5:28 of the third period, beating Swayman after taking a feed from Matthews from behind the goal. After Marner’s empty-net goal, Pastrnak added his second to make it 5-4 with less than two minutes remaining. Mathews sealed it with an empty-netter with 31 seconds left.

STARS 3, UTAH 2, OT

DALLAS (AP) — Defenseman Thomas Harley scored on a rebound at 3:01 of overtime and Dallas beat Utah.

Jamie Benn and Oskar Bäck also scored for the Stars, who have won four straight for the first time since opening the season with four wins. Matt Duchene and Wyatt Johnston each had two assists, and Jake Oettinger made 33 saves.

Matias Maccelli scored twice and Karel Vejmelka stopped 26 shots as Utah lost for the sixth time in seven games (1-4-2).

In overtime, Harley lifted the puck into the net after Vejmelka stopped a shot by Matt Duchene at the crease. It was Harley’s 21st career goal — fourth in overtime — 155 games.

Maccelli tied it 1-1 just 1:14 after Benn put the Stars ahead 16 seconds into the second period. Bäck put the Stars ahead 2-1 with 9 1/2 minutes remaining in the second, and Maccelli tied it again 3:07 later with his second two-goal game and fifth goal of the season.

Maccelli scored for the first time since Nov. 7, going 23 games without a goal. Bäck scored for the first time since Nov. 14, going 22 games without a goal.

KINGS 2, LIGHTNING 1

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Adrian Kempe broke a tie with 5:48 to play and Los Angeles beat Tampa Bay for their fourth consecutive victory.

Mikey Anderson scored in the first period and Darcy Kuemper made 34 saves for the Kings, who shut out Tampa Bay over the final 58 1/2 minutes. Los Angeles has won 12 of 16.

Captain Victor Hedman scored and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 19 shots for Tampa Bay, which has lost three straight games for the first time in two months.

Hedman, who was bloodied by a puck to the head Thursday at San Jose, scored just 70 seconds after the opening faceoff in Los Angeles. The star defenseman’s powerful shot ramped off Anderson’s stick and beat Kuemper for his fifth goal of the season.

Anderson answered several minutes later with a long shot through traffic for his career high-tying fifth goal.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3, SABRES 1

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Tanner Laczynski scored his first goal of the season, Adin Hill stopped 23 shots and Vegas beat Buffalo.

The Golden Knights have totaled a league-high 33 points while going 16-3-1 since Nov. 21 to take over the No. 1 spot in the NHL with 57 points — leapfrogging Winnipeg, which Jets, which lost to Detroit.

Mark Stone and Jack Eichel also scored for Vegas, while Tanner Pearson added two assists.

Jason Zucker scored for Buffalo and James Reimer made 30 saves. The Sabres closed out a four-game road trip with a third-straight loss.

OILERS 4, KRAKEN 2

SEATTLE (AP) — Vasily Podkolzin and Jeff Skinner scored in the first 5 1/2 minutes and Edmonton beat Seattle for their third straight victory.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl also scored, with Draisaitl wrapping it up with an empty-netter with 1:58 left — just six seconds after the Kraken pulled goalie Philipp Grubauer for an extra attacker.

Calvin Pickard made 15 saves to help Edmonton improve to 24-12-3. Viktor Arvidsson had two assists.

Chandler Stephenson and Jaden Schwartz scored for Seattle. Grubauer made 28 saves.

Podkolzin needed just 57 seconds to put Edmonton on top, breaking down the right wing, taking a pass from Draisaitl and beating Grubauer from low in the slot.

Skinner made it 2-0 at 5:18, taking a long pass from Kasperi Kapanen and tucking it past Grubauer from the top of the crease for his seventh.

PREDATORS 4, FLAMES 1

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Ryan O’Reilly had his fifth NHL hat trick to help Nashville beat Calgary for their second victory in two nights.

Justus Annunen made 31 saves a night after Juuse Saros stopped 27 shots in a 3-0 victory iin Vancouver. Rookie center Fedor Svechkov also scored and had an assist for his first career multi-point game. Filip Forsberg had two assists.

Mikael Backlund scored for Calgary, and Dustin Wolf made 24 saves. The Flames have lost consecutive games for the first time since November.

O’Reilly opened the scoring on the power play at 4:21 of the second, lifting a puck over Wolf from in close after Svechkov worked the puck out front from behind the net.

New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox, left, defends against Washington Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's the largest prosecution in Justice Department history — with reams of evidence, harrowing videos and hundreds of convictions of the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Now Donald Trump's return to power has thrown into question the future of the more than 1,500 federal cases brought over the last four years.

Jan. 6 trials, guilty pleas and sentencings have continued chugging along in Washington's federal court despite Trump's promise to pardon rioters, whom he has called “political prisoners" and “hostages” he contends were treated too harshly.

Here's a look at where the prosecutions stand on the fourth anniversary of the Capitol riot and what could happen next:

More than 1,500 people across the U.S. have been charged with federal crimes related to the deadly riot. Hundreds of people who did not engage in destruction or violence were charged only with misdemeanor offenses for entering the Capitol illegally. Others were charged with felony offenses, including assault for beating police officers. Leaders of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys extremist groups were convicted of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors described as plots to use violence to stop the peaceful transfer of power from Trump, a Republican, to Joe Biden, a Democrat.

About 250 people have been convicted of crimes by a judge or a jury after a trial. Only two people were acquitted of all charges by judges after bench trials. No jury has fully acquitted a Capitol riot defendant. At least 1,020 others had pleaded guilty as of Jan. 1.

More than 1,000 rioters have already been sentenced, with over 700 receiving at least some time behind bars. The rest were given some combination of probation, community service, home detention or fines.

The longest sentence, 22 years, went to former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy along with three lieutenants. A California man with a history of political violence got 20 years in prison for repeatedly attacking police with flagpoles and other makeshift weapons during the riot. And Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes is serving an 18-year prison sentence for seditious conspiracy and other offenses.

More than 100 Jan. 6 defendants are scheduled to stand trial in 2025, while at least 168 riot defendants are set to be sentenced this year.

Authorities have continued making new arrests since Trump's election victory. That includes people accused of assaulting police officers who were defending the Capitol.

Citing Trump's promise of pardons, several defendants have sought to have their cases delayed — with little success.

In denying one such request, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, who was nominated to the bench by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, wrote: "This Court recently had the occasion to discuss what effect the speculative possibility of a presidential pardon has on the timetable for a pending criminal matter. In short: little to none."

One defendant who convinced a judge to postpone his trial, William Pope, told the court that the “American people gave President Trump a mandate to carry out the agenda he campaigned on, which includes ending the January 6 prosecutions and pardoning those who exercised First Amendment rights at the Capitol.” Pope has now asked the judge to allow him to travel to Washington to attend Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20.

Trump embraced the Jan. 6 rioters on the campaign trial, downplaying the violence that was broadcast on live TV and has been documented extensively through video, testimony and other evidence in the federal cases.

Trump has vowed to begin issuing pardons of Jan. 6 rioters on his first day in office. He has said he will look at individuals on a case-by-case basis, but he has not explained how he will decide who receives such relief.

He has said there may be “some exceptions" — if “somebody was radical, crazy." But he has not ruled out pardons for people convicted of serious crimes, like assaulting police officers. When confronted in a recent NBC News interview about the dozens of people who have pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement, Trump responded: “Because they had no choice."

Many judges in Washington's federal court have condemned the depiction of the rioters as “political prisoners," and some have raised alarm about the potential pardons.

"No matter what ultimately becomes of the Capital Riots cases already concluded and still pending, the true story of what happened on January 6, 2021 will never change," Judge Lamberth recently said in a statement when handing down a sentence.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, has said it would be “beyond frustrating and disappointing” if Trump hands out mass pardons to rioters.

In another case, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta alluded to the prospect of a pardon for Rhodes, the Oath Keepers founder convicted of seditious conspiracy.

“The notion that Stewart Rhodes could be absolved of his actions is frightening and ought to be frightening to anyone who cares about democracy in this country,” said Mehta, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, a Democrat.

Follow the AP's coverage of the Jan. 6 insurrection at https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege.

FILE - Violent protesters loyal to President Donald Trump, including Kevin Seefried, center, holding a Confederate battle flag, are confronted by U.S. Capitol Police officers outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

FILE - Supporters of President Donald Trump climb the west wall of the the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

FILE - A flag hangs between broken windows after then-President Donald Trump supporters tried to break through police barriers outside the U.S. Capitol, Jan 6, 2021. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

FILE - Insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump try to break through a police barrier, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)