Adam Henrique scores 2, Connor McDavid has power-play goal as Oilers blank Bruins 4-0

BOSTON (AP) — Adam Henrique scored two goals and Connor McDavid scored on a power play midway through the second period as the Edmonton Oilers won their fourth straight game, 4-0 over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.

Stuart Skinner, who left the game late in the first period after a collision with the Bruins' Nikita Zadorov before returning at the start of the second, stopped 26 shots as the Oilers won for the 12th time in their last 15 games.

Viktor Arvidsson added an empty-netter for Edmonton, while center Leon Draisaitl’s point streak was halted at 14 games.

It was the Bruins’ fifth straight loss, their worst stretch since interim coach Joe Sacco took over for the fired Jim Montgomery on Nov. 19.

Henrique’s first goal made it 1-0 when he beat Jeremy Swayman with a wrist shot from the slot 6:33 into the game.

McDavid’s 16th made it 2-0 at 11:11 of the second.

Swayman made 35 saves but lost his fourth straight start.

Referee Chris Rooney, a Boston native, worked his 1,500th career game.

Oilers: Their speed was just too much for the Bruins, as it has been for a lot of teams.

Bruins: It was their second straight home loss after a six-game home win streak.

McDavid was sent in on a breakaway after taking a pass from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and beat Swayman with a wrister, seven seconds after Skinner stopped Pavel Zacha’s clean break-in.

It was McDavid’s first goal since he helped the Oilers rally for a 3-2 overtime win over the Bruins on Dec. 19.

The Oilers are at Pittsburgh on Thursday night. The Bruins play at Tampa Bay on the same night.

This story has been corrected. A previous version contained an incorrect reference to McDavid extending a points streak.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner (74) stretches after making a save against Boston Bruins right wing Justin Brazeau (55) during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) scores on Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) gloves the save on a shot by Edmonton Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (93) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) keeps his eyes on the puck against Edmonton Oilers left wing Viktor Arvidsson, right, during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Edmonton Oilers center Adam Henrique, left, is congratulated by Zach Hyman (18) after his goal agains the Boston Bruins during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Bruins center Trent Frederic, top, fights Edmonton Oilers right wing Corey Perry (90) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, center, is congratulated after his goal against Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner (74) makes a pad save on a shot by Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI informant who fabricated a story about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter accepting bribes that became central to Republicans’ impeachment effort was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison.

Alexander Smirnovpleaded guilty last month in Los Angeles federal court to tax evasion and lying to the FBI about the phony bribery scheme in what prosecutors say was an effort to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Smirnov, a dual U.S. and Israeli citizen, falsely claimed to his FBI handler that executives from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma had paid then-Vice President Biden and his son $5 million each around 2015.

Smirnov's explosive claim in 2020 came after he expressed "bias” about Joe Biden as a presidential candidate, according to prosecutors. In reality, investigators found Smirnov had only routine business dealings with Burisma starting in 2017 — after Biden's term as vice president.

Prosecutors noted that Smirnov's false claim “set off a firestorm in Congress” when it resurfaced years later as part of the House impeachment inquiry into President Biden, a Democrat who defeated Republican then-President Donald Trump in 2020. The Biden administration dismissed the House impeachment effort as a “stunt.”

Before Smirnov’s arrest, Republicans had demanded the FBI release the unredacted form documenting the unverified allegations, though they acknowledged they couldn’t confirm if they were true.

"In committing his crimes he betrayed the United States, a country that showed him nothing but generosity, including conferring on him the greatest honor it can bestow, citizenship," Justice Department special counsel David Weiss' team wrote in court papers. "He repaid the trust the United States placed in him to be a law-abiding naturalized citizen and, more specifically, that one of its premier law enforcement agencies placed in him to tell the truth as a confidential human source, by attempting to interfere in a Presidential election."

Smirnov will get credit for the time he has served behind bars since his arrest last February in the case accusing him of lying to the FBI. Prosecutors in November brought new tax charges alleging he concealed millions of dollars of income he earned between 2020 and 2022.

Smirnov's lawyers had sought no more than four years behind bars, noting the “substantial assistance" he provided to the U.S. government as an FBI informant for more than a decade. Smirnov's lawyers noted in court papers that he suffers from serious health issues related to his eyes and argue that a lengthy sentence would “unnecessarily prolong his suffering.”

“Mr. Smirnov has learned a very grave lesson and proffers to this Honorable Court that he will not find himself on this side of the law again,” attorneys Richard Schonfeld and David Chesnoff told the judge in court papers.

Smirnov was prosecuted by Weiss, who also brought gun and tax charges against Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden was supposed to be sentenced in December after being convicted at a trial in the gun case and pleading guilty to tax charges. But he was pardoned by his father, who said he believed “raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.”

In seeking a lighter sentence, Smirnov's lawyers wrote in court papers that both Hunter Biden and President-elect Trump — who was charged in two federal cases by a different special counsel — “have walked free and clear of any meaningful punishment.”

Special counsel Jack Smith abandoned the two federal cases against Trump — accusing him of conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss and hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida — after Trump's presidential victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in November.

Follow the AP's coverage of Hunter Biden at https://apnews.com/hub/hunter-biden.

FILE - In this courtroom sketch Defendant Alexander Smirnov speaks in Federal court in Los Angeles, Feb. 26, 2024. (William T. Robles via AP, File)