Karlsson blocked that attempt, but Rutta jumped on the loose puck and fired it in.Jones made a couple of nifty saves – on Duclair and Patrick Kane – later in the second to keep it close.Schmaltz made it 2-0 at 2:01 of the third with his 17th goal as Chicago pounced on a San Jose turnover.After Boedker

WASHINGTON (AP) — From banner to blowout Adidas Cale Makar Jersey , the Washington Capitals‘ Stanley Cup defense is off to a rousing start.After watching the franchise’s first Cup banner ascend to the rafters, the Alex Ovechkin-led Capitals scored two goals in the first two minutes on the way to a 7-0 thrashing of the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night. T.J. Oshie opened the scoring 24 seconds in and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the first of his two goals at 1:47 to give Washington the fastest first two goals by a defending champion in a season opener in NHL history.“We scored right away,” Ovechkin said. “After that, they were kind of in shock.”By midway through the second period, the Capitals chased goalie Tuukka Rask with five goals on 19 shots and ignited chants of “Back-to-back! Back-to-back!” from the fired-up crowd. That’s the chant Oshie started after the victory parade in June, and it was echoing throughout the arena four months later.“I said it because I believe it,” Oshie said. “We got a lot of guys in here that not too long ago were raising the Stanley Cup above our head. Not a lot’s changed.”Braden Holtby stopped all 25 shots he faced to improve to 15-2 with four shutouts against the Bruins.The emotional banner ceremony featured montages from the Capitals’ playoff run and ensuing celebrations and a roar when Ovechkin carried the freshly engraved Cup onto the ice and skated a lap with it. Minutes after Ovechkin kissed the Cup and put it back in its box, he and his teammates blew away any concern about an emotional letdown and began making a statement that they want to win it back.“We showed we’re not going to give a team easy ways to beat us,” Ovechkin said.In Todd Reirden’s first game as coach, the Capitals beat the Bruins for the 13th consecutive time, this time without Tom Wilson. Washington’s top-line right winger began his 20-game suspension for another illegal check to the head of an opponent in a preseason game.Without Wilson, the Capitals’ offense didn’t miss a beat as Ovechkin scored one of four power-play goals, Kuznetsov scored his second on the power play and John Carlson beat Boston backup Jaroslav Halak on a 5-on-3 advantage. Newcomer Nic Dowd joined the fun with a spinning back-hander Adidas Adam Clendening Jersey , and Cup-clinching goal-scorer Lars Eller added the exclamation point with the seventh of the night.The Bruins were not pleased by Eller’s celebration, and winger Brad Marchand instigated a fight with him soon after.“His celebration was unnecessary,” Marchand said. “He took an angle in front of our bench and celebrated in a 7-0 game. So I just let him know.”Rask fell to 1-11-5 in his career against the Capitals with a 3.30 goals-against average and .889 save percentage that are each the second-worst of any opponent.“I’m out there to give us a chance,” Rask said. “It didn’t happen today. Three soft goals, you’ve got to look in the mirror and go fix it.”Only two goals came against Halak, whose presence on banner night in Washington was poetic after his performance for Montreal in the 2010 playoffs ended one of the Capitals’ previous best chances to win a championship.NOTES: The Capitals have outscored the Bruins 48-19 during this winning streak. … Reirden expects Wilson to appeal his suspension through the NHL Players’ Association. … Neither Reirden nor Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy would say who’s starting in goal for his team Thursday. … The Capitals set a team record for goals in an opener. … Washington C Nicklas Backstrom became the third player in franchise history to reach 800 points.UP NEXTBruins: Visit the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night in No. 1 pick Rasmus Dahlin ‘s debut.Capitals: Open the rival Penguins’ season Thursday night in Pittsburgh. CHICAGO (AP) Jean-Francois Berube had a good time in his return to the NHL – at the San Jose Sharks expense.Berube made 42 saves in his first start for Chicago and the Blackhawks beat the San Jose Sharks 3-1 on Friday night.”It was fun,” Berube said. ”I’m just going out there and enjoying the moment.”The 26-year-old Berube, recalled from Rockford of the AHL last week, appeared in one previous game for Chicago this season in relief of Anton Forsberg on Dec. 6. He hadn’t started in the NHL since Feb. 19, 2017, as a member of the New York Islanders.”It’s been a while,” Berube said. ”I felt comfortable from the moment the puck was dropped. Just have to build on it, keep working on little details and try to improve my game as much as possible.”Nick Schmaltz had a goal and assist on his 22nd birthday. Defenseman Jan Rutta Adidas Riley Nash Jersey , activated from injured reserve Friday also scored, and Artem Anisimov added an empty-netter with 30.5 seconds left.Anthony Duclair had two assists for the Blackhawks. They won their second straight and third in four games following an eight-game losing streak that dropped them to last place in the Central Division.Berube lost a bid for this first NHL shutout when Timo Meier scored his 15th goal on a screened shot with 7:51 left in the third period.Chicago has sunk since No. 1 goalie Crawford went out with an upper-body injury on Dec. 23. Although the Blackhawks are all but eliminated from the playoffs, Berube’s performance provided a lift.”In this game it’s tough to win without your goalie being good,” coach Joel Quenneville said. ”Berubs did a really good job in the net, looked really patient, square.”Signed by the Blackhawks as a free agent in July, Berube played his 23rd game in the NHL. He appeared in 21 games with the Islanders over the two previous seasons.Martin Jones stopped 33 shots for the Sharks, coming off a 7-1 loss at Nashville on Thursday night.The Sharks and Blackhawks, long-time Western Conference rivals, met for the first of three games this season.”You know, we had the shots, the looks,” said San Jose forward Joe Pavelski Adidas Anthony Duclair Jersey , who hit the post twice with shots. ”I think at times we didn’t get enough bodies to the net, which is something we’re addressing a little bit here and there.”Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said his team got what it deserved, regardless of who was in net for Chicago.”If you’re insinuation is that this is a gimme for us because they’ve got an inexperienced goalie in net, that’s ridiculous,” DeBoer said. ”Every team you play has a chance to beat anyone on any given night.”San Jose outshot Chicago 15-11 in the scoreless first. Pavelski fired a shot off the right post 6:20 in, and Mikkel Boedker was stopped by Berube from the slot with just over 5 minutes left in the period.Rutta opened the scoring at 5:46 of the period with his sixth goal. After taking Duclair’s feed from the goal line, Rutta shot from the right circle. San Jose’s Melker Karlsson blocked that attempt, but Rutta jumped on the loose puck and fired it in.Jones made a couple of nifty saves – on Duclair and Patrick Kane – later in the second to keep it close.Schmaltz made it 2-0 at 2:01 of the third with his 17th goal as Chicago pounced on a San Jose turnover.After Boedker couldn’t handle Justin Braun’s pass in the San Jose slot, Duclair whipped the puck to Schmaltz who fired in a one-timer from the left circle.Berube made close-in saves on Logan Couture and Jannik Hansen – and Pavelski hit the post again – before Meier cut it to 2-1 at 12:09 of the third.Meier connected on a drive from the high slot with Pavelski and Chicago defenseman Jordan Oesterle screening Berube.NOTES: The Sharks had only one brief power play Friday and have gone eight games and 19 chances without converting a man advantage. … Rutta hadn’t played since Feb. 6. He missed seven games with an undisclosed injury and sat out a game before being hurt. … Linesman Steve Miller was hit in the mid-section by a puck 4:51 into the third and crumpled to the ice. After being tended to by Blackhawks trainer Mike Gapski, Miller remained in the game.UP NEXTSharks: At Minnesota on Sunday night in final of four-game trip.Blackhawks: At Columbus on Saturday night.