There's a reason Taylor Hall immediately skated over to Travis Zajac before embracing the rest of his teammates Sunday night.

Zajac's impressive backcheck nullified a chance by Vancouver Canucks forward Sven Baertschi, and Zajac then fed Hall, who went end-to-end for the game-winner in overtime.

It was Hall's 11th goal of the season, but it wouldn't have been possible without Zajac's play in the Devils' defensive zone.

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Blink and you'll miss Patrick Kane's goal scoring.

The Chicago Blackhawks star pounced on the loose puck in the faceoff circle off an offensive-zone draw and roofed a wrist shot over Devan Dubnyk for his second goal of Sunday's game against the Minnesota Wild.

Kane opened the scoring on a knuckler less than five minutes into the game. The goals were his 13th and 14th of the season.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning aren't planning to have Ryan Callahan back in the lineup until mid-February.

The veteran forward will be out for about another month with what the Lightning are calling a lower-body injury, the club announced Sunday.

Callahan hasn't played since Jan. 7, and he's only appeared in 18 of Tampa Bay's 44 games this season.

He underwent hip surgery in June that prevented him from representing the United States at the World Cup of Hockey.

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Nathan MacKinnon won't elaborate, but says he's learned his lesson.

The young Colorado Avalanche center confirmed he was benched by head coach Jared Bednar for several shifts in Saturday's loss to the Nashville Predators, adding that the matter has been resolved.

“I wasn’t playing that (well) and just needed to sit down for a bit and regroup,” MacKinnon told reporters, including The Denver Post's Mike Chambers, on Sunday. “I played a good second half."

The 21-year-old also had a short discussion with Bednar before Sunday's practice.

“(We talked for) 15 seconds,” MacKinnon said. “I get it. It’s all good.

"It was a good reminder to stay focused,” he added. “It’s just in-game stuff that happens in sports. It was like three or four shifts. It wasn’t a big deal.”

The 2013 first overall pick played 16:32 on Saturday, his third-shortest ice time of the season and his least since Dec. 10 when he played a season-low 15:12 against the Montreal Canadiens.

MacKinnon took a stick to the hand in the first period against Nashville, but Bednar confirmed his forward's brief absence wasn't injury related.

"Well, certainly it wasn’t because he got dinged up," Bednar said. "He played a good game for us. He missed a few shifts there in the second period.”

MacKinnon had scored in back-to-back games before Saturday's benching. He ranks second on the struggling Avalanche with 11 goals and leads Colorado with 28 points in 41 games.

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It's the Washington Capitals' turn to ride a magnificent wave in the Metropolitan Division.

The Capitals won their ninth consecutive game Sunday afternoon, crushing the Philadelphia Flyers 5-0 to move back into top spot in the Metro.

While based on length, that doesn't quite measure up to the Columbus Blue Jackets' 16-game ride, or even Philadelphia's 10-game run a few months back, but it may already be as impressive.

Because they're destroying everything in their path.

• The Capitals have outscored the competition 39-11 on their streak, which works out to 4.3 goals for and 1.2 against. This has pushed their per-game output beyond three goals, and dropped them to a league-low 1.91 against.
• In their last six games - each against a postseason team at the time - they have more shutouts (4) than goals allowed (3), none of which came at even strength. In fact, they haven't allowed at evens in nearly 300 minutes.
• Looking beyond the last nine games, the Capitals have taken 34 of a possible 40 points dating back six weeks.

Up next is Pittsburgh on the second of a back-to-back, with starter Braden Holtby on sufficient rest.

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WASHINGTON - Justin Williams and Matt Niskanen each scored two goals and Philipp Grubauer stopped all 24 shots he faced and the Washington Capitals extended their winning streak to nine in authoritative fashion by crushing the Philadelphia Flyers 5-0 on Sunday.

The Capitals lead the NHL with 63 points.

Despite a sluggish start, the Capitals came alive with four goals on seven shots in the first seven minutes of the third period to turn the game into a laugher.

Washington has outscored its opponents 40-11 during the streak and passed the Columbus Blue Jackets for first place in the Metropolitan Division, Eastern Conference, and the league.

Andre Burakovsky also scored a power-play goal for the Capitals, who haven't allowed an even-strength goal in six games.

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With tap-ins off two gorgeous no-look passes, Justin Williams bookended a four-goal outburst across five minutes for the Washington Capitals in Sunday's third period versus the Philadelphia Flyers.

Here's Williams' first goal, set up with a deceptive Marcus Johansson feed from behind the net.

Then Nicklas Backstrom (appropriately honored pregame for his 500th helper) teed up the second, knocking a puck back between his legs to Williams at the back post.

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Include St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock in with the list that believes the NHL would have a better product without the "loser point."

Hitchcock admits that in the final stages of tight games, the mindset shifts from pursuing the full freight, to ensuring his team secures at least one point to avoid losing ground.

"I like when you are playing all out, all the way," Hitchcock told Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe. "But I've got to tell you as a coach, if there's five minutes left in the game, and it's tied, I'm not necessarily thinking about winning it. I want at least a point.

"A lot of coaches think like that. We have to think like that. Because to get zero points in a tie game with 10 minutes left is devastating."

This counterproductive feedback loop is arguably killing the NHL. The more overtimes and shootouts, the tighter teams remain bunched in the standings. Meanwhile, because nearly every team is in contention, they must continue to err on the side of caution, as more often than not coming away with nothing will result in a slip in the standings.

Many believe there's an easy fix to this conundrum. If regulation wins become valued at three points, suddenly the payoff obscures the consequence. For this reason, teams would be much more willing to attack.

The Blues included.

"If you can put more value in (a regulation win), I am all for it," Hitchcock said. "But to me, right now when there's 10 minutes left in a hockey game I want that one point, at least.

"I've got to have it. That's how you get in the playoffs."

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Andrew Shaw argues not guilty.

Speaking with Amanda Stein of TSN 690 on Sunday, the Montreal Canadiens forward admitted his blindside hit on New York Rangers forward Jesper Fast was "maybe half a second late."

Related: Andrew Shaw's laundry list of transgressions

Shaw also noted that he disagreed with being tossed from the game following the hit, before adding that he has yet to receive a call from the NHL Department of Player Safety.

It was Shaw's first game back after missing the previous 14 matches with a concussion.

Against the Rangers, Shaw was thrown out late in the first period, but not before being assessed an interference major, a game misconduct, and five for fighting after trading punches with Rangers forward J.T. Miller.

In all, Shaw wrapped the evening with just 5:20 in ice time, plus 22 minutes in penalties.

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