COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Zac Werenski and Dmitri Voronkov each had a goal and an assist, Elvis Merzlikins made 23 saves and the Columbus Blue Jackets snapped a six-game skid with a 6-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night. Zach Aston-Reese, Mathieu Olivier, Damon Severson and Cole Sillinger also scored for the Blue Jackets. They improved to 6-8-2 with their first victory since Oct.
30. Anthony Beauvillier and Michael Bunting scored for Pittsburgh. Tristan Jarry, starting for the first time since Oct.
16, made 34 saves. The Penguins have lost five of six to fall to 6-10-3. Sean Monahan got the 300th assist of his career on Voronkov’s goal.
He had two on the night. Merzlikins played the 200th game of his NHL career. CAPITALS 5, AVALANCHE 2 DENVER (AP) — Connor McMichael had two goals and Washington scored four times on their first 10 shots in a victory over Colorado.
Jakub Vrana, Jakob Chychrun and Rasmus Sandin also scored and Charlie Lindgren made 17 saves to spoil the return of three key forwards for Colorado. Valeri Nichushkin was added to the active roster after a six-month suspension under the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program and had one shot in 19:27 of ice time. Colorado also got back wingers Jonathan Drouin and Miles Wood from upper-body injuries.
Drouin had not played since opening night, and Wood was on the injured list since Oct. 28. Parker Kelly gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead two minutes into the game but Vrana and McMichael scored on the next .
