WASHINGTON (AP) — A Stanley Cup championship banner rose to the rafters at the home of the Washington Capitals for the first time Mikkel Boedker Jersey Womens , and everyone in attendance Wednesday night got to relive the sheer excitement of it all.Alex Ovechkin and the other players, who craned their necks to see the video montages of last season on the overhead scoreboard — and couldn’t help but smile. Coaches, too, including new head man Todd Reirden. Not to mention the owner and the GM and the assistant equipment manager and anyone else on staff.And, importantly, the 18,506 fans, decked out in their jerseys — most of them in the team’s main color, red, so many with Ovechkin’s No. 8. They sang along to “We Are the Champions!” in full throat and shook their team-distributed glow sticks during a half-hour ceremony before Washington opened the regular season by beating the Boston Bruins 7-0 behind a pair of goals from Evgeny Kuznetsov and one apiece from Ovechkin, Oshie, Nic Dowd, John Carlson and Lars Eller.“Gave me chills. I was just looking up and I was hearing the crowd sing that song,” center Nicklas Backstrom said, then added with a laugh: “I want to experience that again.”Those fans roared at any mention of “champions.” Or any clip of Ovechkin. Or, especially, when there were glimpses of “The Save” by Braden Holtby in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights, and Eller’s Cup-winning goal in Game 5, and Ovechkin kissing the trophy for the first time back on June 7. One thing missing from the festivities: any mention or image of Barry Trotz, the coach who led the team to the trophy then left in a contract dispute Karl Alzner Jersey Womens , replaced by promoted assistant Reirden.Each burst of cheers sounded as if the games from months ago were being played all over again.“When you’re part of something like that,” said Oshie, who scored 24 seconds into the game, “how can you not be excited to get going and try to do it again?”The banner signifying the NHL championship was revealed toward the end of the festivities, slowly lifted to the ceiling, its rise paused long enough for the players to gather on the ice in front of it for photos, the Stanley Cup itself resting nearby on the ice.There already were five red banners hanging from the rafters to signify some sort of accomplishment by the Capitals: Three represent a total of 11 division titles, one marks the team’s pair of Eastern Conference titles, and the last celebrates a trio of Presidents’ Trophy triumphs.None, of course, is quite as significant as the piece of material hoisted on this night.“Kind of a historic moment for us. I’ve always said it’s nice to be a part of it; it’s nice to be in this organization,” Ovechkin said after the game. “Tonight, we had so many emotions, so much fun out there, and you can see how we played.”Drafted No. 1 overall in 2004, Ovechkin has scored more than 600 goals and won three league MVP awards as one of hockey’s most prominent (gap-toothed) faces. He also became Washington’s captain along the way and, therefore, the first player in franchise history to get to grab the Stanley Cup.He carried it again Wednesday, bringing it onto the ice and taking a half-lap around the rink — serenaded by “Ovi! Ovi!” — as the last player introduced. The Capitals won their title on the road at Las Vegas, so this was chance for the Cup to be shown off at home.That famous silver chalice Joel Armia Jersey Womens , etched for the first time with the Capitals’ names, made a trek around the nation’s capital throughout Wednesday. Not only did the Capitals put an end to their own futility, they also earned the first championship for any of the city’s teams in the four North American major professional sports leagues since the NFL’s Redskins won the Super Bowl in 1992.“They made it OK to believe,” said ceremony emcee John Walton, the Capitals’ radio voice.“Let’s go, Caps!” rang out in the stands as the banner’s rise concluded.That chant shifted to “Back-to-back!” when the ceremony ended with Ovechkin skating the Cup off the ice. After giving it a parting kiss, he placed it in its black carrying case, the celebration over, the title defense soon off to quite a start. PHILADELPHIA (AP) Claude Giroux and Andrew MacDonald scored in the second period and the Philadelphia Flyers overcame Patrik Laine’s 40th goal of the season in a 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday that snapped a five-game losing streak.Laine moved into a tie with Washington’s Alex Ovechkin for the most goals in the league when he scored on a one-timer on the power play at 8:58 of the third period. The 19-year-old Finn has 15 goals and six assists during an 11-game point streak.Petr Mrazek stopped 27 shots for the Flyers, bouncing back from a stretch of 18 goals allowed in four games.Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves for the Jets, who saw their four-game winning streak end.BRUINS 7, BLACKHAWKS 4BOSTON (AP) – Brian Gionta and Rick Nash each scored a power-play goal and Boston completed a 6-0-0 homestand.Gionta and Nash got their goals during a double-minor penalty on Chicago’s Patrick Kane.Jake DeBrusk set up two power-play goals by David Krejci. David Pastrnak scored, Noel Acciari had a short-handed tally and Sean Kuraly added an empty-netter for Boston. Tuukka Rask made 23 saves on his 31st birthday.Erik Gustafsson had a goal and two assists, and Jonathan Toews, John Hayden and Matthew Highmore scored for Chicago, which lost for the fifth time in seven games. Highmore’s was his first in the NHL.The Bruins had four power-play goals.LIGHTNING 3, CANADIENS 2, SOTAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Nikita Kucherov scored the deciding goal in the fourth round of the shootout, lifting Tampa Bay past Montreal.Tyler Johnson scored his 20th of the season. Kucherov tied it late in the third with his 34th . Louis Domingue made 27 saves and stopped three of four attempts in the shootout.Brayden Point also scored in the shootout for Tampa Bay Xavier Ouellet Jersey Womens , his 10th conversion in 15 career shootout attempts.Artturi Lehkonen and Alex Galchenyuk scored for Montreal. Charles Hudon set a career high with two assists. Antti Niemi finished with 32 saves, including all three in overtime.GOLDEN KNIGHTS 2, SABRES 1, SOBUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – Erik Haula scored the decisive shootout goal and Vegas set an NHL record for road victories by an expansion team.Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland forced overtime by scoring the tying goal from a bad angle with 4:14 left in regulation. Marc-Andre Fleury won his 399th career game by stopping 31 shots through overtime.After both teams traded shootout goals, Haula scored in the fifth round by driving up the right side and beating goalie Robin Lehner on the short side.Justin Bailey scored for Buffalo. Lehner finished with 31 saves in the loss.The Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights improved their road record to 20-12-3, to beat the league record of 19 set by Anaheim in 1993-94, its inaugural season. The Golden Knights, 44-19-5, have already set NHL expansion-team records for most overall wins, home wins, points and longest winning streak – an 8-0 run from Dec. 14 to Jan. 2.AVALANCHE 5, COYOTES 2DENVER (AP) – Blake Comeau and Carl Soderberg each had a goal and an assist in a first-period burst, and Colorado goalie Jonathan Bernier won his ninth straight home game but left in the third period for an undisclosed reason.Tyson Barrie also scored early as Colorado had three goals in the opening 4:22 to take a 3-1 advantage. The Avalanche rode the torrid start to another win at the Pepsi Center, where they’ve gone 14-1-1 since Dec. 29.Tyson Jost and Mikko Rantanen scored in the third to seal the win and help Colorado snap a streak of three straight overtime losses. The team remains in the thick of the playoff chase a season after finishing last in the league.Christian Dvorak and Richard Panik added goals for Arizona, a surging team that’s gone 9-3-2 in over its last 14 games.CAPITALS 2, SHARKS 0SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves for his fifth career shutout and Nicklas Backstrom scored late in the second period to help Washington salvage the final game of its California swing.Washington was outscored 7-1 in losses to Anaheim and Los Angeles to open the trip before a narrow win in San Jose moved the Capitals one point ahead of Pittsburgh for first place in the Metropolitan Division, pending the Penguins‘ game in Toronto.Alex Ovechkin, two goals short of 600 for Washington Kyle Brodziak Jersey Womens , was held scoreless for the third straight game. Marc-Edouard Vlasic thwarted one chance for Ovechkin to get goal No. 599 with a strong back check and goalie Martin Jones robbed Ovechkin on a partial breakaway midway through the third period to keep San Jose’s deficit at 1-0.Lars Eller’s empty-net goal sealed the win for the Capitals.BLUES 7, KINGS 2LOS ANGELES (AP) – The struggling St. Louis Blues got goals from seven players and handed Los Angeles its worst defeat of the season.Robert Bortuzzo, Colton Parayko, Alex Pietrangelo, Ivan Barbashev, Vladimir Tarasenko, Kyle Brodziak and Jaden Schwartz scored for the Blues, who had lost nine of 10. Jake Allen made 40 saves.The loss left Los Angeles one point back of Colorado for the second Western Conference wild card, and two points ahead of St. Louis. The Kings had not lost by more than four goals all season.Drew Doughty and Dustin Brown scored for the Kings. Jonathan Quick made 29 saves before he was pulled after the second period. Jack Campbell stopped 14 of 17 shots in the third.The Blues, shut out in their previous game against San Jose, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period.PANTHERS 4, RANGERS 3, SOSUNRISE, Fla. (AP) – Vincent Trocheck scored the deciding goal in the shootout to lift Florida to its franchise-record eighth straight home win.Aleksander Barkov also scored in the tiebreaker for the Panthers, who have points in nine straight games. The Panthers pulled two points behind Columbus for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, with three games in hand.Frank Vatrano scored a goal in his Panthers debut, Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and an assist, and Jamie McGinn also scored. Trocheck had two assists. Roberto Luongo made 34 saves.Kevin Hayes, Mika Zibanejad and Mats Zuccarello scored in regulation for the Rangers, who lost their third straight. Ryan Spooner had a pair of assists. Zuccarello also scored to open the shootout. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 32 shots in his 800th career game Paul Thompson Jersey Womens , becoming the 15th goalie in NHL history to reach the milestone.MAPLE LEAFS 5, PENGUINS 2TORONTO (AP) – Nazem Kadri scored twice and Toronto snapped a four-game losing streak with its franchise-record 10th straight home win.Kasperi Kapanen, Mitch Marner and Patrick Marleau also scored for the Maple Leafs. Frederik Andersen, appearing in his 57th game this season, stopped 38 shots.Sidney Crosby and Patrick Hornqvist scored for the Penguins, who had won three straight and nine of their last 12.Andersen had a shutout going until Crosby got his 23rd of the season with 3:36 remaining to make it 4-1. It was Crosby’s 26th career goal and 57th point against the Maple Leafs. Hornqvist then tipped Evgeni Malkin’s shot from the point with 2:28 to go. Malking got his 40th assist and 59th point against Toronto.Marleau added an empty-netter with 58 seconds left to close the scoring.DEVILS 3, PREDATORS 2, SONASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Brian Boyle scored in the fifth round of the shootout to lift New Jersey.Boyle beat Nashville goalie Juuse Saros with a quick wrist shot from the slot on the blocker side.New Jersey’s Taylor Hall and Nashville’s Kyle Turris each scored in the fourth round of the tiebreaker after none of the first six shooters could solve the opposing goalie.Sami Vatanen and Boyle had the goals in regulation for New Jersey, winners of two of three. The Devils moved past idle Columbus into the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Keith Kinkaid made 34 saves through overtime and denied four of Nashville’s five attempts in the shootout.Mattias Ekholm and Ryan Johansen had the goals for Nashville, which snapped its franchise-high 10-game winning streak. Saros finished with 25 saves.OILERS 4, WILD 1EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) – Connor McDavid had two goals and an assist to lead Edmonton.Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored for the Oilers, who have won three straight. Cam Talbot stopped 32 shots.Charlie Coyle scored and Devan Dubnyk had 24 saves for the Wild, who snapped a three-game winning streak.McDavid scored twice less than three minutes apart midway through the second period to give Edmonton a 2-0 lead, Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins scored about a minute apart late in the third to seal the win.