National Hockey

WASHINGTON — After believing in the Washington Capitals' potential during a slow start, Matt Niskanen did his part to push them further up the standings.

MANALAPAN, Fla. — Montreal Canadiens owner Geoff Molson has given general manager Marc Bergevin a vote of confidence. Molson made the comments to reporters on Friday following the NHL board of governors meeting in Florida.

MANALAPAN, Fla. — Trevor Linden is looking forward to potentially driving to one of his team's road games in the near future.

MANALAPAN, Fla. — One day after the NHL took a big step towards an expansion franchise in Seattle, commissioner Gary Bettman said the league's existing 31 teams will be allowed to spend more next season. A lot more, in fact.

MONTREAL — Brendan Gallagher and Daniel Carr played hockey with and against each other as youngsters in Edmonton.

DETROIT — The Detroit Red Wings have recalled forward Tyler Bertuzzi from Grand Rapids of the AHL. Bertuzzi has five goals and four assists in 12 games with the Griffins this season.

VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Canucks have acquired forward Nic Dowd from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for defenceman Jordan Subban. The deal was announced late Thursday evening, shortly after Vancouver's 4-1 loss to Philadelphia at home.

LOS ANGELES — Drew Doughty and the Los Angeles Kings are a veteran team on a roll. Overtime against the struggling Ottawa Senators certainly wasn't going to faze them.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Brent Burns gave up a chance to score during regulation. He made sure he took his last shot. Burns scored 22 seconds into overtime to lift the San Jose Sharks over the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 on Thursday night.

VANCOUVER — If the Canucks were wondering who would fill the offensive gap left behind by injured top-line forward Bo Horvat, the answer wasn't clear Thursday night.