Matt Bradley bounced back from having his face bloodied in a first-period fight to net the winning goal with 4:51 left, and Alex Ovechkin also scored in his return from injury to lift the Washington Capitals to a 4-2 victory against the New York Rangers last night at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Bradley left with 9:21 left in the opening period after taking several hard blows to the face from New York's Aaron Voros. Later, he knocked the puck away from Wade Redden and raced up ice on a break. Matt Gilroy couldn't catch him from behind, and Bradley beat goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

Brooks Laich and Brian Pothier also scored for the Capitals.

Marian Gaborik scored both goals for the Rangers and moved into a tie for the league lead with Ovechkin with his 15th.

Ovechkin missed six games because of an upper body injury, believed to be a strained left shoulder, but came back with a flourish.

• Senators 3, Maple Leafs 2: Mike Fisher scored twice, including the tiebreaking goal in the second, and host Ottawa beat Toronto.

• Predators 4, Sharks 3: Joel Ward and David Legwand each had a goal and two assists, and host Nashville defeated San Jose for their third consecutive win and seventh in nine games.

• Hurricanes 3, Canadiens 2: Carey Price stopped all six Carolina attempts in the shootout, Maxim Lapierre scored the winner and Montreal edged Carolina.

• Avalanche 3, Flames 2: Ryan Wilson scored his first NHL goal and added an assist, Milan Hejduk got the game-winner and Colorado defeated host Calgary.

• Brendan Shanahan, 40, is retiring from the NHL. After 21 seasons and an almost certain Hall of Fame career, Shanahan announced that he wouldn't play again. After going through training camp with the Devils, the team he spent his final season with, he and the club mutually parted unexpectedly shortly before opening night of the season. That move came one day after Shanahan, who scored 656 career goals, was told there was no spot for him on the Devils' top three lines. ... The Blue Jackets loaned promising forward Nikita Filatov to CSKA of the Kontinental Hockey League for the remainder of the 2009-10 season. General manager Scott Howson said the move was made so Filatov could develop his game in his hometown of Moscow.

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