Alexander Ovechkin's strategy to break out of his brief scoring slump was simple: put the puck on the net.

It worked.

Ovechkin broke a tie with two third-period goals, fellow young Russian Alexander Semin had a hat trick, and Washington beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 Saturday night to hand the Stanley Cup champions their third consecutive loss.

``Everybody played together _ that's why we beat the Stanley Cup champions,'' said Ovechkin, who took a career-high 15 shots. ``First period, I played awful. Terrible. Second period, I told myself: Shoot everything.''

Perhaps frustrated by beginning his sophomore year with five scoreless periods, Ovechkin went into a prolonged celebration after putting the puck in the net 8:04 into the third period to put Washington ahead 3-2.

He kissed his right glove, pumped it, then let out a yell. He was surrounded by teammates for hugs and backslaps, then skated over to the bench, where he shouted again as he looked up and saw himself on the overhead video board.

A second shy of exactly five minutes later, Ovechkin scored again, this time redirecting defenceman Brian Pothier's shot from the slot on a power play to make it 4-2.

Elsewhere in the NHL it was: Buffalo 4, Ottawa 3; Montreal 3, Toronto 2 (SO); New York Rangers 5, Philadelphia 4 (SO); Detroit 2, Pittsburgh 0; Atlanta 6, Florida 0; Boston 3, Tampa Bay 2; Dallas 3, New Jersey 1; Minnesota 6, Nashville 5; Columbus 5, Chicago 4; Anaheim 2, Phoenix 1; San Jose 2, New York Islanders 1; Calgary 2, Edmonton 1; and Los Angeles 4, St. Louis 1.

At Washington, Semin added the finishing touch with 2:47 left in the game on a close-range goal. Pothier collected one of his three assists on that one, which gave Semin his first three-goal game in 54 NHL contests.

Semin scored in each period as the two young Alexanders were responsible for theamjority of Washington's offence.

``After I thank God at night for having a great wife,'' Capitals coach Glen Hanlon said, ``I say a quiet prayer for having those two guys on my team.''

It capped quite a home opener for the Capitals, who finished 27th out of 30 NHL teams last season.

Andrew Ladd and Niclas Wallin scored for Carolina, which has yet to win as it opens defence of its first league title. The Hurricanes were playing their third game in four nights after consecutive losses at home, as they raised their championship banner and showed off the Stanley Cup.

``We're kidding ourselves. We're taking bad penalties instead of doing the work. We're mouthing off instead of doing the work. And selfish acts are costing us games,'' Carolina coach Peter Laviolette said. ``It needs to be corrected, and it will be.''

Shortly after Ovechkin's second goal, he went down when Carolina defenceman Tim Gleason used his left skate to cut the Russian's left leg out from under him. Ovechkin, who had just hit Eric Staal, dropped to the ice and stayed down for a few minutes.

But he eventually returned and was the first to greet Semin with a hug after the hat trick was completed.

``He played not fair,'' Ovechkin said, referring to Gleason, but added that he felt fine.

Ovechkin is 21, a year younger than the less-heralded Semin, who was picked in the first round of the 2002 NHL draft and scored 10 goals in 52 games with the Capitals in the 2003-04 season.

But when Washington wanted Semin to report to a minor-league club during the NHL lockout, he instead went to play in Russia, and the Capitals sued to get him to return.

Finally, in April, Semin agreed to rejoin the Capitals _ and they couldn't be happier. He has four goals through two games.

``He was doing those things when he was 19 years old,'' Hanlon said. ``It's only two games into the season, but we've seen that before. Now, more so than the last time he was here, he's more `North Americanized' in that he's willing to shoot a little bit more and not be looking to pass quite so much.''

Sabres 4, Senators 3

At Ottawa, Chris Drury had a goal and an assist to help Buffalo extend its season-opening winning streak to three games. Jason Spezza scored twice for Ottawa.

Canadiens 3, Maple Leafs 2 (SO)

At Toronto, Michael Ryder scored in a shootout to lift Montreal to a come-from-behind win over the Maple Leafs.

Rangers 5, Flyers 4 (SO)

At Philadelphia, Marcel Hossa beat Antero Niittymaki in the 13th round of a shootout and Henrik Lundqvist stopped all 13 Flyers shooters to give the New York Rangers the victory.

Red Wings 2, Penguins 0

At Pittsburgh, Nicklas Lidstrom and Detroit's defence held Pittsburgh to 13 shots, Johan Franzen scored the pivotal goal off a rebound in the first period, and the Red Wings bounced back from an opening-game loss to beat the Penguins.

Thrashers 6, Panthers 0

At Atlanta, Marian Hossa had two goals and an assist, and Kari Lehtonen stopped 22 shots for the Thrashers for his fourth career shutout in an easy win over Florida.

Bruins 3, Lightning 2

At Tampa, Fla., Patrice Bergeron scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and Brad Boyes had a goal and an assist for Boston in a close win over the Lightning.

Stars 3, Devils 1

At Dallas, new captain Brenden Morrow had a goal and an assist, and Eric Lindros scored his first goal of the season to help Dallas win its home opener.

Wild 6, Predators 5

At St. Paul., Minn., Brian Rolston scored the winning goal with 1:11 remaining and Minnesota tied a team record with five power-play goals in a win over Nashville.

Blue Jackets 5, Blackhawks 4

At Chicago, Rick Nash scored twice and Columbus bounced back from an early 2-0 deficit with five straight goals before holding on to beat the Blackhawks.

Ducks 2, Coyotes 1

At Glendale, Ariz., Ilya Bryzgalov made 34 saves, and Teemu Selanne and Dustin Penner scored to lead Anaheim over Phoenix.

Sharks 2, Islanders 0

At San Jose, Calif., Matt Carle and Christian Ehrhoff both scored in the first period and the Sharks started the season with consecutive victories for the first time in seven years.

Flames 2, Oilers 1

At Calgary, Stephane Yelle scored the tying goal and assisted on Marcus Nilson's game-winner as the Flames earned a split of their season-opening home-and-home series with Edmonton.

Kings 4, Blues 1

At Los Angeles, Alexander Frolov scored the tiebreaking goal and
rookie forward Anze Kopitar had three assists as the Kings beat St.
Louis.