PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jack Johnson has spent nearly half his life tangling with Evgeni Malkin in front of the net in rinks all over the world. Bruising affairs that often left one or the other — and occasionally both — skating away in aggravation.The truce finally came this summer when Johnson joined Malkin and the rest of the Pittsburgh Penguins after signing a five-year Riley Nash Jersey Womens , $16.25 million deal. The move allowed Johnson to breathe a sigh of relief on many levels, not the least of which was the knowledge the 31-year-old defenseman wouldn’t have to crash into Malkin multiple times a year.When Johnson approached Malkin as training camp began, he discovered the feeling was mutual.“We gave each other a half hug and said ‘Alright, no more fighting, now we finally get to play with each other,'” Johnson said with a laugh on Wednesday as the Penguins prepared for their opener against Stanley Cup champion Washington on Thursday. “I said ‘Don’t worry, I’ll just pass you the puck.'”Don’t get Johnson wrong. He understands his job responsibilities extend far beyond finding a teammate on Pittsburgh’s star-laden roster streaking up the ice. The Penguins allowed the most goals of any playoff team last season, and their bid to win a third consecutive title ended in the second round of the playoffs against the Capitals.Johnson is well aware his top priority is to shore things up in front of the Pittsburgh goal before jumping in on the fun at the other end of the ice. He also is intent on not merely being a tag along for longtime friend Sidney Crosby — a former classmate at Shattuck-St. Mary’s boarding school in Minnesota — and company as the Penguins pursue their fourth Cup in a decade.“I want to be a contributor, I definitely don’t want to be a passenger,” Johnson said. “That’s definitely the biggest thing that’s in my head. I want to help these guys win another one.”The Penguins believe Johnson can do it in multiple ways. Though he has never been labeled a “defensive” defenseman, at 6-foot-1 and 227 pounds, he’s capable of clearing goaltender Matt Murray’s line of vision. Yet that’s not all he can do. While he’s never scored more than 42 points in a season or been named to the All-Star team during his 11-year career, he’s developed a reputation as a pro’s pro who can play all 200 feet.“I think he’s a pretty complete player,” Penguins star defenseman Kris Letang said. “He’s got good speed, good size and he doesn’t get enough credit for his skill. He’s really skilled guy. He sees the ice really well.”The beauty of Johnson’s new gig is that he might not have to. Given the talent in front of him, he know there’s going to be plenty of chances to pick up a cheap assist by flipping the puck 20 feet to Crosby Martin Hanzal Jersey Womens , Malkin or some other guy in black and gold and let them do the rest of the work.“That’s one of the exciting things and fun things about playing with guys of this caliber,” Johnson said. “I’m sure there’ll be a point here or there I may get where I pretty much had nothing to do with play.”Johnson’s optimism plays in stark contrast to the end of his seven-year run in Columbus, when he asked for a trade in January then watched from the press box as a healthy scratch as the Blue Jackets lost to Washington in the opening round of the playoffs.That’s all behind him now. And there are worse places than Pittsburgh to kick start your career. The proof is a few stalls down in the Penguins dressing room. Justin Schultz arrived in Pittsburgh in 2016 after three-plus underwhelming seasons in Edmonton and played a vital role on consecutive Cup winners. Jamie Oleksiak flourished after the Stars sent him to the Penguins last December.“It’s a great place to play,” defenseman Brian Dumoulin said. “Obviously playing in the playoffs and winning helps so I think guys get some confidence coming here and it gets their game back on track.”Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan doesn’t expect Johnson’s transition to be seamless but also knows there’s no rush. The Penguins believe they have solid depth at the blue line. Johnson isn’t being called upon to be some sort of savior or give his game some sort of radical makeover to fit in.“I don’t think they’re trying to reinvent me in any way,” Johnson said. “They just ask me to be myself, come here and do what I do best.”He’s well aware the length of his contract raised some eyebrows. But he’s all in. His family bought a house not too far from the team’s training facility. He happily joined Crosby and others in some of the formally informal skates before training camp officially started. After more than a half decade clashing with Crosby, Malkin and company, he prefers his current view.“Pittsburgh was tough to play against, they have the championships to prove it,” he said. It’s nice to play with these guys instead of against him.” SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 39th goal, T.J. Oshie had two goals and an assist, and the Washington Capitals beat the San Jose Sharks 5-1 on Thursday night.Jakub Vrana and Tom Wilson each had a goal and an assist, and Nicklas Backstrom had two assists for Washington. Braden Holtby stopped 24 shots, and Ovechkin added an assist as the Capitals won for the fifth time in seven games after dropping seven straight.San Jose ended a six-game winning streak, which began with a 7-6 overtime win at Washington on Jan. 22. Sharks goalie Martin Jones turned back 18 shots.The Sharks took an early lead on Kevin Labanc’s 11th goal at 2:06 of the first period Anton Khudobin Jersey Womens , but it was all Washington after that.MAPLE LEAFS 6, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3LAS VEGAS (AP) — Auston Matthews scored two goals, including the 100th of his career, to lead Toronto over Vegas.The Maple Leafs, who improved to 36-18-3 this season and 19-7-2 on the road, are 15-7-0 against the Western Conference and 9-2-0 against Pacific Division opponents this season.Morgan Rielly scored his fifth game-winner when his shot made its way through traffic to beat Marc-Andre Fleury and put Toronto ahead 4-3 at the midway point of the third period.Vegas, meanwhile, has lost three in a row and a franchise-record five straight at T-Mobile Arena, including the first three of a four-game homestand.ISLANDERS 3, BLUE JACKETS 0COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Thomas Greiss stopped 31 shots for his fourth shutout of the season and New York beat Columbus.Casey Cizikas scored twice on breakaways and Josh Bailey also had a goal for the Islanders, who cruised to their fifth win in the last seven games.Greiss was outstanding in getting his 12th career shutout and the Islanders defenders showed why they are tops in the NHL in keeping opponents’ pucks out of their net. New York, which began the night three points ahead of Washington atop the Metropolitan Division, snapped the Blue Jackets‘ four-game win streak.Sergei Bobrovsky had 24 saves for the Blue Jackets, who is tied with Pittsburgh with 67 points but holds third place in the Metropolitan due to a game in hand. The game was a letdown for Columbus, which seemed to have momentum after shutting out the Capitals by the same score on Tuesday.LIGHTNING 6 Wade Megan Jersey Womens , STARS 0TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist, Nikita Kucherov added a goal and three assists, and Tampa Bay beat Dallas.Tyler Johnson, Mikhail Sergachev and Alex Killorn also scored to help the Lightning improve to 6-0-2 in the last eight games and reach 90 points in 58 games this season. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 32 shots for his fifth shutout of the season and 17th of his career to tie Ben Bishop for most in team history.Dallas goalie Anton Khudobin was pulled from the game twice, allowing five goals on 21 shots. Landon Bow finished with four saves in 27:07 of ice time for Dallas, which fell to 1-2-1 in the past four games.BLACKHAWKS 5, DEVILS 2CHICAGO (AP) — Patrick Kane scored his 34th goal and added two assists to lead Chicago over New Jersey for its eighth victory in nine games.Brandon Saad and Artem Anisimov each had a goal and an assist, and Jonathan Toews and Drake Caggiula also scored for the Blackhawks. Cam Ward stopped 41 shots.Damon Severson and Travis Zajac scored to give the Devils a 2-0 lead with a little more than three minutes left in the first period before the Blackhawks took over. New Jersey has lost two straight and five of its last six.Devils goalie Cory Schneider finished with 31 saves to extend his regular-season winless streak to 24 games. He is now 0-17-4 since his last win Dec. 27, 2017.BLUES 4, COYOTES 0GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Jordan Binnington matched a franchise rookie record with his seventh straight victory, Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice and St. Louis stretched its longest winning streak in 18 years to eight games.Joel Edmundson scored early in the first and had an assist on Tarasenko’s goal late in the period. Tarasenko put the Blues up 3-0 late in the second period with a power-play goal, giving him nine goals and eight assists during a career-high 10-game points streak.Robert Bortuzzo scored his second goal of the third period for the Blues, who have their longest winning streak since 2000-01. St. Louis is 14-4-1 in 2019, including 9-2-1 on the road. Binnington made 21 saves.CANUCKS 4 Tobias Rieder Jersey Womens , KINGS 3, SOLOS ANGELES (AP) — Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser scored in a shootout after Adam Gaudette tied it with 1:38 remaining in the third period to lift Vancouver.Pettersson and Boeser also scored in regulation for the Canucks, who had lost four straight road games. Jacob Markstrom made 35 saves through overtime, before allowing a shootout goal to Ilya Kovalchuk and then stopping Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe.Alec Martinez had a goal and an assist for the Kings, who had not played at home since Jan. 21 because of the All-Star Game, bye week and a six-game road trip while Staples Center hosted the Grammys. Jonathan Quick made 24 saves.PANTHERS 3, FLAMES 2, SOSUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Vincent Trocheck scored in the third round of the shootout to lift Florida over Calgary.Elias Lindholm scored for Calgary late in the third period to extend the game, but Matthew Tkachuk missed in the third round of the shootout with a chance to do the same.Mike Hoffman had a goal and an assist, and Evgenii Dadonov scored for Florida. Mark Jankowski also had a goal for the Flames, who lost their fourth straight. Florida goalie James Reimer, pulled to start the third period in Sunday’s 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay, stopped 41 shots. Mike Smith had 30 saves and lost his third straight.AVALANCHE 4, JETS 1WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Gabriel Landeskog scored his team-leading 30th goal of the season as Colorado beat Winnipeg to snap its season-high eight-game losing streak.Dominic Toninato got his first NHL goal Mike Hoffman Jersey Womens , and J.T. Compher and Sven Andrighetto also scored for the Avalanche, who were 0-5-3 during their skid. Matt Nieto had two assists, and Semyon Varlamov stopped 24 shots.Brandon Tanev scored his career-high 12th goal of the season for Winnipeg, which lost in regulation at home for the first time in 10 games (8-1-1). Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves.PREDATORS 3, CANADIENS 1NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Pekka Rinne made 34 saves, Viktor Arvidsson scored and Nashville beat Montreal.Ryan Hartman and Brian Boyle also had the goals for Nashville, which snapped a three-game skid.Tomas Tatar scored and Carey Price made 35 saves for Montreal, which has lost consecutive games for the first time since early January.RED WINGS 3, SENATORS 2DETROIT (AP) — Andreas Athanasiou scored twice, including a penalty shot, and Jimmy Howard made 40 saves in his 500th game to lead Detroit over Ottawa.Frans Nielsen scored to break a 2-2 tie late in the second period.Brady Tkachuk and Matt Duchene scored for Ottawa, and Anders Nilsson stopped 26 shots.