WASHINGTON (AP) - Alex Ovechkin ended the longest goal-scoring drought of his career and the Washington Capitals held on to beat the Minnesota Wild 4-2 on Tuesday night, snapping a season-worst four-game losing streak.
Ovechkin hadn’t scored in 10 games or had an even-strength goal in 18 before firing a one-timer by NHL save percentage leader Devan Dubnyk in the second period. Ovechkin’s 28th goal of the season came one second after a power play expired.
Nate Schmidt, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Jay Beagle also scored for the NHL-leading Capitals, who recaptured sole possession of first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Braden Holtby stopped 32 shots as the Capitals won for the first time since March 4 and moved two points up on Pittsburgh.
Minnesota lost for the fifth time in seven games despite goals from Matt Dumba and Eric Staal. Dubnyk made 36 saves.
BLACKHAWKS 4, CANADIENS 2
MONTREAL (AP) - Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists, and Corey Crawford made 40 saves to lead Chicago past Montreal.
Johnny Oduya, Artemi Panarin and Jonathan Toews, into an empty net, scored for the Blackhawks, who jumped over Minnesota and lead the Central Division with 93 points.
Paul Byron and Shea Weber scored for Montreal.
Carey Price made 20 saves and became the third Canadiens goaltender to play 500 games, joining Patrick Roy (551) and Jacques Plante (556).
The Canadiens have not beaten Chicago since 2014 (0-6-1).
Crawford, a Montreal native coming off a season-best 42 saves against the Wild on Sunday, is 7-0-2 versus the Canadiens.
ISLANDERS 3, HURRICANES 2, OT
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - John Tavares scored 34 seconds into overtime to lift New York over Carolina.
Joshua Ho-Sang and Jason Chimera scored in the final 65 seconds of the second period to help the Islanders erase a 2-0 deficit and eventually claim what interim coach Doug Weight called a must-win game.
Tavares’ winner was set up by Ho-Sang’s takeaway at center ice. Ho-Sang brought the puck across the blue line and fed a drop pass to Tavares, who snapped it past Cam Ward.
Joakim Nordstrom and Elias Lindholm scored for the Hurricanes, who have lost three of five but earned points in four straight.
Thomas Greiss made 30 saves one night after allowing four goals on 16 shots in relief during an 8-4 loss to the Hurricanes at home. Ward, who also gave up four goals in that game, made 31 saves for Carolina.
New York is tied with Tampa Bay for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of Toronto. The Islanders currently hold the tiebreaker.
LIGHTNING 2, SENATORS 1, OT
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) - Victor Hedman scored with 55 seconds on the clock in overtime and Tampa Bay defeated Ottawa for its fourth straight victory.
Ottawa goalie Mike Condon made 35 saves and was nothing short of spectacular at times. Still, the Senators had their six-game winning streak snapped.
Brayden Point also scored for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 31 shots.
Tommy Wingels scored for the Senators.
PANTHERS 7, MAPLE LEAFS 2
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) - Jonathan Marchessault scored two goals, Thomas Vanek had a career-high four assists and Florida topped Toronto to stop a five-game slide.
Aleksander Barkov had a goal and an assist for the Panthers, who won for only the second time in 10 games. Keith Yandle, Jussi Jokinen, Reilly Smith and Colton Sceviour also scored.
James Reimer stopped 28 shots to win for the first time in eight starts.
Nikita Soshnikov and Leo Komarov scored for Toronto. Frederik Andersen allowed three goals on eight shots before being replaced by Curtis McElhinney to start the second period. McElhinney made 20 saves.
The Maple Leafs had won three straight.
OILERS 7, STARS 1
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) - Patrick Maroon had a goal and an assist, and Edmonton snapped a three-game skid with a victory over Dallas.
Benoit Pouliot, Oscar Klefbom, Darnell Nurse, David Desharnais, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid also scored for the Oilers, who are 2-2-1 on an eight-game homestand.
McDavid is tied with Blackhawks star Patrick Kane with 76 points for tops in the NHL.
Brett Ritchie scored for the Stars, who have lost three straight.
SHARKS 4, SABRES 1
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Joe Pavelski scored twice and San Jose ended a long streak of futility against Buffalo.
Logan Couture and Michael Haley also scored, and Martin Jones made 22 saves for his 32nd win of the season. The Sharks snapped a five-game home losing streak to Buffalo and ended its franchise-best 11-game point streak against them.
Jack Eichel scored early for the Sabres, who lost their fourth in five games. Eichel also inadvertently helped the Sharks score the go-ahead goal late in the second.
COYOTES 3, KINGS 2, SO
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Anthony DeAngelo and Brendan Perlini scored in an 11-round shootout, Louis Domingue made 44 saves and Arizona defeated Los Angeles.
Max Domi scored two goals for the Coyotes, who have won three consecutive games for the second time this season. Domi tied it 2-all with less than a minute left in regulation.
Tyler Toffoli scored twice, including a power-play goal with 1:36 remaining that gave Los Angeles a 2-1 lead. Ben Bishop stopped 30 shots, but the Kings’ playoff chances were dealt a second major blow in two nights.
Toffoli converted a one-timer from Jeff Carter, only to see Domi tie it at 2 with 44.3 seconds left.
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