Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome scored a minute apart late in the second period, Charlie Lindgren finished with 42 saves and the Washington Capitals held on to beat the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 on Tuesday night in a matchup of teams vying for a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The Capitals moved a point past Detroit for the conference’s second wild card and snapped a season-long, six-game losing streak. The Red Wings have lost six of their last eight games, hurting their chances of ending an eight-year playoff drought.
Ovechkin became the first NHL player with at least 30 goals in 18 seasons, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Mike Gartner.
Patrick Kane scored with 1.1 seconds left and Alex Lyon stopped 21 shots for the Red Wings.
Lyon was pulled during a second power play in the third period to give Detroit a two-man advantage, but it did not score until it was too late.
Washington and Detroit are among several teams with a shot to be a wild card. The Capitals also have an opportunity to secure a spot if they can finish ahead of the New York Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Washington is aiming to avoid missing consecutive postseasons for the first time since 2006 and 2007, when Ovechkin was in his first two NHL seasons.
The Red Wings, meanwhile, haven’t been in the playoffs since 2016 back when they played at Joe Louis Arena.
UP NEXT
Capitals: At Buffalo on Thursday.
Red Wings: At Pittsburgh on Thursday.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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