Ovi passes Espo

Alex Ovechkin scored his 718th career goal to pass Phil Esposito for sole possession of sixth on the NHL’s career list and became the second active player to record 1,300 points, helping the Washington Capitals beat the New York Islanders 3-1 Tuesday night.

Washington snapped New York’s winning streak at nine. The Capitals have won six in a row to move ahead of the Islanders into first place in the East Division.

Ovechkin is a big reason for that. The longtime captain has goals in four consecutive games and is tied with longtime running mate Nicklas Backstrom, who also scored, for the team lead with 12 this season.

Goal No. 718 was classic Ovechkin: a one-timer on the power play from his favorite spot just inside the left faceoff circle.

Ovechkin is 13 goals shy of tying Marcel Dionne for fifth and needs 177 more to break Wayne Gretzky’s record.

Devils 3, Sabres 2 — Miles Wood scored the tiebreaking goal on a power play early in the third period and New Jersey beat Buffalo in a matchup of skidding teams.

Yegor Sharangovich and Sami Vatanen also had goals as the Devils ended an 11game losing streak (0-10-1) on home ice. Mackenzie Blackwood made 33 saves.

Tobias Rieder and Jeff Skinner scored for Buffalo but the Sabres lost their 12th straight (0-10-2).

Red Wings 4, Hurricanes 2 — Adam Erne scored twice, Jonathan Bernier made 35 saves and Detroit snapped Carolina’s eight-game winning streak.

Wild 3, Coyotes 0 — Kaapo Kahkonen made 31 saves in his second shutout of the season as Minnesota topped Arizona.

Ryan Hartman, Mats Zuccarello and Jared Spurgeon scored for the Wild.