Ovechkin reaches 600 goals as Capitals knock off Winnipeg
WASHINGTON » Alex Ovechkin scored twice to reach 600 career goals and Evgeny Kuznetsov had the overtime winner as the Washington Capitals returned to first place by beating the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 Monday.
Ovechkin scored in each of the first two periods to get to 42 this season. The Russian winger became the 20th player and fourth-fastest in NHL history to 600 goals and is on pace to lead the league in goals for the seventh time.
Kuznetsov made it a night of celebration for Washington by scoring on a breakaway 4:11 into overtime.
Jets winger Patrik Laine scored his 16th in the past 12 games to get to 41 goals this season. Nikolaj Ehlers also scored a 4-on-4 goal for Winnipeg, which got 40 saves from Connor Hellebuyck.
Capitals goaltender Philipp Grubauer stopped 26 shots in his third consecutive start. BLUE JACKETS 5, CANADIENS 2 » Seth Jones was the driving force behind two power-play goals in the first period, helping the Blue Jackets to their fifth consecutive victory.
Alexander Wennberg had a goal and three assists for Columbus, and Nick Foligno, Boone Jenner and Ian Cole also scored.
Behind a run of eight wins in 11 games overall, the Blue Jackets moved past idle New Jersey into the first wild-card position in the Eastern Conference. Columbus also pulled within two points of third-place Philadelphia in the Metropolitan Division.
Brendan Gallagher and Jonathan Drouin scored for banged-up Montreal, which has lost five straight. The Canadiens have been playing without Carey Price, Max Pacioretty and Shea Weber. RANGERS 6, HURRICANES 3» Jimmy Vesey scored three times, Mats Zuccarello had two goals and the Rangers stopped a three-game slide.
Vladislav Namestnikov also scored for the Rangers, who earned their first home win since Feb. 9. Pavel Buchnevich and Mika Zibanejad each had three assists.
Backup goalie Alexandar Georgiev made 41 saves for his second win of the season.
Teuvo Teravainen, Lee Stempniak and Victor Rask scored for the Hurricanes. Scott Darling, who has struggled in his first season with Carolina, made 17 stops. SENATORS 5, PANTHERS 3 » Matt Duchene scored twice, including the goahead goal with three minutes left, and Ottawa got the road win.
Magnus Paajarvi also had two goals for Ottawa, and Alexandre Burrows added one late. Craig Anderson made 35 saves, and Erik Karlsson and Mike Hoffman each added two assists.
Jonathan Huberdeau, Mike Matheson and Evgenii Dadonov scored for the Panthers, who had won eight straight home games.
Vincent Trocheck had two assists, but Roberto Luongo allowed five goals on 25 shots.
The Panthers are three points behind New Jersey for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.