Capitals move into 2nd wild-card spot

Ovechkin becomes first NHL player to register 18 30-goal seasons

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.

“We all understand the importance of the game and importance of those points,” Ovechkin said. “We fight for playoffs.”

The Capitals moved a point past Detroit for the conference’s second wild card and snapped a season-long, sixgame losing streak. The Red Wings have lost six of their past eight games, hurting their chances of ending an eight-year playoff drought.

“This one stings, but we still have some games left,” Red Wings coach coach Derek Lalonde said. “If we take care of business, I still think we are in this thing.”

Ovechkin became the first NHL player with at least 30 goals in 18 seasons, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Mike Gartner.

“It’s pretty big,“the Russian superstar said. ”It’s consistency. Obviously, health. And, my linemates continue to find me out there.”

Patrick Kane scored with 1.1 seconds left and Alex Lyon stopped 21 shots for the Red Wings.

Other games

Canadiens 9, Flyers 3: Juraj Slafkovsky scored his first career hat trick, and host Montreal dealt stumbling Philadelphia its eighth straight defeat with a blowout win. The 20year-old Slafkovsky put Montreal up 4-0 with his third goal on a breakaway midway through the second period.

Islanders 4, Rangers 2: Bo Horvat had a goal and an assist, Noah Dobson added two assists and the host New York Islanders used a threegoal first period to propel them to a win against the Eastern-Conference leading New York Rangers.

Maple Leafs 5, Devils 2: Auston Matthews scored his 66th goal and inched closer to becoming the ninth player in NHL history to tally 70 in a season in leading Toronto to a win against host New Jersey.

Hurricanes 4, Bruins 1: Andrei Svechnikov opened the scoring with a lacrosse-style goal and Carolina beat host Boston. Teuvo Teravainen, Jake Guentzel and Seth Jarvis also scored for the Hurricanes.

Lightning 5, Blue Jackets 2: Steven Stamkos had three goals and an assist, NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov picked up his fourth straight three-point game with three assists, and playoff-bound Tampa Bay beat visiting Columbus.

Panthers 2, Senators 0: Anthony Stolarz stopped 24 shots and had an assist, and host Florida shut out Ottawa for the third time this season.

Jets 4, Predators 3 (OT): Kyle Connor scored at 1:52 of overtime to give visiting Winnipeg a victory against Nashville. Mark Scheifele had a goal and two assists, Gabriel Vilardi and Dylan DeMelo also scored and Connor Hellebuyck made a season-high 45 saves for Winnipeg.

Stars 3, Sabres 2: Joe Pavelski scored the go-ahead goal on a deflection with his back to the net and playoffbound Dallas got its 50th win of the season against visiting Buffalo.

Notes

Connor McDavid, the reigning and three-time NHL MVP, is day to day with a lowerbody injury, and the Edmonton captain could miss the Oilers’ next game. McDavid leads the league with 99 assists.

• New Jersey Devils AllStar forward Jack Hughes is missing the rest of the season because of shoulder surgery.