NHL ROUNDUP

Capitals 4, Rangers 2

Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 45th goal and Washington extended its winning streak to four games with a victory over the New York Rangers on Monday night. T.J. Oshie, Matt Niskanen and Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored for Washington. Nicklas Backstrom, who had four assists in a win over Montreal on Saturday, added two more to give him 44 this season. Philipp Grubauer made 28 saves. Washington increased its lead to five points over two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh for first place in the Metropolitan Division. Lias Andersson scored in his NHL debut and Mats Zuccarello added a goal for the Rangers. The Capitals scored four goals in the first period and cruised from there. Oshie gave them a 1-0 lead 2:50 into the game with 18th of the season. Backstrom skated the puck into the zone and had three Rangers near him when he passed to an open Oshie at the right faceoff circle and he beat Alexandar Georgiev with a wrister. Niskanen made it 2-0 just 2:23 later. Kuznetsov skated with the puck at the blue line and sent a backhand pass to Niskanen, who had plenty of time to score his seventh of the season at 5:13 Ovechkin scored on a one-timer on the power play from his favorite spot in the left faceoff circle at 8:54. Georgiev was pulled after allowing three goals on six shots. Ondrej Pavelec replaced him and made 26 saves. It was Pavelec's first appearance since Feb. 9 against Calgary. Kuznetsov finished off the dominant first period with a short-handed goal at 16:39.

Panthers 3, Islanders 0

Evgenii Dadonov had a goal and an assist, and James Reimer stopped 32 shots for his fourth shutout of the season as Florida moved closer to a playoff spot with a victory over reeling New York. Keith Yandle also had a goal and assist, and Nick Bjugstad scored to help Florida win for the 13th time in 17 games (13-3-1). The Panthers moved within point of idle New Jersey for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. They have eight games remaining, one more than the Devils. Reimer, who has 21 career shutouts, won his fifth straight start with his second shutout during that stretch. The 30-year-old goalie improved to 7-1-0 since returning from an injury Feb. 12. Christopher Gibson finished with 38 saves for the Islanders, who were eliminated from postseason contention for the second straight year with their 14th loss in 16 games (2-10-4). Leading 1-0 after one period, Florida pulled away with two goals in the second while outshooting New York 19-11.