Ovechkin becomes first with 18 30-goal seasons
DETROIT — 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 seasonlong, six-game losing streak. The Red Wings have lost six of their last eight games.
Ovechkin became the first NHL player with at least 30 goals in 18 seasons, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Mike Gartner.
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.
■ Kraken 5, Coyotes 0: At Seattle, Shane Wright scored 68 seconds into the first period for his fourth goal in four games since being called up from the AHL, and Philipp Grubauer made 39 saves in his second shutout of the season.
■ Hurricanes 4, Bruins 1: At Boston, Andrei Svechnikov opened the scoring with a lacrosse-style goal, surpring goalie Jeremy Swayman by cradling the puck with his stick blade and flicking it into the net.
■ Lightning 5, Blue Jackets 2: At Tampa, Fla., Steven Stamkos had three goals and an assist and Nikita Kucherov picked up his fourth straight three-point game with three assists for Tampa Bay.
■ Ducks 3, Kings 1: At Anaheim, Calif., Alex Killorn and Trevor Zegras scored in the third period for Anaheim, which prevented Los Angeles from securing a playoff spot.
■ Panthers 2, Senators 0: At Sunrise, Fla., Anthony Stolarz stopped 24 shots and had an assist, and Florida shut out Ottawa for the third time this season.
■ Avalanche 5, Wild 2: At Denver, Nathan Mackinnon notched his seventh career hat trick as part of a four-point performance to snap a two-game skid.
■ Canadiens 9, Flyers 3: At Montreal, Juraj Slafkovsky scored his first career hat trick as Montreal handed Philadelphia its eighth straight loss.
■ Maple Leafs 5, Devils 2: At Newark, N.J., Auston Matthews scored his 66th goal for Toronto, which won its sixth in seven games.
■ Islanders 4, Rangers 2: At New York, Bo Horvat had a goal and an assist to back Semyon Varlamov, who finished with 34 saves.
■ Stars 3, Sabres 2: At Dallas, Joe Pavelski scored the go-ahead goal on a deflection with his back to the net as Dallas earned its 50th win.
■ Jets 4, Predators 3: At Nashville, Tenn., Kyle Connor scored at 1:52 of overtime to hand Nashville its fifth loss in seven games.
■ Flames 3, Sharks 2: At San Jose, Calif., Andrei Kuzmenko scored at 2:58 of overtime as Calgary snapped a threegame skid.