NEW YORK: Ryan Carter’s third period goal gave the New Jersey Devils a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals on Friday, with the victory helping the home team retain the slimmest of hopes of reaching the play-offs with a handful of games remaining.
Left wing Tuomo Ruutu also scored for New Jersey (33-28-16), who jumped above a Washington (34-30-13) team that lost for the fifth game in a row despite right wing Alex Ovechkin scoring his 49th goal of the season.
The Capitals and Devils each have five games left this season but trail Eastern Conference wild card leaders Detroit and Columbus in the race for the final two play-off berths.
New Jersey sits three points behind Columbus while Washington is four adrift.
Centre Peter Regin scored with 3.9 seconds remaining in regulation to help the Blackhawks eke out a 4-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Blue Jackets have dropped 13 straight to the Blackhawks, falling to 0-10-3 dating back to the 2010-11 season.
The latest loss stings the most, though, as it sets back the Blue Jackets in their pursuit of an Eastern Conference play-off berth.
The Blackhawks also got goals from left winger Jeremy Morin, right winger Patrick Sharp and right winger Marian Hossa.
Right winger Daniel Afredsson had a goal and an assist and the Detroit Red Wings held on for a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres.
Centre Darren Helm and right winger Tomas Jurco also scored for Detroit (37-26-14), which is in the seventh play-off spot in the Eastern Conference. Defenceman Danny DeKeyser had two assists and Jimmy Howard made 21 saves.
It was Red Wings’ coach Mike Babcock’s 413th win for Detroit, which ties him for the all-time franchise record with Jack Adams.
Detroit led 3-0 before defenceman Jamie McBain and left winger Nicolas Deslauriers scored for Buffalo (21-47-9), which has the NHL’s worst record.
After spotting the home team an early 3-0 lead, the Montreal Canadiens stormed back with seven in a row on their way to a 7-4 victory over the Ottawa Senators.
Montreal was led by three goals and two assists from winger Max Pacioretty. Defencemen Andrei Markov and Mike Weaver and centres Lars Eller and David Desharnais had their other goals. Winger Thomas Vanek added three assists for the Canadiens.
Centre Zack Smith scored twice for the Senators, while winger Ales Hemsky and centre Mika Zibanejad had the others.
The loss pushed the Senators to the very brink of elimination from the play-off race, while the Canadiens increased their chances for home ice advantage in the first round.
The Calgary Flames won their second straight game, posting a 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers.
The Flames jumped on the scoreboard first on a snap shot by left winger Kenny Agostino at 1:34 of the second period before Panthers centre Vincent Trocheck responded quickly with his fourth goal of the season.
Calgary left winger Mike Cammalleri then put the Flames permanently back on top with his team-leading 26th goal of the season.
Pekka Rinne tied the Nashville franchise record for goaltender victories and centres Colin Wilson and Mike Fisher scored two goals apiece as the Predators ended nearly two years of frustration against the Anaheim Ducks with a 5-2 victory.
Nashville (34-32-11) had lost five in a row to Anaheim in two seasons before Rinne made 27 saves in tying Tomas Vokoun at 161 career victories for the Predators.
REUTERS
