Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 63rd goal as the Washington Capitals beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 and tied atop the Southeast Division at 90 points on Tuesday with two games to go in the regular season. Alexander Semin, Brooks Laich and Matt Cooke scored before Ovechkin's insurance goal, Sergei Fedorov and Mike Green contributed two assists apiece, and Cristobal Huet made 21 saves. Add it all up, and the Capitals were able to celebrate a five-game winning streak for the first time since March 2001. They've also won nine of their past 10 games. Washington ranked 30th of 30 NHL teams in late November, about a quarter of the way through the season, when minor league coach Bruce Boudreau replaced the fired Glen Hanlon. And Washington still stood only 14th of 15 Eastern Conference clubs at the season's halfway point. Now, though, the Capitals have a chance to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2003. Canadiens 2, Senators 0: At Ottawa, Carey Price made 32 saves for his third shutout and Alex Kovalev scored his 35th goal as Montreal claimed its first division title in 16 years. Mathieu Dandenault and Andrei Kostitsyn also scored for Montreal, which secured the Northeast Division title with 100 points. The Canadiens have as many points as Pittsburgh, which leads the Eastern Conference by virtue of its 45 wins, one more than Montreal. Sixth-place Ottawa has a one-point lead over Boston and Philadelphia, and was also only two points ahead of ninth-place Washington. Devils 2, Islanders 1, OT: At Uniondale, New York, Zach Parise deflected in Johnny Oduya's shot 29 seconds into overtime for New Jersey, which clinched an Eastern Conference playoff berth. Predators 4, Blues 3: At St. Louis, Rich Peverley scored 1:43 into overtime to complete Nashville's comeback from a three-goal deficit. Sabres 4, Maple Leafs 3: At Toronto, Maxim Afinogenov scored the winning goal in the sixth round of the shootout and Buffalo preserved its slim playoff hopes. Panthers 3, Thrashers 2: At Atlanta, Jay Bouwmeester and David Booth scored 17 seconds apart early in the third period and Florida held to end a three-game losing streak. Other results: Flames 3, Oilers 2; Avalanche 4, Canucks 2; Sharks 5, Kings 2. __
