The Chicago Blackhawks moved a large step closer to clinching the top seed in the Western Conference by beating the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 Friday. Colin Fraser scored twice, Jonathan Toews had a goal and an assist for Chicago, which moved into a tie with San Jose for the Western Conference lead. The Blackhawks can clinch the No. 1 seed with a win Sunday against Detroit or by tying the Sharks in points. Chicago holds the tiebreaker. San Jose hosts Phoenix Saturday. Patrick Sharp and Kris Versteeg also scored for Chicago. Ryan Stoa and Darcy Tucker netted for Colorado. Capitals 5, Thrashers 2: In Washington, Alex Ovechkin took over the NHL lead in goals and points as Washington beat Atlanta. Ovechkin set up Nicklas Backstrom's goal in the first period, then scored himself in the second and third to reach 50 for the season. With one regular-season game left, Ovechkin leads Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby by one goal, and Vancouver's Henrik Sedin by one point. Backstrom and Jason Chimera scored in the third period for the Capitals. Evgeny Artyukhin and Clarke MacArthur scored in the second for Atlanta. Red Wings 1, Blue Jackets 0, SO: In Columbus, Ohio, Detroit beat Columbus in a shootout, giving the Red Wings at least 100 points for the 10th year in a row. Todd Bertuzzi scored on a backhand in the fourth round of the shootout after Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard turned away a shot by R.J. Umberger. Howard, a top Calder Trophy candidate as the NHL rookie of the year, had 22 saves. Columbus' Steve Mason, last year's Calder winner, had a season-high 45 saves. Blues 6, Ducks 3: In St. Louis, Keith Tkachuk set up the tying goal in his home finale and assisted on an insurance goal as St. Louis beat Anaheim. Jay McClement scored the go-ahead goal with 3:50 to go and Andy McDonald scored 23 seconds later off Tkachuk's shot from a tough angle for the Blues, who rallied from a 3-2 deficit after two periods to finish with a six-game winning streak at home. Ducks rookie Matt Beleskey scored twice for the first time and Bobby Ryan got his 35th goal. Rangers 4, Flyers 3: In New York, the hosts stayed alive in the Eastern Conference playoff race by edging Philadelphia.
