NHL roundup: Jets defeat Caps to clinch playoff spot
Nikolaj Ehlers scored in overtime as the Winnipeg Jets defeated the visiting Capitals 3-2 on Tuesday night in a battle in which Washington's Alex Ovechkin scored his 889th career goal.
Ovechkin's tally climbed him within six goals of breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time NHL goals record. Josh Morrissey and Mason Appleton were the other goal scorers for Winnipeg (49-19-4, 102 points), which clinched a playoff berth with 10 games remaining.
Mark Scheifele, Dylan DeMelo, Nino Niederreiter, Cole Perfetti, Dylan Samberg and Adam Lowry provided the Jets' assists. Connor Hellebuyck made 27 stops.
Andrew Mangiapane also scored for Washington (47-15-9, 103 points), which was the first team to clinch a playoff spot. Jakob Chychrun, Aliaksei Protas and Trevor van Riemsdyk picked up assists. Logan Thompson saved 22 pucks for the Capitals.
Golden Knights 5, Wild 1
Jack Eichel netted a hat trick to help lift Vegas over Minnesota in Saint Paul, Minn.
Brett Howden and Tanner Pearson scored one goal apiece for Vegas, which won its fourth game in a row. Adin Hill turned aside 23 of 24 shots to earn the victory.
Marcus Johansson scored the lone goal for Minnesota, which lost its second game in as many nights. Marc-Andre Fleury allowed four goals on 37 shots.
Kings 3, Rangers 1
Kevin Fiala and Phillip Daneault scored power-play goals 6:54 apart in the second period as Los Angeles extended its home winning streak to seven games and its team-record home points streak to 15 by beating New York.
Los Angeles is 12-0-3 since its last regulation home loss on Jan. 20 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Fiala also scored a third-period goal as the Kings won their fourth straight and their ninth in 10 games (9-1-0). Darcy Kuemper made 22 saves.
J.T. Miller scored