OTTAWA -- Alex Ovechkin scored the winning goal Thursday night as the Washington Capitals defeated the Ottawa Senators 2-1.
Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored for the Capitals as Braden Holtby picked up his 25th win of the season by stopping 25 shots.
Kyle Turris scored the lone Ottawa goal, and Robin Lehner made 27 saves.
Trailing 2-1 to start the third period, the Senators did their best to score the equalizer but couldn't find a way to beat Holtby.
Thursday's game was a milestone for defenseman Chris Phillips, who set the franchise record by playing in his 1,179th game to surpass Daniel Alfredsson. Alfredsson and former teammate Wade Redden were on hand for the occasion (see full recap).
Panthers top reeling Kings
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Brandon Pirri scored with 3:05 remaining to lift the Florida Panthers over the struggling Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on Thursday night.
Nick Bjugstad and Aleksander Barkov also scored for the Panthers, and Roberto Luongo stopped 29 shots.
Pirri grabbed a loose puck in the left circle and fired the puck past Jonathan Quick. He scored for the fourth consecutive game and the sixth in his past seven.
The Panthers have won their past two games and Luongo beat the Kings for the first time in nine games.
Marian Gaborik and Jamie McBain scored for the Kings, and Quick made 17 saves.
The Kings lost their third straight game and seven of their past nine. Los Angeles has dropped nine of its past 11 road games, and remained tied for the fewest road wins in the NHL with Buffalo and Edmonton (see full recap).
Blues extend point streak with shutout
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Jake Allen stopped 23 shots and the St. Louis Blues set a franchise record by extending their point streak to 13 games with a 3-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.
Dmitrij Jaskin scored on a wraparound late in the second period, and Vladimir Tarasenko tapped in David Backes' pass in the third period for St. Louis, which improved its run to 12-0-1. Jaden Schwartz added an empty-netter.
The Blues (34-13-4) won their seventh straight to match a season-best, while beating the Sabres for the sixth straight time.
Buffalo (15-34-3) was shut out for the ninth time this season -- one short of matching a franchise high. And the Sabres failed to build off the momentum of a 3-2 win at Montreal on Tuesday, when Buffalo snapped a team-worst 14-game skid (see full recap).