Capitals 4, Senators 2
OTTAWA -- Braden Holtby made 28 saves and closed in on the NHL record for most victories in a season as the Washington Capitals defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-2 on Tuesday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
The win gives Holtby 44, which is four shy of the mark set by Martin Brodeur in the 2006-07 season.
It also clinched top seed for the Capitals (52-15-5) in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Mike Richards, Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie scored for the Capitals, while Chris Wideman and Mika Zibanejad replied for the Senators.
Craig Anderson made 18 saves in the Ottawa net.
The Senators (34-32-8) are seven points behind the Philadelphia Flyers and the Detroit Red Wings, who are tied for the last wild card spot in the East.
The Capitals jumped into a 3-0 lead by the first intermission and held on to win after Zibanejad scored with 1:33 left, taking a rebound off the end boards and squeezing in a shot from the side of the net. Oshie ended Ottawa's hopes of a comeback with an empty-netter 12 seconds from the buzzer.
Richards put the Capitals on the board with their first shot on net, at 2:32 of the opening period, after Bobby Ryan turned the puck over in the defensive zone. Richards was left all alone in front of Anderson to take a pass from Tom Wilson, and from there he made no mistake for his second goal of the season.
Ovechkin made it 2-0 on the power play at the 12:22 mark, one-timing home a shot from the edge of the crease to complete a smart passing play that started with Backstrom and included Marcus Johansson. It was Ovechkin's league-leading 43rd of the season.
Backstrom rounded out the first period scoring at 14:37 tipping home a pass by Jay Beagle from directly in front. It was his 19th.
Wideman scored the only goal of the second period, bringing the Senators to within two on a wrist shot from high along the right-wing boards that appeared to deflect off a Capitals player before settling in behind Holtby. The goal, which drew assists from Mike Hoffman and Michael Kostka, was Wideman's sixth.
The Senators, who blew a 63 second, 5-on-3 advantage in the first period, went 0-for-4 on the power play. They have not scored a power-play goal in their last 10 games, during which they had 27 chances.
The Capitals were good on their only power-play opportunity.
NOTES: Senators RW Chris Neil was ill and missed his first game of the season. D Erik Karlsson and C Jean-Gabriel Pageau are now the only players on the team to have suited up for all 74 games. LW Ryan Dzingel came out of the press box to replace Neil. ... Senators D Dion Phaneuf missed the morning skate for "maintenance" and was a game-time decision before it was decided he could play. ... Capitals D Nate Schmidt was scratched for the first time in five games and the fourth time in March. Capitals C Michael Latta and RW Stanislav Galiev were also scratched.