Red Wings 3, Capitals 2
Henrik Zetterberg scored his second goal of the contest midway into the third period as the Detroit Red Wings snapped the Washington Capitals' nine-game winning streak with a 3-2 home triumph on Wednesday.
Valtteri Filppula also scored and defenseman Brian Rafalski notched three assists for Central Division-leading Detroit (42-20-8), which has won three in a row after a four-game losing skid. In addition, the Red Wings have emerged victorious in their last nine contests against Eastern Conference foes.
Jimmy Howard finished with 26 saves to claim his third straight triumph after dropping five of his six previous games.
With the game tied at 2-2 and Detroit on the power play, Zetterberg skated into the offensive zone and backhanded a shot which sailed over the left shoulder of Michal Neuvirth and under the crossbar.
Zetterberg, who also opened the scoring 12:23 into the first period, now has 20 goals on the season. The power surge was a welcome one for the 30-year-old Swede, who had failed to record a point in the month of March prior to Wednesday's effort.
Alex Ovechkin netted his 29th goal of the season and defenseman John Carlson recorded his first goal in 25 games for Southeast Division-leading Washington (41-21-10), which remained one point behind the first-place Philadelphia Flyers (43-19-7) in the Eastern Conference standings.
Neuvirth turned aside 32 shots to suffer his first loss in March.