WASHINGTON -- Nicklas Backstrom and David Steckel scored 46 seconds apart late in the third period, rallying the Washington Capitals past the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 Tuesday night for their fourth straight victory.
Backstrom erased the Red Wings' 2-1 lead by taking Alex Ovechkin's pass and skating by Brad Stuart in the left circle before beating Chris Osgood from close range on a power play with 6:45 left. Steckel's fourth goal, a deflection of Alexander Semin's shot, put Washington ahead less than a minute later.
Penguins 6, Islanders 4
PITTSBURGH -- Evgeni Malkin broke out of a slump with three goals and Sidney Crosby scored twice as Pittsburgh recovered after blowing a three-goal lead.
New York had its four-game winning streak snapped.
Senators 4, Blackhawks 1
OTTAWA -- Peter Regin had a goal and an assist and Brian Elliott made 29 saves to lead Ottawa to its fourth straight.
Regin restored Ottawa's two-goal lead late in the second when he beat Chicago's Cristobal Huet on a wraparound after Zack Smith and Ryan Shannon scored in the first to put the Senators up 2-0.
Thrashers 4, Maple Leafs 3
ATLANTA -- Ilya Kovalchuk scored two goals, giving him 30 for the season, and the Atlanta beat Toronto.
The Thrashers scored four straight goals after Alexei Ponikarovsky's two first-period goals in a span of 32 seconds.
Rangers 8, Lightning 2
NEW YORK -- Vinny Prospal had a goal and assist in New York's big first period, and linemate Marian Gaborik tied a career high with four assists.
New York, which scored a total of five goals in five games before Sunday's 6-2 home win against Montreal, netted three goals in the first period and two more in the second against the tired Lightning -- chasing goalie Antero Niittymaki from the net.
Flyers 5, Blue Jackets 3
PHILADELPHIA -- Jeff Carter scored two goals and Ray Emery won for the first time since returning from abdominal surgery and Philadelphia beat Columbus.
The Flyers snapped a two-game losing streak. Carter scored on a breakaway 58 seconds into the game. He scored his 19th of the season at 11:31 of the second period, when he sent a shot past Mathieu Garon.
Arron Asham, Chris Pronger and Dan Carcillo also scored for the Flyers, who were hosting Columbus for the first time since Nov. 24, 2006.
Former Flyer RJ Umberger scored two goals for the Blue Jackets, losers of four of five.
Rick Nash also scored for Columbus.
Brandon Dubinsky started his team's biggest scoring night of the season with a power-play tally just 1:26 in, and Prospal and Chris Drury followed to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead after the first period. Dan Girardi and Enver Lisin scored in the second as New York went ahead 5-1 despite recording only 20 shots on Niittymaki.
