CAPITALS USE BIG SECOND PERIOD TO DEFEAT THE BLUES

LOUIS» Nicklas Backstrom

ST. started a three-goal second period, Braden Holtby made 34 saves, and the Capitals beat the Blues 4-2 on Monday night.

Alex Ovechkin got his leagueleading 46th goal, and Alex Chiasson and Andre Burakovsky also scored to help the Capitals get their seventh win in eight games.

Holtby improved to 7-0-0 in seven starts against St. Louis.

Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrik Berglund scored for the Blues, who lost their second straight. St. Louis began the day one point behind Colordao for the final wild card in the Western Conference.

Backstrom, Chiasson and Burakovsky scored in the first 7:54 of the second period to give the Capitals a 3-1 lead.

MONDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS

Zach Parise scored twice and Devan Dubnyk made 22 saves to blank his original team, pushing the Wild to the brink of the playoffs with a 3-0 victory over the Oilers. … Alexander Petrovic scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period to lift the Panthers to a 3-2 victory over the Hurricanes. … William Nylander and Auston Matthews each had two goals and an assist as the Maple Leafs beat the Sabres 5-2. … Mathieu Perreault scored a power-play goal as the held on to beat the 6-5.

FOOTNOTES

Suter done after ankle injury.

Ryan Suter, a durable 33-yearold blueliner for the Wild, is done for the season after fracturing his right ankle Saturday night in a 4-1 loss to the Stars. The team announced that Suter will require surgery to repair the ankle after an MRI on Monday. … Blues forward Scottie Upshall is out indefinitely with a lacerated left kidney. Upshall was injured Saturday night in a 6-0 loss to the Coyotes. … Lightning coach Jon Cooper said captain Steven Stamkos is questionable for Tuesday’s game against the Bruins due to a lower-body injury. But Cooper also cautioned that the injury suffered in a 4-1 loss to the Predators on Sunday isn’t considered serious. Stamkos has 27 goals and 59 assists this season. Tampa Bay trails the firstplace Bruins by two points in the Eastern Conference with three games left in the regular season. … The Predators signed forward Tanner Jeannot to a three-year, entry-level contract that begins in the 2018-19 season. … The Devils signed forward Marian Studenic to a three-year, entrylevel contract.