The Washington Capitals, once again inspired by Alexander Ovechkin, continued their march towards the playoffs with a 3-1 road victory over the Buffalo Sabres.

Two nights after scoring three goals and two assists in a 10-2 rout of the Boston Bruins, Ovechkin delivered his career-high 53rd and 54th goals of the season. Rookie Niklas Backstrom also contributed a goal and an assist.

The Caps moved into 10th placed in the Eastern Conference standings, one point behind Buffalo and two adrift of the Philadelphia Flyers for the eighth and final spot. Washington also trails the Carolina Hurricanes by three points for the Southeast Division lead.

Ovechkin is seeking to become the first player to score 60 goals in an NHL season since Mario Lemieux claimed 69 and Jaromir Jagr 62 during the 1995-96 season.

"We let Ovechkin get in behind us, which hurt us," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff told reporters. "That guy doesn't miss too often."

Olie Kolzig made 25 saves in the Washington goal to earn his 299th career victory.

"I thought we played a really good game," said Washington coach Bruce Boudreau.

*The Detroit Red Wings won their second straight game after a 1-8-2 run, Pavel Datsyuk scoring two goals in a 4-1 home victory over the St. Louis Blues. The Blues, playing the first game on a franchise-record nine-game road trip, lost for the seventh time in eight games.

*The Carolina Hurricanes scored a 6-3 road victory over the Atlanta Thrashers as Eric Stall posted two goals and an assist in his first game in Atlanta since winning MVP honors in last month's All-Star Game.

*The Chicago Blackhawks ended the Anaheim Ducks' six-game winning streak with a 3-0 home win, goaltender Corey Crawford recording his first NHL win and shutout in his first NHL start of the season. He made 19 saves.

*Ilya Bryzgalov continued his hot goaltending with 20 saves to lead the Phoenix Coyotes to a 2-1 road decision over the Dallas Stars. The Coyotes are fighting for a playoff spot and are 3-3-1 in the last seven games despite scoring just 10 goals.

*Patrick Marleau scored his second goal of the game 3:05 into overtime to give the San Jose Sharks their seventh straight victory, a 3-2 decision over the slumping Ottawa Senators, who have lost five of their last six games.

Reuters