WASHINGTON

— Alex Ovechkin scored three goals and Nicklas Backstrom added four assists as the Washington Capitals jumped out to a big lead early and defeated the visiting Detroit Red Wings 6-2 Tuesday night.

Ovechkin has points in 12 straight games, helping fill the absence of T.J. Oshie, out for the previous 11 games with a concussion. However, Oshie returned and scored a goal, and Brett Connolly and Travis Boyd added goals, too, as the Capitals won their third straight.

Ovechkin leads the NHL with 25 goals. His 126th multi-goal game moved him past Dino Ciccarelli into 10th place in NHL history.

Washington goalie Braden Holtby made 35 saves and carried a shutout into the third period before Dylan Larkin scored just over a minute into the period. Gustav Nyquist later scored for the Red Wings.

Wild 7, Canadiens 1

Minnesota rode a dominant special teams performance to a rout of Montreal, going a perfect 4-for-4 on power-play opportunities and also scoring a short-handed goal in Saint Paul, Minn.

Matt Dumba scored twice on the power play, giving him 12 goals on the season to lead all NHL defensemen. Zach Parise had a goal and two assists for the Wild, and Mikael Granlund also had a three-point night with three assists. Charlie Coyle converted the short-handed goal 12:33 into the second period.

Jeff Petry scored the Canadiens’ lone goal at 2:41 of the third period. Minnesota goaltender Devan Dubnyk stopped 29 of 30 Montreal shots, while his counterpart, Antti Niemi, allowed all seven Wild goals on just 24 shots before being replaced by Carey Price in the third period.

Predators 3, Senators 1

Ryan Ellis scored the go-ahead goal in the second period, and Pekka Rinne made 25 saves as Nashville opened a three-game homestand by beating Ottawa.

Austin Watson and Craig Smith also scored for the Predators, who have won eight of their past 10 against Ottawa and have allowed two goals or fewer in 17 of 31 contests. Nashville improved to 9-0-0 against Eastern Conference foes.

Zack Smith scored the lone goal for the Senators, who have lost four of their past five (1-3-1). Ottawa’s Craig Anderson stopped 33 shots.

Blues 4, Panthers 3

Brayden Schenn put host St. Louis ahead late in a four-goal third period against Florida. Schenn scored with 3:55 remaining as St. Louis earned just its fourth win in its past 12 games. David Perron scored two goals, and Ivan Barbashev added a goal for St. Louis. Evgenii Dadonov, MacKenzie Weegar and Mike Hoffman scored goals for the Panthers, who lost their third straight.

Jake Allen recorded 22 saves for Nashville, and the No. 1 goalie likely will see his workload increase immediately after backup Chad Johnson was claimed off waivers Tuesday by Anaheim. Roberto Luongo stopped 29 shots for Florida.

Oilers 6, Avalanche 4

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored two of four second-period goals for surging Edmonton in a win over Colorado in Denver.

Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists as Edmonton won its fourth straight, improving to 8-2-1 since Ken Hitchcock took over as coach. Mikko Koskinen made 39 saves to win his second straight game. He blanked the Calgary Flames 1-0 on Sunday.

Jets 6, Blackhawks 3

Kyle Connor scored two goals and Dustin Byfuglien added three assists as host Winnipeg scored the first four goals and held on to defeat Chicago.

Sabres 4, Kings 3 (OT)

Jeff Skinner scored on a power play less than two minutes into overtime Tuesday as host Buffalo rallied from a two-goal, third-period deficit to trim Los Angeles.

Canucks 3, Blue Jackets 2

Jake Virtanen’s goal with 1:46 left completed Vancouver’s comeback over host Columbus. Virtanen beat Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo with a shot from a sharp angle, capping the Canucks’ comeback from a 1-0 deficit after two periods.

Maple Leafs 4, Hurricanes 1

Frederik Andersen rebounded from a rough weekend outing to make 29 saves as Toronto dumped Carolina in Raleigh. Tyler Ennis, Morgan Rielly, Patrick Marleau and John Tavares scored for Toronto. — Reuters