TAMPA, Fla. -- Erik Condra ended a 20-game drought with a pair of goals to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning past the Detroit Red Wings 6-2 on Tuesday night.
Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat each had a goal and an assist, and Vladislav Namestnikov also scored for the Lightning. Brian Boyle, Tyler Johnson and Victor Hedman added two assists apiece.
Tampa Bay tied the Florida Panthers atop the Atlantic Division with 89 points. Both teams have nine games remaining, and the Lightning own the tiebreaker with more non-shootout victories (39-33).
Justin Abdelkader and Darren Helm scored for the Red Wings, who were outshot 34-25.
Coupled with Philadelphia's shootout loss at Columbus, Detroit fell into a tie with the Flyers for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, two points behind the New York Islanders. The Red Wings own the tiebreaker with Philadelphia (see full recap).
Caps beat Sens to clinch Metro Division
OTTAWA, Ontario -- Alex Ovechkin scored his 43rd goal and the Washington Capitals clinched the Metropolitan Division and the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.
Mike Richards, Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie, with an empty net, also scored for the Capitals. Braden Holtby stopped 28 shots.
NHL
Chris Wideman and Mika Zibanejad scored for the Senators. Craig Anderson made 18 saves.
The loss will likely fuel the controversy started by owner Eugene Melnyk earlier in the morning when he told reporters changes could be expected during the offseason. Melnyk called the season, "just a total roller coaster of hope and despair" (see full recap).
Wild down Kings, climb into playoff spot
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Devan Dubnyk made a season-high 38 saves, Minnesota's penalty kill kept up its strong work and the Wild beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 on Tuesday night to move back into possession of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Erik Haula and Mikko Koivu scored for the Wild, who have killed 15 straight penalties over the last eight games since March 6.
Tyler Toffoli had the goal for the Kings, who lost for the second time in two nights after winning 11 of their previous 14 games.
After losing 5-2 in Nashville to the Predators, who hold the first wild-card spot in the West, the Kings took the ice for another potential first-round playoff preview (see full recap).