The Washington Capitals rallied for a 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, the home team completing a four-game season-series sweep of the Eastern Conference leaders.
The Senators are 29-8-4 against every other team in the NHL, but were swept by Washington for the first time since the 1995-1996 season.
"You look at every game and every game we lost this year -- it's our own doing," Ottawa defenseman Chris Phillips told reporters.
"Beating ourselves, making mistakes and they're capitalizing on them," he said.
Washington star Alexander Ovechkin scored a powerplay goal -- his 34th goal of the season -- to put the hosts ahead for good in the third period after Ottawa had briefly led 2-1 in the second.
Alexander Semin scored twice for the Caps as Washington (19-21-5) continued their march towards playoff contention after a poor start had led to the sacking of Glen Hanlon in November.
"We played a fantastic game against the second best team in the NHL," Washington's winning goalkeeper Brent Johnson said.
Thrashers 5, Red Wings 1
Marian Hossa scored three goals to lift Atlanta to a 5-1 win over NHL-leading Detroit.
Kari Lehtonen made 46 saves for the Thrashers.
Hossa scored the Thrashers' first three goals, notching his seventh career hat trick, and first in nearly a year.
Detroit has now lost three straight.
Avalanche 3, Lightning 0
In Tampa, Florida, Jose Theodore completed his first shutout in almost four years to lead Colorado over Tampa Bay.
Theodore made 22 of his 32 saves in the third period for his 24th career shutout.
The Avalanche have won three games in a row.
Tampa Bay has lost 12 of 15.
Maple Leafs 5, Hurricanes 4
In Toronto, the home side snapped a five-game losing streak by edging past Carolina.
Ian White had a goal and an assist for Toronto, which won for just the third time in regulation in 14 games. The Maple Leafs will try to win consecutive games for the first time in more than a month when they play in Boston today.
Canadiens 3, Islanders 1
In Uniondale, New York, Tomas Plekanec scored in each of the first two periods to lead Montreal past New York.
Cristobal Huet stopped 17 shots for Montreal and the Canadiens won for the sixth time in nine games.
Blue Jackets 3, Canucks 2
In Columbus, Ohio, the home side edged Vancouver to set a franchise record with six straight home wins.
Jason Chimera scored a second-period goal and Pascal Leclaire made it stand up with 25 saves for the Blue Jackets, who will now set out on a five-game road trip.
Vancouver had given up just one goal in winning the two previous meetings with the Blue Jackets this season.
In other games it was:
* Predators 3, Flames 0
* Coyotes 5, Sharks 3
* Kings 3, Oilers 1
* Ducks 4, Stars 2
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