LOS ANGELES - Jeff Carter scored twice in the third period to get his 300th career goal after Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar scored less than 2 minutes apart in the second period to lift the Los Angeles Kings over the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 on Monday night.
Carter and Vincent Lecavalier scored 39 seconds apart midway through the third, and then Carter added an empty-netter for his 300th. Jonathan Quick made 21 saves to help the Kings climb within a point of Pacific Division-leading Anaheim, which lost 2-1 to Washington in a shootout.
The Kings led the Ducks by 16 points on Jan. 20 but fell out of first place with a 3-2 loss to the Ducks on Saturday.
Defenseman Dan Hamhuis scored for Vancouver and Ryan Miller stopped 24 shots.
Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.
The Washington Capitals needed a shootout to get by the Anaheim Ducks in a sneak peek of what could be this season's Stanley Cup Final on Monday.
Nicklas Backstrom had the shootout winner, while Braden Holtby turned away two of three shooters as the Capitals extinguished the Ducks 11-game win streak.
The @AnaheimDucks extended their point streak to 14 games (12-0-2), two shy of the longest such run in club history set in 2006-07 (12-0-4)
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 8, 2016
John Gibson was nearly perfect turning away 31 of 32 shots in a losing effort. The loss snapped his four-game win-streak.
Meanwhile in the Capitals' crease, Holtby collected win No. 41 on the season, matching a franchise record shared with Olaf Kolzig who did so during the 1999-00 season.
.@kbieksa3: "It was a good game. We played against the best team in the East and played well. Sometimes, you need to tip your cap."
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) March 8, 2016
The teams will face off one more time in each's regular-season finale, where further playoff speculation is sure to escalate.
Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.
Arizona Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson left Monday's game against the Colorado Avalanche early in the third period and did not return after suffering an upper-body injury.
Head coach Dave Tippett addressed the media postgame, saying that the 24-year-old blue-liner is day to day.
Ekman-Larsson sits sixth in scoring among defenseman with 19 goals and 49 points.
Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.