NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs

Alex Ovechkin rebounded from a rare zero-shot performance by scoring after 88 seconds Wednesday night, Braden Holtby made 30 saves, and the Washington Capitals recovered from a potentially devastating loss by beating the top-seeded New York Rangers 2-1 to force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference semifinal.

Bryce Salvador, David Clarkson and Ilya Kovalchuk scored goals to lift New Jersey to a 3-1 Game 5 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night, sending the Devils into the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2003.

Marc Staal scored a power-play goal 1:35 into overtime after Brad Richards tied it in the dying seconds of regulation to lift the New York Rangers to a stunning 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday night.

Alexei Ponikarovsky scored on his own rebound with 2:39 left in overtime and the New Jersey Devils defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in this Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Marian Gaborik scored at 14:41 of the third overtime, and the New York Rangers outlasted the Washington Capitals in a 2-1 victory early Thursday morning to take a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Adam Larsson and David Clarkson scored their first goals of the postseason, and the New Jersey Devils posted a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night, evening this Eastern Conference semifinals series at 1-1.

Alex Ovechkin's power-play goal with 7:27 remaining snapped a tie and gave the Washington Capitals a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers that squared the Eastern Conference semifinal series 1-1 on Monday night.

Rangers defensemen Marc Staal and Dan Girardi scored 4:18 apart in the second period, Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves and top-seeded New York eliminated the pesky eighth-seeded Ottawa Senators from the playoffs with a 2-1 victory in Game 7 on Thursday night.

Travis Zajac scored at 5:39 of overtime and the New Jersey Devils avoided elimination and sent yet another Eastern Conference first-round series to a seventh game with a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.

Brad Richards scored the go-ahead goal and Derek Stepan had a goal and two assists as the top-seeded New York Rangers staved off elimination with a 3-2 victory against Ottawa Senators on Monday night.