Mar 10, 2011 4 min read

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Steven Stamkos scored his NHL-leading 42nd goal, Martin St. Louis had the shootout winner and the slumping Tampa Bay Lightning snapped a season-high four-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night.

St. Louis also scored in regulation, helping Tampa Bay build a 3-1 lead before the Stanley Cup champions roared back on goals by Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews.

Dwayne Roloson made 28 saves for the Lightning, then stopped Toews, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa in the shootout.

St. Louis scored the winner, doing a spin in front of the net, setting himself and firing the puck past goalie Corey Crawford.

The loss was the second straight for Chicago following a season-best eight-game winning streak.

Stamkos got Tampa Bay off to a fast start with just his second goal in the last 13 games. St. Louis ended a four-game drought to break a 1-1 tie before Teddy Purcell put the Lightning up 3-1 with his first goal in seven games.

It was just the second time in 10 games that the Lightning, who fell out of first place in the Southeast Division during its four-game skid, scored more than two goals.

A poor first period cost the Blackhawks in a 3-2 loss to Florida that stopped Chicago’s winning streak on Tuesday night. The Panthers scored three early goals against Crawford, who gave up three more in the first 22 minutes against Tampa Bay.

Kane scored in the opening period for Chicago. Sharp’s 34th of the season pulled the Blackhawks to 3-2. Toews, who had a nine-game points streak stopped against Florida, had assists on the Blackhawks’ first two goals and tied it 3-all with 16:30 remaining in regulation.

Capitals 5, Oilers 0

WASHINGTON – Alex Ovechkin had two goals and an assist to reach 601 career points and rookie Braden Holtby stopped 22 shots for his first career shutout and Washington’s sixth consecutive victory.

Ovechkin passed Michal Pivonka to gain sole possession of third place on the team’s career points chart. Only Peter Bondra (825) and Mike Gartner (789) have more points in a Washington uniform than Ovechkin, now in his sixth NHL season.

Eric Fehr scored twice in his return from a 22-game absence because of a shoulder injury, Alexander Semin also scored and Jason Arnott had an assist for his 900th career point.

Washington’s six-game run matches its longest of the season (Oct. 30-Nov. 11).

Kings 2, Red Wings 1

DETROIT – Dustin Brown scored with 5:17 remaining in the second period and Jonathan Quick made 28 saves for Los Angeles, 13-3-4 in its last 20 games.

Anze Kopitar also scored in the second after Darren Helm opened the scoring for the Red Wings in the first.

Thrashers 3, Hurricanes 2, OT

RALEIGH, N.C. – Tim Stapleton scored 1:38 into overtime, Rob Schremp and Tobias Enstrom had first-period goals and Ondrej Pavelec made 35 saves to help Atlanta snap its road losing streak at six.

Erik Cole and Troy Bodie scored for Carolina. The Hurricanes earned a point for getting to overtime to move into a tie with Buffalo for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta is five points behind the Hurricanes and Sabres.

Blues 4, Blue Jackets 3, OT

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Chris Stewart flicked in a backhander 54 seconds into overtime to cap St. Louis’ comeback from a three-goal deficit. He also scored the trying goal early in the third period.

Ian Cole had a goal and an assist and Alex Pietrangelo also scored for the Blues, who beat the Blue Jackets twice in 48 hours after losing their previous four games. Jaroslav Halak, returning after missing 11 games because of a cracked bone in his hand, made 19 saves.

Jake Voracek, R.J. Umberger and Derek MacKenzie scored for Columbus. The Blue Jackets have dropped six in a row.