Highlights of Friday's NHL games.

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Devils 2, Capitals 1

Ryan Carter's third period goal snapped a deadlock and gave the New Jersey Devils a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals.

Left wing Tuomo Ruutu also scored for New Jersey, which moved to 33-28-16 on the season.

Washington fell to 34-30-13 despite right wing Alex Ovechkin scoring his 49th goal of the season.

The Capitals and Devils each have five games remaining this season, and trail Eastern Conference wild card leaders Detroit and Columbus.

New Jersey now sit three points behind Columbus for the final spot while Washington is four adrift.

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Blackhawks 4, Blue Jackets 3

Center Peter Regin scored with 3.9 seconds remaining in regulation, leading the Blackhawks to a 4-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Blue Jackets have dropped 13 straight to the Blackhawks, falling to 0-10-3 dating to the 2010-11 season. This one stings the most, though, as it sets back the Blue Jackets in their pursuit of an Eastern Conference playoff berth.

The Blackhawks also got goals from left winger Jeremy Morin, right winger Patrick Sharp and right winger Marian Hossa.

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Red Wings 3, Sabres 2

Right winger Daniel Afredsson had a goal and an assist and the Detroit Red Wings held on for a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

Center Darren Helm and right winger Tomas Jurco also scored for Detroit (37-26-14), which is in the seventh playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Defenseman Danny DeKeyser had two assists and Jimmy Howard made 21 saves.

It was Red Wings' coach Mike Babcock's 413th win for Detroit, which ties him for the all-time franchise record with Jack Adams.

Detroit led 3-0 before defenseman Jamie McBain and left winger Nicolas Deslauriers scored for Buffalo (21-47-9 ), which has the NHL's worst record.

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Canadiens 7, Senators 4

After spotting the home team to an early 3-0 lead, the Montreal Canadiens stormed back with seven in a row on their way to a 7-4 victory over the Ottawa Senators.

Montreal was led by three goals and two assists from winger Max Pacioretty. Defensemen Andrei Markov and Mike Weaver and centers Lars Eller and David Desharnais had their other goals. Winger Thomas Vanek added three assists for the Canadiens.

Center Zack Smith scored twice for the Senators, while winger Ales Hemsky and center Mika Zibanejad had the others.

The loss pushed the Senators to the very brink of elimination from the playoff race, while the Canadiens increased their chances for home ice advantage in the first round.

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Flames 2, Panthers 1

The Calgary Flames won their second straight game, posting a 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers.

Calgary improved to 28-42-8 by downing the playoff bound Panthers (32-39-7).

The Flames jumped on the scoreboard first on a snap shot by left winger Kenny Agostino at 1:34 of the second period Panthers center Vincent Trocheck responded quickly with his fourth goal of the season, before Calgary left winger Mike Cammalleri put the Flames permanently back on top with his team-leading 26th goal of the season.