WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin and Connor McMichael each scored twice, and the Washington Capitals beat the Devils 6-2, boosting their slim playoff chances and dealing their division rivals a tough blow in their pursuit.

Ovechkin’s goals give him 838 in his NHL career. He has 16 this season, with eight of them coming over the past eight games to reignite talk of him breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record.

Charlie Lindgren also made 37 saves, and Dylan Strome and Michael Sgarbossa scored as Washington won a second consecutive game.

Washington’s offensive outburst came at a bad time for the Devils, who remain four points back of the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and trail third-place Philadelphia by five points. After losing 11 of their past 18 games, they have 27 left in the regular season to complete a return to the playoffs.

The Capitals stayed in the race for at least another day. They’re two points back of New Jersey but have a brutal upcoming schedule, with four of their next five opponents in playoff position, and may need to play part or all of that stretch without valuable center Nic Dowd, who left after the first period because of an upper-body injury.

They’ll take the win, though, after McMichael scored 39 seconds in, then set a new single-season career high with 10 goals in highlight-reel fashion. He dangled around Devils forward Tomas Nosek inside the blue line, past rookie defenseman Simon Nemec and around goaltender Nico Daws before tucking the puck just inside the right post.

Strome’s goal in the third period was his 21st of the season, off a rebound like McMichael’s first of the game. He’s now two back of tying his career best, set last year.

At the other end of the ice, Lindgren was nearly perfect. Alexander Holtz scored late in the first after a cross-crease pass from Nemec made for a nearly unstoppable scoring chance, and Erik Haula broke through Washington’s defense and lifted a backhander past Lindgren late in regulation.

Daws allowed six goals on 25 shots, hours after New Jersey put No. 1 goalie Vitek Vanecek on injured reserve.

New Jersey did get an important player back, with Jonas Siegenthaler returning after missing 16 games with a broken foot. Siegenthaler came back against the team with which he made his NHL debut and played 108 games with before being traded in 2021.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the division-leading New York Rangers on Thursday night.

Capitals: Visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night to open a two-game road trip.

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