Canadiens stop rampant Rangers

The Montreal Canadiens knocked off one of the NHL's hottest teams in the New York Rangers with a 4-1 win on Sunday.

With play-off hopes for Montreal looking bleak, and back-to-back games against the Ottawa Senators and the Rangers, the win saw them negotiate a potentially season-ending weekend with three out of a possible four points in the bag.

Max Pacioretty's two-goal performance set up the win against the league-leaders after John Mitchell had cancelled out his opener for the Rangers in the first period.

Dmitry Orlov's timely first career goal early in the third period lifted the Washington Capitals to a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Alexander Semin was also on the scoresheet for the Capitals, who have won their past three games. Orlov's goal cancelled out Jussi Jokinen's equaliser for Carolina early in the second period.

A Taylor Hall power-play goal in overtime saw the Edmonton Oilers snap a five-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings.

The Kings had won six straight at Edmonton and forced the game to overtime through Justin Williams' goal in the third period, but Hall score the decisive goal for the Oilers.

Evgeni Malkin's third period hat-trick provided the back bone for the Pittsburgh Penguins' 6-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Malkin also had two assists while James Neal scored twice for the Penguins.

Teddy Purcell had tied it up for the Lightning at 3-3 in the third period before Malkin unleashed his flurry of goals.

The Anaheim Ducks made it five wins in six games with Jason Blake's two goals and an assist leading them to a 4-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks.

In the other game the Chicago Blackhawks posted a 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks at the United Center.