Capitals go down to Canadiens

Washington Capitals suffered a 6-5 defeat to the Montreal Canadiens as Tomas Plekanec netted the decisive strike in overtime.

It was Plekanec's second of the game, while Scott Gomez, Tom Pyatt, Glen Metropolit and Maxim Lapierre were also on target for the Canadiens, who conceded three times in the third period as the Capitals forced the extra period.

The San Jose Sharks, the Western Conference pacesetters, were also beaten, as the Columbus Blue Jackets claimed a 3-0 win.

Rick Nash, Jakub Voracek and Antoine Vermette netted for the Blue Jackets.

Elsewhere, the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the New York Islanders 3-1, with Chris Kunitz netting twice and Evgeni Malkin also on target.

The Philadelphia Flyers were 3-2 winners over the New Jersey Devils, with Simon Gagne striking the winner in the third period.

Kyle Cumiskey netted nine seconds into overtime as the Colorado Avalanche secured a 4-3 win over the Atlanta Thrashers.

Colin Wilson netted the winner as the Nashville Predators beat the New York Rangers 2-1.

Bobby Ryan found the net twice as the Anaheim Ducks beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 and the Phoenix Coyotes claimed a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild.