Ovechkin picked up a loose puck near the boards and made a mad dash down the ice beating goalie Nathan Lawson with a backhand shot.

Lawson made 40 saves and kept the Caps at bay until Brooks Laich scored with 47.2 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Laich redirected a pass from recently acquired Jason Arnott into the net.

Washington improved to 11-0-3 in its last 14 games against the Islanders, who have lost four straight overall. Oilers 2 Predators 1, SO:  In Edmonton, Alberta, Linus Omark and Jordan Eberle scored in a shootout for Edmonton.

Jim Vandermeer scored in the first period to tie it less than a minute after Blake Geoffrion made it 1-0 with his first career NHL goal.

Martin Gerber stopped 34 shots — 18 in the first period alone — for the Oilers, who have won five of eight.

Geoffrion is the first fourth-generation player in the NHL. Great-grandfather Howie Morenz, grandfather Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion — both Hall of Famers — and father Dan Geoffrion all played in the league, too.

In Vancouver, British Columbia, Raffi Torres scored in the eighth round of the shootout, and Roberto Luongo stopped six shooters.

Mason Raymond scored for Vancouver in regulation, and Luongo made 30 saves in the first 65 minutes.

Despite alternating wins and losses for the past 11 games, Vancouver extended its lead atop the NHL to three points over Philadelphia and five ahead of Detroit in the Western Conference.

Scott Upshall scored in his Blue Jackets debut after being acquired in a trade Monday, then watched nervously as his new teammates killed off the four-minute high-sticking penalty he took with less than five minutes left.

In San Jose, California, Antti Niemi was perfect in the shootout just hours after getting a contract extension, and Ryane Clowe scored in the first round of the tiebreaker.

Joe Thornton tied it with 2:58 remaining in regulation for the Sharks, who have won seven straight and 16 of 19. Niemi made 18 saves to cap a day that began with him signing a $15.2 million, four-year extension.

It was the second consecutive game in which Clowe scored the deciding goal in a shootout and the second straight time he did it with his forehand instead of his usual shootout move to the backhand.

In Raleigh, North Carolina, Cory Stillman had a goal and an assist for Carolina five days after the Panthers traded him to the Hurricanes.

Eric Staal had Carolina’s other goal. Stephen Weiss scored for Florida.

Tuesday’s game was also the first for Carolina defenseman Bryan Allen and Florida left winger Sergei Samsonov after the teams traded them for each other at the deadline on Monday.

In St. Louis, Miikka Kiprusoff shut out the St. Louis Blues for the second time in three days and Jarome Iginla had two goals and two assists.

Iginla’s line totaled 10 points, with Alex Tanguay getting a goal and two assists and Brendan Morrison adding three assists.

In Atlanta, Carey Price made a quick recovery from the flu to stop 40 shots and help the Montreal Canadiens beat Atlanta for the first time in three tries this season.

Max Pacioretty , James Wisniewski and Brian Gionta scored for Montreal, which has won three of four.

Price stopped Atlanta’s first 35 shots before Nik Antropov finally scored 14:14 into the third period to cut Montreal’s lead to 2-1. Gionta scored an empty-net goal with 45 seconds remaining.

In Ottawa, Tuukka Rask made 33 saves for his second shutout, Nathan Horton scored early in the third, and Boston won a season-high sixth straight, all on the road.

Rask stopped 10 shots in the first period, 14 in the second and nine in the third for his eighth career shutout, his first since a 41-save effort in a 4-0 win over Florida on Nov. 18.

In New York, Brad Boyes scored a power-play goal in his Sabres debut and Buffalo made the tight Eastern Conference playoff race a bit more crowded.

Boyes, acquired from St. Louis over the weekend, gave Buffalo a 2-0 lead with seven minutes left in the second period by scoring his 13th goal. Tyler Myers put the Sabres in front 1-0 during a first-period power play. Last season’s NHL rookie of the year has 10 goals.

The ninth-place Sabres kicked off a franchise record-tying, seven-game road trip by moving within three points of the seventh-place Rangers.

In Glendale, Arizona, Jamie Benn scored a power-play goal for Dallas with 4.8 seconds left after Phoenix tied it late.

The Stars appeared to be in control, ahead 2-0 on goals by Tom Wandell in the first period and Jamie Langenbrunner in the third.

The Coyotes, just like they did against Chicago on Sunday, came roaring back, getting goals by new defenseman Rostislav Klesla and Ray Whitney with less than 4 minutes left.