Former Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun stopped 42 shots in his fourth shutout of the season, the second against Florida.

Jason Chimera contributed a goal and an assist to help the Capitals supplant the Panthers atop the division. Washington has 60 points and Florida is at 59 with a game in hand.

Winning the Southeast title is imperative to both teams, because the runner-up may not end up among the eight Eastern Conference teams that qualify for the playoffs.

In New York,   Martin Brodeur stopped 30 shots for his first shutout of the season and the record 117th of his NHL career, and New Jersey beat the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers for its fifth consecutive win.

Brodeur was sharp and steady throughout, despite going several stretches without facing much action. David Clarkson gave him all the offense he needed with a power-play goal in the first period.

The Rangers appeared to score the tying goal with 3.5 seconds left, but it was disallowed because Marian Gaborik was called for goalie interference when he crashed into Brodeur in the crease after being shoved from behind by New Jersey defenseman Anton Volchenkov.

In Montreal, Tomas Plekanec scored on Montreal’s eighth attempt in the shootout to lead the Canadiens over Pittsburgh.

Carey Price made 32 saves during regulation and then stopped six of eight Pittsburgh shooters in the tiebreaker, including Jason Williams on the Penguins’ final attempt.

Evgeni Malkin used a spin-around move to convert Pittsburgh’s second attempt after Rene Bourque shot and scored on Montreal’s first.

In Philadelphia, Evgeni Nabokov made 45 saves and Frans Nielsen and John Tavares scored on Ilya Bryzgalov in a shootout, helping New York beat Philadelphia.

Nabokov was sensational, turning aside every shot he faced — including two in the shootout.

The last-place Islanders are 6-1-2 in their last nine games and 11-5-2 in their past 18.

In Columbus, Ohio,  rookie defenseman David Savard scored his first career goal and added an assist to lift the Blue Jackets past Minnesota and give Columbus’ Todd Richards a win in his first game as coach against his former team.

Antoine Vermette added a power-play goal and Jeff Carter scored his second goal in as many games after missing 10 with a shoulder injury for Columbus. Curtis Sanford made 28 saves.

In Tampa, Florida, Kyle Clifford and Dustin Penner had second-period goals to lead Los Angeles past Tampa Bay.

After withstanding pressure in the defensive end, the Kings took a 2-1 lead when Clifford scored on a breakaway off a long pass by Rob Scuderi at 10:16. Penner made it 3-1 from the slot with 2:14 left in the period.

Anze Kopitar also scored for the Kings, who are 15-0-1 this season when scoring three goals or more. 

In Ottawa, David Perron scored twice and Brian Elliott made 28 saves in his regular-season return to Ottawa as St. Louis handed the Senators their seventh straight loss.

Elliott was traded to Colorado prior to last season’s trade deadline for Senators No. 1 goalie Craig Anderson. Elliott then moved on to the Blues in the offseason.

In Nashville, Tennessee, Alex Edler scored in the sixth round of a shootout and Vancouver beat Nashville for its fifth win in six games.

The Canucks improved to 2-1 in the season series against the team they ousted in six games in the Western Conference semifinals last season, winning all three games in Nashville.

In Dallas, Radim Vrbata scored his 25th goal, former Dallas backup Mike Smith made 28 saves and Phoenix improved its playoff positioning with a victory over the Stars.

Vrbata gave Phoenix a 2-1 lead at 14:30 of the second period when he tapped Rostislav Klesla’s centering pass by goalie Kari Lehtonen.

Keith Yandle, Raffi Torres and Derek Morris also scored for the Coyotes, who have won three straight and four of five — including Monday night’s 3-1 home victory over Western Conference-leading Detroit.

In Denver, Gabriel Landeskog broke a tie 38 seconds into the third period and David Jones added two goals, helping Colorado snap a five-game skid with a win over struggling Chicago.

Peter Mueller and Jones scored 35 seconds apart in the second to send the Avalanche to their third victory in four games against Chicago this season. Kyle Quincey tacked on an empty-net goal with just more than 2 minutes remaining. Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 29 saves.

In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Bryan Little scored the go-ahead goal in the second period and Winnipeg edged Toronto.

Ondrej Pavelec stopped 17 shots and Chris Thorburn also scored for the Jets, back home following a 2-4 road trip.

Phil Kessel had his 30th goal for the Maple Leafs, who are seventh in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of Ottawa.