NHL Capsules

TAMPA, Fla. - Steven Stamkos had two goals and added an assist and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 Monday night in a matchup of the Atlantic Division's top teams.

Both have 93 points, but Montreal has played one fewer game.

Valtteri Filppula and Victor Hedman also scored for the Lightning, who have outscored Montreal 16-5 in winning all four games between the teams this season.

Montreal, which lost for the sixth time in eight games (2-4-2), got goals from Tomas Plekanec and Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau.

Stamkos secured the win with his 39th goal, an empty-net power-play goal with 1:05 to play.

CAPITALS 4, SABRES 3, SO

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Evgeny Kuznetsov scored in regulation and the lone goal in the shootout to lead Washington over last-place Buffalo.

Matt Niskanen had two assists for the Capitals, who overcame a pair of one-goal deficits. Curtis Glencross and Mike Green also scored for Washington (38-23-10), which matched last season's win total and opened a four-point edge over eighth-place Boston in the Eastern Conference standings.

Braden Holtby made 30 saves in his 14th consecutive start, and was coming off a 2-0 shutout over the Bruins on Sunday.

Johan Larsson tied the game with 6:10 left in the third, when he deflected in defenceman Chad Ruhwedel's shot from the right point. Tyler Ennis and Cody Hodgson also scored for the Sabres, who dropped to 0-5-2 in their past seven games.