Defenseman Matt Walker scored one goal and created another a few minutes later when his shot deflected in off Vincent Lecavalier, helping the struggling Tampa Bay Lightning edge the NHL-leading Washington Capitals, 3-2, Friday night.

Antero Niittymaki made 28 saves and the Lightning won for only the second time in nine games. They entered the day tied for 10th in the Eastern Conference.

Tomas Fleischmann and Brooks Laich scored power-play goals for Washington, and two-time league MVP Alex Ovechkin assisted on both. But the Capitals lost for the second time in their past three home games following a club-record 13-game winning streak in Washington.

Tampa Bay won even though Steven Stamkos' franchise-record 18-game point streak ended.

The Capitals clinched a third consecutive Southeast Division title -- the first team in the league to secure a playoff berth -- when second-place Atlanta lost Thursday night to Columbus.

"Some teams that haven't made the playoffs, their goal is to make the playoffs," Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said before the game. "We've been there a couple years in a row now. I think we have to go further."

• Wild 3, Sabres 2: Josh Harding made 43 saves, and Andrew Ebbett, Guillaume Latendresse and Andrew Brunette scored to help slumping Minnesota beat host Buffalo. Harding, making his second consecutive start for the injured Niklas Backstrom, has won both of his lifetime starts against the Sabres, allowing just three goals combined in those two games.

• Rangers 5, Thrashers 2: Vinny Prospal and Marian Gaborik gave visiting New York the lead with goals 41 seconds apart in the first period and the Rangers beat Atlanta for the Thrashers' fifth loss in a row. Henrik Lundqvist made 29 saves to help the Rangers end a four-game losing streak.

• Kings 2, Stars 1: Jarret Stoll beat goalie Marty Turco in the sixth round of the shootout to lift visiting Los Angeles past Dallas. Fredrik Modin scored the Kings first goal in the first minute of the game on a power play but Los Angeles didn't score again until the winner.

• Predators 1, Ducks 0: Pekka Rinne made 31 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and the seventh-place Predators moved two points ahead of eighth-place Calgary in the Western Conference win the victory at Anaheim.

Penguins Plus, a blog by Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson, is featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.