Capitals 4, Panthers 3: Captain Alex Ovechkin recorded his 12th career hat trick - and second this season - and Braden Holtby turned aside 27 shots as visiting Washington posted its seventh win in nine games (7-1-1).

Mike Ribeiro scored and set up a goal and Nicklas Backstrom notched three assists for the Capitals, who are even in points with Winnipeg - but hold the tiebreaker with two games in hand. The Jets skated to a 4-1 triumph over Philadelphia earlier on Saturday.

Tomas Kopecky scored twice - with the latter tally coming with 33 seconds remaining in the third period as Jacob Markstrom (27 saves) was pulled for an extra attacker. Peter Mueller also scored for cellar-dwelling Florida, which saw its season-high three-game winning streak come to an end.

Ovechkin opened the scoring with 4:15 remaining in the first period after converting a backdoor feed. Ribeiro cleaned up a loose puck following a point shot by defenseman Mike Green to double the scoring just 43 seconds into the second period. Ovechkin was credited with an assist.

Ovechkin solved Markstrom again 1:41 later to give Washington a 3-0 lead and completed his first hat trick since Feb. 23 by converting a tic-tac-toe play with 5:38 remaining in the session. Ovechkin has 13 goals in his last 11 contests.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Ovechkin has torched the Panthers, recording 61 points (30 goals, 31 assists) in 47 career contests. The Russian standout scored in Washington's 5-0 victory on Feb. 9, added a goal and an assist in the Capitals' 6-5 victory three nights later and collected a goal and two assists in a 7-1 rout on March 7. ... Washington LW Martin Erat exited the contest after he was slammed into the boards by Florida D Erik Gudbranson during the first period. Gudbranson received a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct. ... Florida C Nick Bjugstad made his NHL debut and had one shot on goal in 13:04 of ice time.