Capitals 3, Penguins 1: Joel Ward scored the tiebreaking goal with 4:13 left in the third period as visiting Washington beat Pittsburgh for the third time in as many meetings this season.

Red-hot Alex Ovechkin scored his league-leading 37th goal and matched Ward with an assist as the Capitals completed a 3-1-0 road trip and pulled within one point of both the Penguins and New York Rangers for second place in the Metropolitan Division. Defenseman John Carlson scored into an empty net and Braden Holtby, who blanked Pittsburgh twice this season, turned aside 32 shots for the victory.

Tempers flared in the opening minute of the third, when Ovechkin hacked at the skate of Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, sending him sprawling into the boards and setting off a flurry of penalties. Chris Kunitz and Letang went to the box 11 seconds apart later in the session and Washington quickly took advantage of the 5-on-3 as Ward buried a one-timer off a feed from Nicklas Backstrom.

Steve Downie scored the lone goal for Pittsburgh, which lost for the third time in five games (2-2-1). Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves for the Penguins, who failed on three power-play chances to fall to 0-for-18 over their last eight contests.

Pittsburgh gift-wrapped the game's opening goal with the Capitals on the power play, making a line change that allowed Ovechkin to corral the puck in the neutral zone and break in alone before flicking a backhander past Fleury with 1:24 left in the first period for his 15th tally in 15 games. The Penguins tied it 3 1/2 minutes into the middle session as a trailing Downie skated in and knocked home a rebound.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Ovechkin notched his 17th goal with the man advantage, which also leads the league, and 26th in 38 career games against Pittsburgh. ... Downie's 10th goal of the season gave the Penguins nine players with double-digit tallies. ... Penguins RW Craig Adams, Downie and Capitals RW Tom Wilson picked up 10-minute misconducts with just under 13 minutes remaining in the third.