Bruins lose, fall behind Montreal in division

WASHINGTON -- It looks like the Boston Bruins' quest for the Northeast Division title is going to come down to their final game of the regular season Sunday night against the Ottawa Senators.

Washington Capitals forward Eric Fehr completed a comeback when he scored a power-play goal 3:23 into overtime to give Washington a 3-2 win over the Bruins Saturday night at the Verizon Center.

With the loss, the Bruins fell from second in the Eastern Conference standings to fourth, one point behind the Montreal Canadiens, who vaulted past them with a 4-1 win over Toronto.

That means the Bruins will need a win over the Senators on Sunday to clinch the division and reclaim the No. 2 seed for the playoffs.

"A lot's on the line," said Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask. "It's good that there are no games that don't matter. Every game has mattered this season and that's the way it's going to be until the end."

The Capitals (27-18-3) finish as the Southeast Division champions and will face the sixth-seeded New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs. The Rangers knocked the Capitals out of last year's conference semifinals with a Game 7 victory in New York.

"It's going to be a good series and we know what to expect," said Capitals defenseman Mike Green, who scored two goals and assisted on Fehr's game-winner. "Familiarity might come into play a little bit."

Green scored two third-period power-play goals to send the game into overtime and his shot off the shoulder of Rask led to Fehr's game-winner.

Fehr also scored the overtime game-winner the last time the two teams met in Washington on March 5. That goal completed a four-goal comeback.

"Their power play is what killed us tonight," Bruins coach Calude Julien said. "We knew coming into the game that we had to stay out of the penalty box and unfortunately they had some pretty good power plays there in the third period that gave them that momentum."

Milan Lucic and Andrew Ference each found the back of the net for the Bruins.

Alex Ovechkin picked up a pair of assists and became the first NHL player to win his third Rocket Richard Trophy as the league's leading goal scorer with 32. Ovechkin's closest rival was Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos, who was held without a goal in the Lightning's season finale and finished with 29 goals.

"It feels good," Ovechkin said. "I have a new house, so I have lots of room (for another trophy)."

Trailing 2-0 after 40 minutes, the Capitals turned the game around on power-play goals by Green less than two minutes apart in the third period.

With Boston defenseman Adam McQuaid in the box for tripping Jason Chimera, Green snapped a rising shot over the right shoulder of Rask for his 11th goal of the season.

Sixty-one seconds later, Rich Peverley went off for tripping Green and the Caps' 27-year-old defenseman made the Bruins pay again, this time drilling a low, hard shot past Rask.

The goal was Green's 12th of the season, most among NHL defensemen, and gave him 10 goals and eight assists in 18 games since returning from a groin injury.

"Mike to me should be a Norris Trophy candidate every year," Capitals coach Adam Oates said.

The Bruins had taken a 2-0 lead on goals by Lucic and Ference.

In a fast-paced first period that had just six whistle stoppages, the Bruins grabbed a 1-0 lead midway through the period on Lucic's seventh goal of the season. David Krejci beat Washington's Mike Ribeiro on a faceoff and Lucic snapped a shot that caromed off the inside of defenseman Karl Alzner's skate and past Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby.

Boston defenseman Ference gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead with 7:49 gone in the second period on a strong rush up the ice. Lucic gained the offensive zone and fed the puck to Peverley, who dropped it to Ference for a blast that beat Holtby low glove-side. It was Ference's fourth goal of the season.

NOTES: The Bruins will conclude their regular season Sunday night at home against the Senators in a game that was postponed due to the Boston Marathon bombings. ... Bruins right wing Jaromir Jagr, who played parts of two seasons in Washington, remained in Boston with the flu. His spot on the Bruins' third line was taken by Kaspars Daugavins. ... The Capitals were without right wing Joel Ward (left knee contusion) for the ninth straight game. He's expected to be cleared for the playoff opener. ... The Capitals entered their final game with the NHL's top-ranked power play at 25.8 percent. The Bruins entered the game with the league's top penalty kill at 88.5 percent. ... Boston center Bergeron entered the game leading the NHL with a faceoff winning percentage of 61.8. ... Over the past two seasons the Bruins are 42-19-3 in games in which they have recorded a fight. No one dropped the gloves Saturday night.