BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Braden Holtby made 31 saves and Alex Ovechkin scored to lead the Washington Capitals over the Buffalo Sabres 2-0 on Monday night for their eight straight win.

Ovechkin scored 19 seconds into the second period and Jay Beagle scored about 12 minutes later to help the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals improve to 27-6-2, the best start in franchise history.

Washington has earned a point in 15 of its last 16 games and trails the Dallas Stars by one point for the NHL lead.

Holtby got his 22nd career shutout and second this season. He leads the NHL with 23 victories and is 15-0-1 in his last 17 games.

CANADIENS 4, LIGHTNING 3, SO

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Max Pacioretty won it in the third round of a shootout and Montreal beat Tampa Bay to end a six-game losing streak.

Brian Flynn also scored in the shootout for Montreal. Valtteri Filppula had a shootout score for Tamp Bay.

The Canadiens got goals from Tomas Plekanec, Alex Galchenyuk and Dale Weise.

Nikita Kucherov, Jason Garrison and Ryan Callahan scored for the Lightning, who are 2-1- 1 on a six-game homestand. Tampa Bay centers Tyler Johnson and Brian Boyle both returned after being out with upper-body injuries.

Mike Condon made 36 saves through overtime for Montreal, while Tampa Bay’s Ben Bishop stopped 31 shots.

KINGS 5, CANUCKS 0

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Tyler Toffoli scored three goals, Jonathan Quick got the 40th shutout of his NHL career and Los Angeles beat Vancouver.

Quick made 27 saves in his second shutout this season and was rarely tested. The Kings outshot the Canucks 38-27, leading 1-0 after one period and 3-0 after two.

Toffoli finished his hat trick on a power play with 7:04 left. Derek Forbort got his first NHL goal and Brayden McNabb also scored. Anze Kopitar had four assists.

Vancouver was shut out for the fourth time in its past 11 games.