Washington, DC (Best E Casino) - Alexander Ovechkin tied an NHL single-season record for left wingers with his 63rd goal of the season, and the Washington Capitals pulled into a tie with Carolina for the Southeast Division lead with a 4-1 win over the Hurricanes at Verizon Center.

Ovechkin tied Luc Robitaille, who scored 63 with the Los Angeles Kings in 1992-93.

Matt Cooke, Brooks Laich and Alexander Semin also tallied for the Caps, who have won five straight and nine of 10. Sergei Fedorov added a pair of assists, and Cristobal Huet made 21 saves to pick up the win.

Scott Walker scored the lone goal for the Hurricanes, who have lost three of four and failed in a bid to clinch the Southeast title. Cam Ward allowed four goals on 39 shots and took the loss.

Both teams have 90 points with two games to play, but Carolina currently holds the tiebreaker with one more win than the Caps.

Cooke put the Caps on top 15 minutes into the first period. With an extra attacker on the ice after a delayed penalty call, Mike Green blasted a shot from the point that was saved by Ward and bounced right to the stick of Cooke, who wristed the puck into the open net.

Inside of the final minute of the first period, Laich gave the Caps a 2-0 lead as Tomas Fleischmann found Laich in front of the net for a backhand that slid past Ward two seconds before Washington's power play expired.

Walker pulled Carolina back within one 2 1/2 minutes into the second. Bret Hedican's shot was trickling through Huet's pads, and Milan Jurcina shoved Walker down in front of the net, allowing the falling Walker to tip the puck into the net.

Washington answered on a four minute power play late in the period, as Semin pounced on Green's missed shot at the side of the net and jammed the puck past Ward.

Ovechkin tallied on a 4-on-4 with 3:36 to play, and Huet stopped all eight shots he faced in the final period to cement the win.

Game Notes

Washington finished 2-for-9 on the power play, while the Hurricanes missed on all four man advantage chances...Semin's goal was his 25th of the season...Washington finishes the season with home games against Tampa Bay (Thursday) and Florida (Saturday)...Carolina returns home Wednesday to face the Lightning, then concludes the season Friday against the Panthers....Before the game, the Hurricanes activated forwards Ray Whitney and Justin Williams from the injured reserve list.