to play here. So, yeah, but this is playoff football now. Every

New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Rick Nash and Martin St. Louis each scored a pair of goals and the New York Rangers held off a late comeback attempt from the Washington Capitals to record a 4-2 win, their season-high seventh in a row. Nash added an assist on St. Louis second of the night, which came on a 5-on-3 with 3:48 remaining after Washington nearly overcame a 3-0 deficit on third- period goals by Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin. Derek Brassard and Mats Zuccarello added two assists and Henrik Lundqvist made 30 saves for the red-hot Rangers, with 19 of those stops coming in the final period. The team is playing good, we are winning games, and its a great feeling in here, St. Louis said. We did a good job of going out there and earning it every day. Weve taken nothing for granted. We take care of the opponents and we play seriously and weve been rewarded with some good plays. Braden Holtby turned aside 23 shots in the loss, the Capitals first in regulation since Dec. 2. Washington entered the Metropolitan Division matchup 7-0-2 in its last nine games. The Rangers owned a seemingly comfortable 3-0 lead after Nash secured a loose puck in the neutral zone and beat a screened Holtby stick-side in transition 5:12 into the third period. However, a Washington offense that had been mostly lifeless up until then suddenly came to life. Just 41 seconds after Nashs tally, Kuznetsov raced up the right side and fired a shot that handcuffed Lundqvist and trickled through. The Capitals received a power play less than four minutes later, and Ovechkin converted the chance with a well-placed rocket from the left circle and hit the right post and went in with 9:02 to play. A high-sticking penalty to Nicklas Backstrom with 5:25 left stalled Washingtons momentum, however, and Jason Chimera was sent off for a violation on the resulting faceoff to give New York a two-man advantage. Nash rifled a shot on the 5-on-3 that bounced off both the post and Holtbys glove, with St. Louis perfectly placed in front to poke in the rebound for a 4-2 lead. I really liked our effort, I liked our determination, said Capitals head coach Barry Trotz. We took some penalties at the end, but when the game was on the line I thought Lundqvist was really good for them. The Rangers struck first just 3:32 into a first period in which Washington managed just five shots. Brassard led a rush into the Capitals zone before sending a pass to Zuccarello, whose off-balance shot caromed off Nashs left ankle and trickled past Holtby. Its about winning, and hes helping us in a big way to win games, said Lundqvist of Nash. A boarding penalty to Ovechkin early in the second enabled New York to extend the lead just 36 seconds into the advantage, on St. Louis tough- angle one-timer into an open right side of the Washington net. Game Notes The seven-game streak is the Rangers longest since a seven-gamer from Oct. 31-Nov. 15, 2011 ... New York improved to 10-2-1 against Metropolitan Division clubs and has earned at least a point in 11 straight divisional games ... Ovechkins goal was the 438th of his career, breaking a tie with Pavel Bure for the third-most by a Russian-born player in NHL history... Zuccarello now has 111 career points, tying Espen Knutsen for the most by a Norwegian-born player ... Capitals defenseman John Carlson assisted on both Washington goals. Detroit Tigers Store . The rookie is rewarding their faith with a stellar first season. MacKinnon had a goal and two assists, Jamie McGinn had two goals and an assist, and Colorado beat the Buffalo Sabres 7-1 on Saturday. Tigers Jerseys 2020 . Charlottetown scored four times in the third period en route to a 5-2 win over the defending champion Halifax Mooseheads on Friday. https://www.cheaptigers.com/ . Its been two seasons in one for both parties and neither will look back on the first 18 games fondly. "I think I took the fall for a lot of things," said Gay, reflecting on his short time in Toronto ahead of Wednesdays game against his former club. Detroit Tigers Gear . -- J.R. Sweezy was the one part of the Seattle Seahawks offensive line that had avoided injuries or having to change positions this season. Tigers Jerseys China . -- The Windsor Spitfires were left with just one goaltender Tuesday after having their starter walk out on them midway through Game 3 of their Ontario Hockey League playoff matchup with the London Knights.The Baltimore Ravens are back in the playoffs, while the Seattle Seahawks will be playing at home in them.Baltimore made the post-season in the first five years with John Harbaugh as coach and Joe Flacco at quarterback, winning the 2012 championship. They failed to get in last season, but a 20-10 victory Sunday, combined with San Diegos 19-7 loss at Kansas City, did the trick.The Ravens (10-6, the same record they had in their Super Bowl season), earned a wild card and will be seeded sixth in the AFC. They will play at AFC North champion Pittsburgh, their staunch division rival, next Saturday night.Anything can happen when you get into the playoffs, Flacco said. I wont be surprised if in three weeks from now were still sitting here playing.Defending Super Bowl champion Seattle earned the top seed in the NFC by beating St. Louis 20-6. The Seahawks, winners of the NFC West, were 7-1 at home at the intimidating CenturyLink Field, and have a bye next week. They will play on Saturday, Jan. 10.Our main goal coming into the season was winning the division, but getting the No. 1 seed is just as big, Seattle linebacker K.J. Wright said.Green Bay won the NFC North by handling Detroit 30-20 and got the No. 2 seed in the conference and a bye. Both the Packers and Seahawks finished 12-4, with the tiebreaker Seattles opening victorry against Green Bay.ddddddddddddDetroit (11-5) will play at NFC East champ Dallas (12-4) in the wild-card round next Sunday. Green Bays first game will be the following Sunday.We prefer to play here. So, yeah, but this is playoff football now. Everything changes once we get going in two weeks. Playing at home doesnt guarantee you anything and there are no guarantees, but this is definitely where we prefer to play, coach Mike McCarthy said.Carolina (7-8-1) became the second division champion with a losing record in NFL history. Its 34-3 rout at Atlanta earned the NFC South title.The Panthers will host injury-ravaged Arizona (11-5), which fell to San Francisco 20-17 but got the other NFC wild card. That game is next Saturday.The beautiful thing — record doesnt matter, coach Ron Rivera said. Thats the best part.AFC East champion New England (12-4) owns home-field advantage in the conference and will be off next weekend before resuming on Jan. 10. Denver (12-4), the West winner, also will have a bye after defeating Oakland, 47-14. The Broncos will play next on Jan. 11.The AFC North champion Steelers (11-5) beat Cincinnati 27-17 for that title. The Bengals (10-5-1) got a wild-card berth and are at South champion Indianapolis (11-5) next Sunday.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '