JETS 2, BLUES 1

Mark Scheifele had a goal and assist, Kyle Connor scored his second consecutive game-winner in the third period, and Winnipeg beat St. Louis for a lead in their opening-round playoff series.

Connor Hellebuyck stopped 21 shots to help the Jets take a 2-0 playoff series lead for the first time in three seasons. The past two years, Winnipeg won the first game and then lost the next four to be eliminated.

Rookie Jimmy Snuggerud scored his first playoff goal and Jordan Binnington had 20 saves for the eighth-seeded Blues.

The Blues continued their hitting ways from the first game’s 5-3 loss and the Jets didn’t back down.

Within the first minute of Game 2, St. Louis skaters delivered five hits. Winnipeg responded with a pair of their own.

Scheifele scored on a great effort to get around a St. Louis defender and then fired a backhand from the slot. The puck bounced off Snuggerud into the net with 3:28 left.

CAPITALS 3, CANADIENS 2, OT

Alex Ovechkin scored the first playoff overtime goal of his NHL career to give Washington a victory over Montreal in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

Fresh off breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record for the most goals in league history 15 days earlier, Ovechkin’s second of the game 3:26 into OT allowed the Eastern Conference top-seeded Capitals to escape after blowing a two-goal third-period lead. Before letting it slip away, they spent much of the night bullying the smaller, less experienced Canadiens with one big hit after another.

But it was not easy. Pierre-Luc Dubois’ penalty paved the way for Cole Caufield to start Montreal’s comeback bid with 9:28 left in regulation. The Capitals tried to hold on, and a defensive-zone mess allowed Nick Suzuki to tie it with 4:15 left on a shot into a wide-open net after goaltender Logan Thompson slid out to his right and was inadvertently knocked out of the crease by teammate Connor McMichael as he tried to keep the puck out.