PHILADELPHIA (AP) Alex Ovechkin scored twice, Braden Holtby had 31 saves and the Washington Capitals moved one game closer to a sweep in their first-round playoff series with a 6-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night.

The Capitals lead a series 3-0 for the first time in franchise history. Game 4 is Wednesday night in Philadelphia.

Ovechkin snapped a tie game with his 38th postseason goal and Holtby made the lead stand with his third straight sensational effort in the series. The Capitals scored five power-play goals, including four in the third period.

Related: Flyers honor Ed Snider with emotional tribute before Game 3

The Flyers lost in their first home game since founder Ed Snider's death last week. Michael Raffl scored 57 seconds into the game and sent a crowd already rocking after an emotional pregame tribute into a frenzy.

But passion alone wasn't enough to fuel the Flyers.

Philadelphia fans showed the wrong kind of spirit late in the game when they tossed wristbands used as part of a pregame lights show on the ice as Washington turned this one into a rout.

Related: Simmonds, Ovechkin plead with Flyers fans to stop throwing bracelets

Flyers public address announcer Lou Nolan urged fans to ''show some class'' during the first wave of band tossing. He later told fans the Flyers would be hit with a penalty if they kept throwing the objects on the ice. Sure enough, the wristbands kept coming, and the Flyers were hit with a bench minor for delay of game. Nolan said, ''way to go,'' and the fans cheered as if they were proud of the penalty.

The Flyers dedicated their postseason run to Snider, who died last week after a two-year battle with cancer.

The Flyers hanged a banner outside the arena with Snider's picture and the caption ''A Flyer Forever.'' His silhouette was inside the Flyers logo for the customary playoff T-shirt giveaway, and some fans left flowers and cards at a makeshift memorial next to the team flag.

''EMS'' - initials for Edward Malcolm Snider - were painted on the ice behind each net.

Lauren Hart, the team's longtime anthem singer, sang ''God Bless America'' with Snider's name and ''67'' on the back of her team jersey. The Flyers' first season was 1967-68. Hart's eyes watered and her hands were shaking throughout her performance.

Raffl knocked in the first shot of the game off Brandon Manning's attempt from the point and a packed arena went wild.

The Flyers had motivation, home ice and a bit of history on their side - Washington had been 0-7 in Game 3s of best-of-seven playoff series when leading 2-0.

But this season's Capitals had the best record in the NHL and thoroughly outplayed the Flyers in the first two games. Once the crowd and the Flyers settled down, the Capitals got going and looked every bit as dominant as they had all season.

Marcus Johansson tied the game at 1-all in the first, beating a beleaguered Steve Mason for his first career postseason goal. Mason was back in net following his Game 2 gaffe that has been replayed on an endless loop in Philly - Jason Chimera's 101-foot tip-in on a play that would have been icing had it not gone on net.

Mason had a pair of easy goals scored against him that hushed the Philly crowd.

Ovechkin bounced over the boards and snapped a long-distance wrist shot from above the circle past Mason. That gave Ovechkin 38 goals and 34 assists to match Dale Hunter for first on Washington's career playoff points list with 72.

Related: Ovechkin claims 1st place on Capitals all-time playoff scoring list

Mason was befuddled again in the third. Justin Williams' shot off the boards settled near Mason, who pawed at the puck and it trickled away. Evgeny Kuznetsov pounced and pounded in the goal for a 3-1 lead on just 18 shots.

John Carlson, Ovechkin and Jay Beagle made it 6-1 with power-play goals in the third. The Capitals have eight in the series.

The Flyers are 0 for 13 in the series.

Claude Giroux, who led the Flyers with 67 points, has none this series.

Notes: Capitals D Brooks Orpik left in the second period with an undisclosed injury. Ryan White hit Orpik into the boards and he went down. Orpik needed help walking to the locker room. ... Washington had never led a series 3-0 in 35 best-of-seven playoff series.

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ANAHEIM, Calif. - Craig Smith had a goal and an assist, Pekka Rinne made 27 saves and the Nashville Predators confidently claimed their second straight road victory to open their first-round series, 3-2 over the Anaheim Ducks in Game 2 on Sunday night.

Shea Weber and Mattias Ekholm also scored as the Predators took a 2-0 playoff series lead for the first time in franchise history with another win over the Pacific Division champions.

Smith got the tiebreaking goal midway through the second period on a slick setup from Forsberg, and Weber's booming shot put the Predators up 3-1 during a power play.

Nate Thompson cut into the lead with 2:42 to play, but Nashville closed out just its second road playoff victory since 2012.

Game 3 is Tuesday night in Nashville.

Andrew Cogliano scored and John Gibson stopped 24 shots for the Ducks, who have lost four straight postseason games dating to last year's Western Conference finals.

Related: Neal slyly tries to poke stick through Gibson's mask

The Ducks, who lost their regular-season home finale, hadn't lost three straight at Honda Center since mid-November. That was well before their phenomenal run from 29th place in the NHL standings to their fourth straight Pacific Division title.

That run won't last much longer if Anaheim can't solve the Predators, who have won just two playoff series in their entire franchise history - the same number won by Anaheim last season.

Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg each had two assists as Nashville took command of the series and silenced a boisterous arena in Game 2.

The Predators matched Anaheim's physical play, while Forsberg led an opportunistic offense in front of Rinne. The imposing Finnish goalie has outplayed Gibson, the rookie who has lost four straight postseason starts since 2014.

Neither team dominated the series opener, won 3-2 by the Predators. Anaheim gave up an opening-minute goal in Game 1, but held the Predators without a shot in the first five minutes of Game 2.

After Nashville's power play came up empty twice, Cogliano put the Ducks ahead when he blocked a dump-in by Weber and sped past Barret Jackman to score on a breakaway.

Ekholm tied it on a backhand late in the first after a setup from Colin Wilson. Smith then put the Predators ahead midway through the second on a pass from Forsberg after a sharp play along the boards by Josi.

Thompson trimmed the lead with a backhand that deflected off Josi's leg.

The Ducks lost defenseman Josh Manson to an upper-body injury at the first-period horn in Game 1, but veteran Kevin Bieksa returned to the lineup for his first playoff game with Anaheim. Bieksa hadn't played since March 24 due to an undisclosed injury.

NOTES: Weber played his 47th postseason game for Nashville, matching David Legwand for the franchise record. ... James Neal stoked the Ducks' anger later in the second when he took an unpenalized whack at Gibson's mask with his stick long after the whistle blew. ... Weber played 27:36.

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DETROIT - Andreas Athanasiou and Henrik Zetterberg scored, Petr Mrazek made 16 saves and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 on Sunday night.

Related: Watch: Red Wings' Athanasiou follows up brilliant near miss with opening goal

Detroit cut its deficit to 2-1 in the first-round series. Game 4 is Tuesday night at Joe Louis Arena. Game 5, which is now necessary, will be at Tampa Bay.

After brawling late in the last game, gloves were dropped, fists flew and there were piles of players on the ice when the Game 3 ended.

Related: Watch: Boyle taunts Abdelkader with chicken dance

Ben Bishop made 28 saves for the Lightning, who had their top line of Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn shut down after the trio combined for six points in the first two games of the series.

Kucherov scored first in each of the first two games, while Killorn and Johnson scored the tie-breaking goals in the third periods.

Detroit's rookie coach, Jeff Blashill, benched goaltender Jimmy Howard for Game 3 and put Mrazek in net. The move seemed to work, though, as the Red Wings' swarming defense and backchecking forwards limited Tampa Bay's shots on net.

At the other end, the Red Wings kept Bishop much busier.

Athanasiou, a rookie, scored his first career playoff goal midway through the second period on a one-timer from the left circle that fluttered between Bishop's stick on the short side.

Zetterberg, in his 13th postseason, crashed the net late in the second period and was credited with a goal that appeared to go off his left skate. The goal stood after a video review and a challenge from Lightning coach Jon Cooper.

Blashill made another decision that paid off by putting Brendan Smith, who had been a healthy scratch since March 26, in the lineup instead of Kyle Quincey in the lineup. Smith used his right shoulder to put Cedric Paquette on his back early in the game. Smith, an agitating player, also drew another penalty late in the game.

Tampa Bay went on the power play for the first time late in the second period and got a second opportunity to have an extra skater early in the third, and failed to take advantage of the chances to pull within a goal.

Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk, who said he plans to retire from the NHL after the playoffs, was called for tripping with 5:40 left and his teammates prevented Tampa Bay from making the most of the opportunity.

The Lightning pulled Bishop to add an extra skater with 2:28 left, but had to put him back in next 11 seconds later because Braydon Coburn was called for interference for hitting Smith, who didn't have a stick as he tried to push him away from the net.

Mrazek didn't have to make many saves, but he made enough to shut out the high-scoring Lightning. He had two shutouts against them last year, pushing the series to a Game 7 before being eliminated with a 2-0 loss.

NOTES: Lightning F J.T. Brown missed the game with an upper-body injury. ... Detroit D Alexey Marchenko was knocked out of part of the game after getting checked into the glass by Vladislav Namestnikov and needing stitches to repair a cut on his forehead.

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CHICAGO - Jaden Schwartz scored at 13:32 of the third period with Patrick Kane in the penalty box for high-sticking, and the St. Louis Blues beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on Sunday for a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Related: Watch: Blues break down Blackhawks, scoring dagger with 1-touch sequence

Patrik Berglund also scored in the third as St. Louis rallied for the win after a difficult 3-2 loss in Game 2 that included two key coach's challenges that went against the Blues. Brian Elliott made 44 saves, keeping St. Louis in the game during Chicago's strong second period.

Kane, the NHL's leading scorer this season and one of the favorites for league MVP, got four minutes for a high stick on defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, and St. Louis made the most of the chance to go in front.

Vladimir Tarasenko passed down low to David Backes, who sent it right to Schwartz in the slot. He beat Crawford low on the glove side for his third career playoff goal and a 3-2 lead with 6:38 left.

The Blackhawks pulled Corey Crawford for an extra attacker with 1:10 remaining, but Elliott and the Blues held on. Game 4 is Tuesday night in Chicago.

Brent Seabrook and Artem Anisimov scored for the Blackhawks, who dropped to 28-7 in home playoff games since the 2013 postseason. It was their first home playoff game since they hoisted the Stanley Cup at the United Center last June.

Anisimov's fluttering shot past Elliott at 1:04 of the second put Chicago in front, and Crawford's stellar play helped preserve the 2-1 lead for a while.

First, Crawford stuffed Carl Gunnarsson on a nice look in front. Then Blackhawks defenseman Michal Rozsival had an ugly turnover and Crawford made an outstanding glove save on Jori Lehtera at 5:31.

The sellout crowd of 22,207 responded with cheers of ''Co-rey! Co-rey!'' and then resumed the chants after the goaltender turned away Lehtera again and Tarasenko on a couple more prime opportunities. He finished with 33 saves.

Elliott had his own series of impressive stops on a Blackhawks power play in the second. He also caught a break when Andrew Ladd's shot bounced off the left post and then the right one with about 6:20 to go.

Berglund tied it at 5:15 of the third when his shot from the middle of the ice went off the inside of Rozsival's right leg and then skipped over Crawford's glove.

The pace of play only picked up after the teams exchanged power-play goals in the first, with Brent Seabrook scoring for Chicago and Colton Parayko responding for St. Louis. The Blackhawks outshot the Blues 24-13 in the second.

NOTES: Blues C Steve Ott replaced Ryan Reaves in the lineup for his first game since Dec. 5. Ott had hamstring surgery and then was diagnosed with colitis. ... Blackhawks F Dale Weise, who was acquired in a Feb. 26 trade with Montreal, got into the lineup for the first time in the series. F Richard Panik also was active, while Fs Andrew Desjardins and Brandon Mashinter were on the scratch list.

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LOS ANGELES - Captain Joe Pavelski scored his third goal in two games, Martin Jones made 27 saves and the San Jose Sharks took a 2-0 series lead on the Los Angeles Kings with a 2-1 victory in Game 2 on Saturday night.

Logan Couture also scored for the Sharks, who largely dominated their California rivals in their second straight road victory.

Jones made several key stops against his former Los Angeles teammates and hung on after losing his shutout bid on Vincent Lecavalier's power-play goal with 5:01 to play.

Jonathan Quick stopped 21 shots while losing to his former backup again.

Neither team has forgotten the Kings lost the first three games of their first-round series with San Jose in 2014, only to win four straight.

Game 3 is Monday night at the Shark Tank.

This is familiar territory: The Sharks went up 3-0 on Los Angeles in the first round in 2014, only to become the fourth team in NHL history to blow that lead when the Kings roared back.

While the Sharks' core is largely the same, the addition of several complementary players and coach Peter DeBoer suggest things could be different this year.

The Sharks led the NHL with 28 road victories this season, and they've snagged two more at Staples Center. But now they've got to go back to San Jose, where they were a sub-.500 team.

Pavelski was dominant in the series opener, scoring on the Sharks' first shot before adding the go-ahead goal early in the third period. He scored on the Sharks' first shot again in Game 2, slipping it through traffic past Quick, his U.S. Olympic teammate.

When Los Angeles took simultaneous penalties in the second period, Couture scored during 5-on-3 play after Quick got far out of position.

The Kings struggled for offense despite a boost from the return of Marian Gaborik, who missed the past two months with a knee injury. Top goal-scorer Tyler Toffoli was shut out again, and top scorer Anze Kopitar made little impact as the Sharks largely confined the Kings to the perimeter of the ice.

Lecavalier finally ended the Kings' 77:41 scoreless stretch with a rebound goal, but they couldn't equalize with Quick pulled in the final seconds.

Gaborik had missed 29 straight games since Feb. 12, but he returned to the Kings' starting lineup for Game 2. The Slovak scorer had a phenomenal postseason in 2014, contributing 14 goals on the way to his first Stanley Cup title.

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WASHINGTON - Washington's Braden Holtby made 41 saves, Philadelphia's Steve Mason gave up a goal from 101 feet away and Alex Ovechkin scored on the power play and the Capitals beat the Flyers 4-1 in Game 2 Saturday night to take a 2-0 series lead.

Ovechkin's 37th Stanley Cup playoff goal was as predictable as Jason Chimera's goal from beyond the red line was unexpected. Mason whiffed at the puck on what turned out to be the game-winner.

Related: Steve Mason allows goal on 100-foot deflection by Jason Chimera

The Flyers outshot the Capitals 42-23 and dominated for much of the game, but came up empty as John Carlson scored his second power-play goal in as many games and Nicklas Backstrom added one at even strength late. Jake Voracek scored the Flyers' only goal.

The series shifts to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Monday night.

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PITTSBURGH - Keith Yandle and Derick Brassard scored 18 seconds apart in the second period and Henrik Lundqvist looked just fine dealing with an eye injury and the New York Rangers stopped the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 on Saturday to even their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series at one game.

Mats Zuccarello and Chris Kreider also scored for the Rangers. J.T. Miller added three assists and New York handed Pittsburgh just its third loss in its past 18 games.

Lundqvist finished with 29 saves and showed no ill effects after getting accidentally slashed in the right eye by a teammate in Game 1, forcing him to leave after the first period.

Game 3 is Tuesday in New York.

Phil Kessel scored his first two playoff goals in three years, but the Penguins' defense broke down in front of backup goaltender Jeff Zatkoff, who made 24 saves.

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