, has won two straight and three of his last five tournaments overall,

ANAHEIM, Calif. Nick Gordon Jersey . -- With the Anaheim Ducks bearing down on him all night, Jaroslav Halak couldnt relax for even a moment in front of the Washington Capitals net until the horn sounded on another victory. None of the Caps can afford to take many more breathers if they hope to make it back to the post-season. Alex Ovechkin scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period, and the Capitals kept up their playoff push with a 3-2 victory Tuesday night. Joel Ward and Troy Brouwer also scored for the Capitals, who have won three straight to pull into an eighth-place tie with Columbus for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They barely held off the Ducks, who threw 45 shots at Halak and pressed right up to the final seconds. "We cant worry about anything else thats going to happen except for our games," said Halak, who made 43 saves in his sixth consecutive start. "Right now, two points are all huge, any way we can get them." The Caps havent trailed during their winning streak. But even after Ovechkin scored his 46th goal early in a power play, they were in a nail-biter against Anaheim. "That was a huge game," Ovechkin said. "We prepared for it, and we were ready for it. We played one of the best teams in the league." Ovechkins goal was just the second in seven games for last seasons NHL MVP, but the Capitals need every goal and victory possible on their three-game California road trip. The Blue Jackets and Detroit, one point back in ninth place, both have two games in hand on Washington. Ben Lovejoy and Mathieu Perreault scored for the Ducks, who have lost four straight home games while falling out of first place in the overall NHL standings. Anaheim is still near the top of the Western Conference playoff race, but San Jose has caught the Ducks atop the Pacific Division standings. The teams meet Thursday at the Shark Tank. Jonas Hiller stopped 27 shots, but the Ducks have lost to the Capitals in each of their last four visits to Honda Center. "I think we had a lot of looks and were shooting the puck, but we werent getting to any loose pucks," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. "You can make a million and one excuses, but were just not getting the job done." Washington hadnt visited Honda Center since Feb. 16, 2011, nine months before the Capitals fired Boudreau, who was hired by Anaheim two days later. "This was a big one for Bruce, and we all knew it," Lovejoy said. "I think we came out with a lot of passion. When were skating and playing tough hockey, we get our forecheck going, and we had that going tonight. We just werent able to put more than two in the net." Ward got his 21st goal on a fat rebound just 2:11 in, scoring in his third consecutive game. Lovejoy tied it 59 seconds later on an unobstructed slap shot set up by a terrible Washington line change. Brouwer scored on a power play in the final seconds of the first period for the Caps, getting his third goal in two games off another rebound. Anaheim generated nothing from a two-man advantage for 1:51 early in the second period, adding to the power-play woes of an otherwise powerful offensive club. The Ducks entered the game in a 2-for-42 slump in their previous 13 games, and they went scoreless in their first four chances against Washington. "At the end, it came down to the fact that our special teams werent special," Lovejoy said. Perreault, the former Capitals centre, put a wrist shot past Halak, who was thoroughly screened by Patrick Maroon, to tie it right after a power play expired early in the third period. But just 1:12 later, Nicklas Backstrom won a faceoff and John Carlson got the puck to Ovechkin, who put a typically vicious one-timer past Hiller. Stephane Robidas played more than 13 minutes in his debut for the Ducks, who acquired the veteran defenceman from Dallas two weeks ago for the playoff push. Robidas filled in for Cam Fowler, who missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. "It wasnt my best, but the first one is out of the way now," Robidas said. NOTES: Dustin Penner returned to Honda Center for the first time since Anaheim traded him to Washington on March 4. Penner had 13 goals and 19 assists in 49 games this season in his second stint with the Ducks, but was a frequent healthy scratch. ... Halak was in Anaheim with the Blues on Feb. 28 when he was traded to Buffalo, forcing him to leave Honda Center early while St. Louis faced the Ducks with a locker room attendant as their backup goalie. ... Boudreau won his first game against his former team when the Ducks beat the Capitals 3-2 on Dec. 23. Sergio Romo Twins Jersey . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Frank Viola Twins Jersey . Langer appeared to be in trouble when his second shot on the par-5 18th ended up in the rough short of the green. He hit a brilliant pitch to 5 feet and made the putt after Slumans birdie attempt rolled just wide. https://www.cheaptwins.com/192t-kent-hrbek-jersey-twins.html . -- Craig Anderson has quite a record against his former team, the Florida Panthers.Paris, France - Reigning champion Novak Djokovic, former titlist Roger Federer and Andy Murray were among Thursdays third-round winners at the $3.7 million Paris Masters. The two-time Paris Masters champ Djokovic got past French favorite and two- time tournament runner-up Gael Monfils 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) in the Day 4 nightcap. The Wimbledon champion Djokovic will face Murray in a quarterfinal showdown here on Friday. The Serb is 14-8 in their lifetime series, including 3-0 this year and 8-4 in Masters matchups. The second-seeded former world No. 1 Federer handled 20-year-old French qualifier Lucas Pouille 6-4, 6-4 on the indoor hardcourts at Paris Palais Omnisports. Federers quarterfinal opponent on Friday will be Canadian slugger Milos Raonic. The 33-year-old Federer is fresh off his title in his hometown of Basel, Switzerland, last week and was the Paris Masters champ in 2011. Hes currently riding a 14-match overall winning streak, including a title at the Shanghai Masters just three weeks ago. Meanwhile, the eighth-seeded former world No. 2 star Murray humbled ninth- seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-3 in 69 minutes. I made it very difficult for Grigor, said Murray. I hardly made any mistakes at all thhroughout the match. Stitched Twins Jerseys. The win cemented Murrays spot in the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London in two weeks. Murray is fresh off his title in Valencia, has won two straight and three of his last five tournaments overall, and riding an 11-match winning streak. A Day 4 upset came when 14th-seeded South African Kevin Anderson took out third-seeded Australian Open champ Stan Wawrinka 6-7 (2-7), 7-5, 7-6 (7-3). The 6-foot-8 Anderson will face 2005 Paris Masters titlist Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals. Four other stars avoided upsets, as fourth-seeded David Ferrer drilled fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-1, 6-2; a fifth-seeded Berdych handled 12th- seeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 7-5, 6-3; sixth-seeded U.S. Open runner-up Kei Nishikori held off 10th-seeded French favorite and former Paris Masters champion and former runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 4-6, 6-4; and a seventh- seeded Raonic tackled 11th seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 7-5, 7-6 (9-7). Ferrer titled here two years ago and was last years Paris Masters runner- up to Djokovic. The Spaniards quarterfinal opponent will be Nishikori. This marks the final tournament of the regular season on the ATP World Tour. ' ' '