Red-hot Senators hand Caps third straight loss

(Reuters) - The Ottawa Senators cruised to their fourth win in a row with a 5-2 victory over the slumping Washington Capitals on Wednesday.

Milan Michalek scored twice to help Ottawa jump out to a 4-0 lead in the second period and the Senators breezed to a win that helped tighten their grip on seventh spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Senators have won each of their last four games by at least three goals. Goaltender Craig Anderson finished with 33 saves for Ottawa (33-22-8), who lead eighth-placed Toronto by seven points.

Washington (29-26-5) remain out of the playoff picture in 10th after their third consecutive defeat.

John Carlson and Mathieu Perreault scored back-to-back goals to pull the Capitals within 4-2 midway through the third period, but Ottawa's Nick Foligno ended their hopes with a score in the final two minutes.

"We got behind real quick on a couple of miscues in the d-zone and we just dug too big of a hole," Washington forward Brooks Laich told reporters.

The Capitals played again without Alex Ovechkin, who was missing because of a lower-body injury, but even with the Russian in their starting lineup Washington have struggled of late.

Washington were hoping to earn a four-game regular season sweep over the Senators but quickly fell behind when Ottawa defenseman Erik Karlsson scored in the first to continue his incredible run this season.

Karlsson added two assists on the night and leads all NHL defenseman in points with 60. He has 20 more than the nearest performer.

"Sometimes you've just got to be lucky," Karlsson said. "The team has been playing well and I feel really good out there."

Chris Phillips also scored in the second for the Senators who chased Washington goaltender Tomas Vokoun after he allowed four goals on 11 shots.

(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Rutherford/Patrick Johnston)