With the playoff push heading into its final three weeks, it’s a good time for the goal scorers on contending teams to get hot. No one is sizzling more than Washington star Alexander Ovechkin, who has scored eight goals and averaged more than two points a game in six March contests.

Ovechkin scored twice and netted the game-winner with 1:54 remaining Wednesday night, giving the Capitals a key 3-2 win over Calgary. He now has 56 goals in his quest to be the first 60-goal scorer since Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr in 1995-96.

Unfortunately for the Caps, they are just 3-3-0 in March, and they are five points out of the eighth and final postseason berth in the Eastern Conference with 11 games to play. They have fallen seven points behind the Southeast Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes, who are 5-0-0 this month and have won eight of their last nine games.

The Hurricanes have been sparked by Eric Staal, who has netted four goals and 12 points in those five contests. He was good for a goal and two assists in Wednesday’s 3-0 blanking of the Chicago Blackhawks. Only Ovechkin has more points this month.

Most Goals in March. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Most Points in March

Player. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .G. . . . .Player. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pts
Alexander Ovechkin, Was. . . . . . .8. . . . .Alexander Ovechkin, Was. . . . . . . . 14
Jeff Carter, Phi. . . . . . . . . . . . . .7. . . .Eric Staal, Car. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Brad Boyes, StL. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. . . . .Mats Sundin, Tor. . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Andrew Cogliano, Edm. . . . . . . . .5. . . . .Jeff Carter, Phi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Johan Franzen, Det. . . . . . . . . . .5. . . . .Evgeni, Malkin, Pit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Dany Heatley, Ott. . . . . . . . . . . .5. . . . .Kimmo Timonen, Phi. . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Zach Parise, NJ. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. . . . .Four others with. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Like the Caps, the Toronto Maple Leafs are five points out of the postseason picture. They looked buried until a 7-2-1 surge that includes this week’s home-and-home sweep of the No. 8 seed, the Philadelphia Flyers. Leafs captain Mats Sudin has tallied four goals and 10 points in six games this month, but Toronto’s playoff push may have taken a hit when Sundin suffered a groin strain in the first period of Wednesday’s 3-2 victory in Philadelphia.

Jeff Carter scored one of the Flyers’ goals, giving him four in Philadelphia’s last three contests, and he has seven for the month. The eighth-seeded Flyers are 3-2-2 in this stretch, and they remain four points ahead of Buffalo and five in front of Toronto, Washington and Florida.

The Detroit Red Wings have maintained their position atop the Western Conference with four wins in four games this month. It’s not the usual suspects finding the net in March. No Red Wing tops the five tallies from Johan Franzen, who has pushed his goal total for the season to 17. Franzen, Edmonton’s Andrew Cogliano and Ottawa’s Dany Heatley each have three game-winners in March.