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ST. LOUIS -- Alex Ovechkin took his place in the NHL record book and helped the Washington Capitals keep pace in the playoff race. Ovechkin became the 11th player in NHL history to score 50 more goals in a season five times and added two assists as the Capitals beat the slumping St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Tuesday night. The two points gave the Capitals 85, four behind Columbus for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Both the Blue Jackets and Capitals have three games left. "We talked this morning about all we can do is control our situation," Washington coach Adam Oates said. "Try and focus on tonight, get a win and see what happens tomorrow." The Blues clinched a playoff spot in the Western Conference a while ago, but their hopes of a Presidents Trophy are fading. Maxim Lapierre had the only goal for St. Louis, which has lost a season-high three straight. The Blues have been outscored 12-3 during the losing streak. St. Louis has scored two or fewer goals in nine of its last 11 games. "I thought the first period we were really good," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. "When we got down 3-1, we just seemed to lose our energy." Hitchcock said the Blues scoring problems are more than just the top lines not delivering. "I think its across the board," Hitchcock said. "When youre not scoring, you need to shoot, but its more the execution after we got down." Nicklas Backstrom scored twice and Mikhail Grabovski added another goal for the Capitals. Braden Holtby made 28 saves after he started over Jaroslav Halak, who played 40 games and recorded 24 wins for the Blues this season. Holtby also beat the Blues 4-1 on Nov. 17. "We got fortunate in some places, a broken stick on a wide-open shot and a few others where they just missed, but I think that was a credit to us pressuring them on those scoring chances," Holtby said. "Its a game of those little things and tonight we did that." Holtby said the Capitals have done what they had to do the last few games. "I think weve done a pretty good job of staying calm and just playing our game the last couple," Holtby said. "Its hard, its a tough thing, but we can only control what we can control now." Ovechkin, who added an assist, beat Ryan Miller with a one-timer from the left circle at 17:54 of the first period for his 50th goal overall and 23rd on the power play, both league highs. It is Ovechkins first 50-goal campaign since 2009-10 when he scored 50. His single-season high is 65 in the 2007-08 season. "It means a lot," Ovechkin said. "Thats a big number, and its going to be there my whole life." After Lapierre tied the game at 2:39 of the second period, Grabovski gave the Capitals the lead for good when he beat Miller with a slap shot from the left circle at 8:52 of the period. Ovechkin then gave Washington some insurance when he broke in down the right wing and fed Backstrom in the slot. Backstrom put it past Miller with 1:10 left in the second period to make it 3-1. "It was a great feed again," Backstrom said. "That was a seam pass there and that defenceman gave me a little room, so you have to take advantage of that." Washington began the third period on a power play and Backstrom put the game out of reach when he scored 16 seconds into the period. NOTES: Ovechkin is tied with Pavel Bure, Phil Esposito, Bobby Hull, Brett Hull and Steve Yzerman with five seasons of 50 or more goals. Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky accomplished that nine times, and Marcel Dionne, Guy Lafleur and Mario Lemieux had six such seasons. ... Alexander Steen returned to the Blues lineup after missing the last three games. ... Tuesday marked the first time the Capitals have been in St. Louis since Dec. 1, 2010, when they also beat the Blues 4-1. Saucony Shoes Factory Outlet . 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MADISON, Wis. -- Leave it to Bo Ryan to find fault with No. 4 Wisconsins biggest margin of victory of the young season or tying its best start in 70 years. But his players couldnt agree more. Though Ben Brust scored 18 points and Frank Kaminsky added 16 as the Badgers remained undefeated with a 78-52 victory over in-state rival Milwaukee on Wednesday night, Ryan and his players werent exactly thrilled with the effort. Despite its reputation as a disciplined basketball team, the Badgers committed three straight turnovers after missing their first shot. Other than Brust, they struggled offensively to open the game. And they were t 1 of 13 from behind the 3-point line in the second half. Still, that might seem a little nitpicky to some considering all the other things they did well. "Were going to see a lot in clips tomorrow," Brust promised. "Theres definitely some things that we missed, the bad start. Theres just spots throughout the whole game where we could have played a better 40 minutes altogether, but a good win. You cant be mad about that." This is rarefied air for the Badgers. Going 11-0 to open the season matches their record to open 1993-94, the programs best start since 1943. They have also cracked The Associated Press top 5 for only the second season with the 2006-07 squad reaching No. 1. Not that Ryan is taking any time to really bask in that. "Its like in class," Ryan said. "You do your assignments and then you get credit for them, and if you do them well, you get stars on your paper and a pat on the back. But if you stop doing them well, then everything else just kind of goes the other way." Though Wisconsin was far from perfect, it used one run to blow the game open and then capitalized on repeated mistakes by Milwaukee (9-3) to make sure the game stayed out of reach. Early on, only Brust was connecting. But he hit his first six shots, including four from behind the 3-point line.dddddddddddd That was good enough to help the Badgers open a 22-13 lead more than midway through the first half even as his teammates opened 3 of 11. Then the rest of the team found its stroke. Wisconsin reeled off a 23-7 run that featured five 3-pointers by five Badgers to blow the game open, and the Badgers finished the half 9 for 13 from deep. Sam Dekker and Traevon Jackson scored 12 points apiece for Wisconsin. Milwaukee, meanwhile, couldnt get out of the hole it dug in the first half, when the Panthers turned the ball over 11 times and the Badgers turned them into 18 points. Things got marginally better in the second half, when the Panthers committed another eight turnovers that resulted in 10 more Wisconsin points. The 19 turnovers tied their season high. Milwaukee coach Rob Jeter, a former assistant to Ryan, said the Panthers were trying to make "everything happen in one pass, one play." "We just didnt have the opportunities that we needed to to give yourself a chance against a Wisconsin team," Jeter said. "Turn the ball that many times, give up 28 points, thats hard to overcome when they are shooting the ball the way they did in the first half." Kyle Kelm scored 17 points to lead the Panthers, while Matt Tiby added 11. Tiby came in as the Panthers leading scorer, and though he finished in double figures, the Badgers played him physically all game. Kaminsky blocked Tibys first shot and the Milwaukee forward was 3 for 10 and had six turnovers. Milwaukee cut the Badgers lead to 16 points once in the second half, but that was snuffed out by a quick 10-0 Wisconsin run. "We knew hes a worker," Ryan said of Tiby. "We know he brings a lot of fire to the court. Hes tenacious. So we just tried to match that and then some, just tried to make his looks tougher." ' ' '