The Anaheim Ducks opened up a three-point gap in the NHL's overall standings on Sunday, surging clear of the Nashville Predators and Montreal Canadians.
A third straight win saw the Ducks rise to 105 points, with Nashville and Montreal (both 102) sitting second in the race for the Presidents' Trophy.
Anaheim defeated the New Jersey Devils 2-1 with Ryan Kesler and Francois Beauchemin scoring for the Ducks before Dainius Zubrus pulled a goal back for the home side with less than four minutes remaining.
The Presidents' Trophy is awarded to the team with the best overall points tally in the regular season
Anaheim have just four games left before the play-offs but have an advantage equivalent to 1.5 wins, while the Predators have five matches remaining.
Montreal have six games before the end of the regular season, while the New York Rangers (101 points) have seven.
The Rangers and the Predators both missed chances to move outright second on Sunday, losing their matches 5-2 to the Washington Capitals and Calgary Flames respectively.
After Alex Ovechkin had given Washington the lead at Madison Square Garden, Kevin Hayes and Derick Brassard put the Rangers in front at home by the end of the first period.
But Ovechkin levelled the game in the second period, before a Jason Chimera brace and a goal from Marcus Johansson in the final stanza secured victory for the Capitals.
In Nashville, Lance Bouma struck twice in the Flames' three-goal victory.
The Rangers still lead the Eastern Conference's Metropolitan division but the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders (95 points each) both reduced the former's lead to six points with wins.
Pittsburgh needed a shoot-out to overcome the San Jose Sharks 3-2, while the Islanders held off the Detroit Red Wings to prevail 5-4.
The Chicago Blackhawks scored twice in the third period to account for the Winnipeg Jets 4-3, the Florida Panthers defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-2 and the Boston Bruins needed overtime to win 2-1 at the Carolina Hurricanes.