Caps Double Up Rangers to Halt Slide

Facing the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon in the finale of what had been a fruitless three-game homestand, the Caps were in desperate need any kind of win they could get. When the dust settled at the end of the afternoon, the Caps had a 6-3 victory over the Rangers, a victory they hope can propel them to more of the same.

Saturday's win halted the Capitals' longest regulation losing streak in nearly two decades, a six-game slide that stretched back two weeks. Saturday's triumph also ended Washington's home losing streak at five straight.
T.J. Oshie scored the Caps' first two goals and Evgeny Kuznetsov netted the last two as Washington broke open a six-pack on the Rangers, the team's biggest offensive outburst in well over a month.
"The pucks went in the net," explains Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "In four of the last five games, we pressed like crazy and we couldn't get any to drop. I didn't necessarily think that we were outdone in four of those five games, we just hate the scoreboard and we hate the result. Tonight, we were able to get them to drop. But certainly a good, spirited effort right from the start."
Darcy Kuemper was excellent in the Washington nets, making a number of key stops early in the game when it was still tight. Seconds before Oshie's second goal gave Washington the lead for good, Kuemper stopped three New York shots off three different sticks in a span of three seconds. He finished the afternoon with 23 saves and his 17th win of the season.
For the second time in as many games, the Caps used precisely the same formula to take a 1-0 lead in the first period. After earning an early power play, the Caps scored first at 4:25 when T.J. Oshie tipped home an Erik Gustafsson center point shot on the man advantage. The shot and the result looked like a virtual replay of Washington's first goal in Thursday's 4-2 loss to Anaheim.
Minutes later, the Rangers pulled even on a tipped point shot of their own, albeit at even strength. Barclay Goodrow caught a piece of Tyler Motte's shot from the left point, deflecting it past Darcy Kuemper at 8:00 of the first.
Seconds after that, an Oshie hit on Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren sent the blueliner awkwardly into the boards, ending his afternoon. Goodrow and Oshie fought immediately after the ensuing face-off, putting both players two-thirds of the way to a Gordie Howe hat trick before the midpoint of the first.
Washington skirted some penalty trouble midway through the frame, killing off a pair of penalties in short succession that resulted in a two-man advantage for 57 seconds for New York.
The Caps erupted in the middle frame, scoring a quartet of goals to blow the game open.
Washington's middle period parade started with Oshie's second goal of the game off the rush at 3:16. From the left half wall, Dylan Strome made a perfect feed to Oshie, who cruised into the slot and ripped a wrist shot past Igor Shesterkin's outstretched glove hand.
Less than four minutes later, Tom Wilson took a springing feed from Trevor van Riemsdyk and walked down Broadway and straight to the net, scoring to make it 3-1 at 7:05. Wilson's goal gave the Caps their first multi-goal lead in two weeks.
Just after the midpoint of the middle period, Oshie walked straight down Broadway as Wilson had done minutes earlier, Bidding for the hat trick, he rang a shot off the left post. Shesterkin stopped Kuznetsov's follow-up, but Sonny Milano was parked at the doorstep as usual, and he backhanded it home for a 4-1 Washington lead at 12:52.
With a secondary helper on the Milano goal, Oshie recorded the first Gordie Howe hat trick (goal, assist, fight) of his NHL career.
"We've been working real hard regardless of if we've been winning or losing, but working the right way," says Oshie, "And tonight was no different.
"You need your big players to step up. I get paid a lot of money to put offense up on the board and I haven't been doing that as of late, so it felt good to get a couple."
Kuznetsov joined the party late in the frame, hopping over the boards and taking a stretch feed from Nicolas Aube-Kubel. Kuznetsov beat Shesterkin on a breakaway to send to the Caps to the second intermission with a 5-1 advantage.
With a full two-minute, two-man advantage in the front half of the third, the Rangers got one back when Chris Kreider tipped an Adam Fox point shot past Kuemper at 6:49.
Kuznetsov made good on his second breakaway of the game at 13:22, and New York's Kaapo Kakko scored with 27.7 seconds left to account for the 6-3 final.
"Usually I get like six or seven breakaways a year," says Kuznetsov, recounting a conversation he had with his father. "And I had zero this year. We just talked about that stuff, and today, I had two breakaways."
Kuznetsov made good on both of them, too. He reached the double-digit level in goals for the season on Saturday; he now has 11.
"The defense was awful tonight," says Rangers coach Gerard Gallant. "Defensively, we were awful. To give up those scoring chances, how many odd-man rushes? How many breakaways? We were more focused on trying to score goals than defensive goals, and we gave them way too many chances."
Washington entered Saturday's game with a League-low average of just 2.11 goals per game over its previous 19 games, scoring two or fewer times in 13 of those 19 contests. Too many Caps have been too quiet offensively as of late, but the team's best players stepped to the fore on Saturday and helped to engineer an absolutely critical victory.
"Tonight, they dropped for us," reiterates Laviolette. "I thought some of our big guys were right on point with their game, and that certainly helps as well. It was a big night for Osh, Kuzy had a big night, and Tom Wilson had a big night. Those guys leading the way really sets the tone for our team."