Ovechkin scores twice, extends goal streak to five, Capitals top Rangers

WASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin scored twice in the third period to run his goal streak to five games, and the Washington Capitals rallied for their seventh consecutive win, 2-1 against the New York Rangers at Capital One Arena on Friday.

Ovechkin has scored seven goals in his past seven games and 720 in the NHL, 11 behind Marcel Dionne for fifth in history.
Vitek Vanecek made 32 saves for the Capitals (20-6-4), who have the longest active winning streak in the NHL. They will play the Rangers in the second game of their back-to-back series here Saturday.
"It's obviously not the start we wanted. We were a little slow, they jumped on us pretty quick," Washington defenseman Justin Schultz said. "They're a fast team, a good team. We battled. Vitek was huge for us, [we] stayed in it and found a way to get the win."

Artemi Panarin scored for a third straight game, and Alexandar Georgiev made 16 saves for the Rangers (12-13-4).
"Yeah, it's tough to stomach because you feel like we played pretty well," New York forward Chris Kreider said. "I thought we played a really good road game. They jump on two big opportunities there in the third. … We were able to limit chances from a very good team, so definitely a lot of good takeaways."
The Rangers played their second game without coach David Quinn and assistants Jacques Martin, David Oliver and Greg Brown, who remain unavailable due to NHL COVID-19 protocol guidelines.
Kris Knoblauch, coach of Hartford of the American Hockey League, filled in for Quinn.
"I think the guys were just feeling a lot more confident after the Philadelphia [Flyers] game (a 9-0 win Wednesday)," Knoblauch said. "To win a hockey game, you score some goals, it feels better, and they just wanted to carry that out. They knew that they were going to have to have a solid effort."

The Capitals tied it 1-1 at 13:18 of the third period when Schultz's shot hit Evgeny Kuznetsov near the net and Ovechkin knocked in the puck from the slot.
"Sometimes you have to get those really gritty ones," Ovechkin said. "It's still the same whether it's a goal from my spot [left circle], or whatever. It's [a] most important goal and I'll take it."
Ovechkin made it 2-1 at 16:27 when he scored in front off the rebound of John Carlson's shot.
"[Ovechkin] goes to the hard areas and that proves it right there," Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. "I thought we did a better job of finding pucks that actually got through to the net in the third period, and he was in the right position. That was where he was supposed to be."
Panarin gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 16:42 of the first period. After Adam Fox hit the post, Ryan Strome got the rebound in the right circle and passed across to Panarin, whose one-timer from the right circle deflected in off Vanecek.
Panarin has three goals and four assists in four games since missing nine games during a leave of absence.
"We had some breakdowns down low. A couple of rebounds in front in the last five minutes," Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba said. "It's tough to lose that way, but I don't think we're looking at that. We're looking at the good things we did for 55 minutes of that game."
NOTES:Ovechkin has scored 115 game-winning goals, three behind Phil Esposito for third in NHL history behind Jaromir Jagr (135) and Gordie Howe (121). … Ovechkin tied Howe for fourth in NHL history with 147 multigoal games. He trails Wayne Gretzky (189), Brett Hull (158) and Mario Lemieux (154). … Carlson (393 assists) passed Mike Gartner for fourth in Capitals history behind Nicklas Backstrom (705), Ovechkin (583) and Michal Pivonka (418). … Washington's Zdeno Chara turned 44 on Thursday. He joins Chris Chelios, Doug Harvey and Tim Horton as the NHL defensemen to play at 44 or older. … Kuznetsov has scored seven points (one goal, six assists) in a six-game point streak. … Rangers forward Brendan Smith played his 500th NHL game. … The Rangers streak of 10 straight goals ended. It was their longest over a span of multiple games since they scored 10 from April 18-19, 2013. … The Rangers held the Capitals to 18 shots on goal, tying their season low (March 13 at the Boston Bruins).