Ovechkin moves up NHL goals list, Capitals top Rangers in opener

WASHINGTON --Alex Ovechkin scored twice to pass Marcel Dionne for fifth on the NHL goals list, and the Washington Capitals spoiled Gerard Gallant's New York Rangers coaching debut with a 5-1 win at Capital One Arena on Wednesday in the season opener for each team.

"I just enjoy my time," Ovechkin said. "Of course, it's a huge privilege being on that list, but how I always say, game by game, day by day."
Ovechkin, who also had two assists after being a game-time decision because of a lower-body injury, tied Dionne at 731 when he knocked in a loose puck to make it 4-0 on the power play at 2:37 of the third period after John Carlson's shot deflected off Washington forward Anthony Mantha.
Ovechkin scored No. 732 when he got behind the Rangers defense, gathered a pass that caromed off the end boards and put a backhand past Alexandar Georgiev for a shorthanded goal and a 5-1 lead at 12:01.
"I've only been here a short time, and it seems like every night we're acknowledging him for something, he's passing somebody or he's doing something special," second-year Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. "Tonight's a real big accomplishment to jump up the list like that."
Nineteen-year-old Hendrix Lapierre scored in his NHL debut, T.J. Oshie had a goal and an assist, and Justin Schultz scored for Washington. Evgeny Kuznetsov had three assists, and Vitek Vanecek made 23 saves.
Laviolette passed John Tortorella for the most NHL wins by a United States-born coach. He is 674-440-128 with 25 ties.

Chris Kreider scored, and Georgiev made 22 saves for the Rangers.
"Two different games," said Gallant, who was hired June 16, replacing David Quinn. "I thought the first 33 minutes we were really good even though were behind 2-0, a couple of power play goals that they scored. They got the bounces on both of them. But I thought we played a [heck] of a 33 minutes and after that we weren't too good."
The Capitals were 3-for-6 on the power play. The Rangers were 1-for-5.
"Especially against a team like Washington, you don't want to take too many penalties," New York center Mika Zibanejad said. "That's something we have to get better at in the future and think about, but without taking anything away from our aggressiveness and playing hard."
Oshie gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 4:39 of the first period when he reached behind Georgiev and swept in a loose puck during a power play.
Capitals defenseman Nick Jensen scored at 9:22, but the goal was overturned after the Rangers challenged for offside.
Schultz made it 2-0 with a power-play goal from the point at 12:38 of the second period.
Washington scored 24 seconds later during a 2-on-1 after Oshie sent a drop pass between his legs across to Lapierre, who scored from the left face-off circle to increase the lead to 3-0 at 13:02.
"I knew when I called [for] the puck he was going to pass it to me, and I got lucky. I just put the puck at the net," Lapierre said. "It was just so fun. The crowd was so incredible, and for a first game I don't think I could have asked for a better one, and we got a great win."

Kreider made it 4-1 on the power play when he redirected a pass from Ryan Strome at 9:13 of the third.
"I thought we had chances early then maybe chased the game a bit," New York defenseman Adam Fox said.
Ovechkin can climb to third with 37 goals this season. Next on the list after Dionne is Brett Hull in fourth with 741. Jaromir Jagr is third with 766 goals followed by Gordie Howe in second with 801 and Wayne Gretzky in first with 894.
NOTES: Ovechkin had a goal and two assists on the power play, becoming the second active NHL player with 500 power-play points. He has scored 502 (270 goals, 232 assists). Florida Panthers forward Joe Thornton has scored 545 (143 goals, 402 assists). … Kuznetsov had his 100th multipoint game in the NHL. … The Capitals are 17-1-2 in their past 20 home openers. … Six players made their Rangers debut. Forward Barclay Goodrow played 15:33 and won five of seven face-offs; forward Ryan Reaves had five hits in 11:00; forward Sammy Blais had three hits, two blocked shots and six penalty minutes in 10:50; defenseman Jarred Tinordi had three hits in 13:53; defenseman Patrik Nemeth had two hits and two takeaways in 17:07; and forward Dryden Hunt had three hits in 9:46.