Capitals end Avalanche winning streak at nine, gain in Metropolitan race

DENVER --The Colorado Avalanche had their nine-game winning streak end in a 3-2 loss to the Washington Capitals at Ball Arena on Monday.

Alex Ovechkin and Marcus Johansson scored, and Ilya Samsonov made 24 saves for the Capitals (43-23-10), who have won six of their past seven games. Washington moved within one point of the Pittsburgh Penguins for third in the Metropolitan Division and one point behind the Boston Bruins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"It's a good time to get our game going and get the right mindset," Johansson said. "We're playing great teams, and this is the way we want to play. It's going to be like this in the playoffs. It was a fun atmosphere out there tonight."
Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves for the Avalanche (55-15-6), who clinched the top seed in the Western Conference with a 7-4 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.
"I thought we played hard. We competed hard. It was a physical game," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "I liked our competitiveness. I didn't like our execution. Give them some credit. They put some pressure on us, and they were above outlets and whatnot. But we had a turnover on goal one. We had a turnover going backwards on goal three, and it took away a little bit of our offensive output tonight."

Johansson scored the tiebreaking goal at 10:46 of the third to make it 3-2 after Conor Sheary stole the puck from Josh Manson and passed it across the slot.
"It was unbelievable," Johansson said. "I think just both the takeaway and then pass was top class. So it was fun to see that one go in."
Lehkonen tied it 2-2 at 8:13 of the third when he pushed a loose puck under Samsonov's pad and into the net. The Capitals used a coach's challenge for goalie interference, but the call on the ice stood.
"[The officials] said that the puck was loose, which we knew it was loose," Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. "Our point was that they took their stick and speared it right into our goalie and pushed him into the crease. So we disagreed with it."
Ovechkin scored a power-play goal to make 2-1 at 13:27 of the second when he tapped in a loose puck in the crease. It was his 48th goal of the season, tying him with Teemu Selanne (2006-07) for the most by a player age 36 or older.
"How can you not be [amazed], right? I mean, he keeps doing it," said Johansson, who was teammates with Ovechkin from 2010-17 before being reacquired this season. "It's fun to watch. It hasn't changed since I left, and yeah, it's unbelievable."

Hathaway scored on a breakaway to make it 1-0 at 4:02 of the first. It was his 100th NHL point.
"[Johan Larsson] made a good play to get it behind their 'D', and that's kind of something we were working on going into the game," Hathaway said. "Trying to get their 'D' to turn around, pressure them. Make them make plays under pressure. So yeah, it bounced by [the defender], and I just tried to [win] a stick battle and it bounced my way."
Nichushkin tied the game 1-1 at 17:05 with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle.
"[Nichushkin] makes every line he's on way better, number one," Bednar said. "His puck pursuit, his checking ability, his ability to check the puck back, and he's so big (6-foot-4, 210 pounds), strong, and fast that he's a lot to handle. He's doing everything."

NOTES:Cale Makar had an assist Nichushkin's goal for his 83rd point this season to pass Steve Duchesne (82; 1992-93) for the Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques record for points by a defenseman in a single season. … Capitals defenseman John Carlson extended his point streak to seven games (13 points; four goals, nine assists). … Larsson extended his point streak (five points; one goal, four assists) to four games. … Nichushkin, who played in his 400th NHL game, extended his point streak to five games (seven points; three goals, four assists).