Kuemper, Capitals shut out Rangers for 5th straight victory

NEW YORK -- Darcy Kuemper made 32 saves and the Washington Capitals won their fifth straight game, defeating the New York Rangers 4-0 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.

It was Kuemper's third shutout of the season. The Capitals (20-13-4) have won 10 of 11 games since Dec. 5.
"I think coming off the break and being on the run we were before the break we just wanted to hit the ground running again and pick up where we left off," Kuemper said. "When there is a little bit of rust after a few days I think you rely a little bit more on the team game. We just had a mature effort, no one was trying to do anything too much and we just played as a five-man unit at all times."

Erik Gustafsson and Conor Sheary each had a goal and an assist, and Marcus Johansson and Lars Eller also scored for Washington. The Capitals' 10 wins in the past 11 games match the number of victories they had in their first 26 games of the season (10-12-4).
"It's just been good to kind of grow our game and I feel like get that swagger back into the room," Johansson said. "When this group is playing like we are now we're not real easy to play against and we can beat anyone on any given night."
Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves for the Rangers (19-12-5), who lost for the second time in three games since winning seven in a row from Dec. 5-18.
"Let's face it, one team showed up ready to win, wanted to win a hockey game, and the other team didn't," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. "We just didn't play well. We looked sloppy everywhere. Even the power play, missing shots, missing the net a lot. We just had a bad game.
Gallant later said, "We were garbage tonight. We didn't deserve to win."

Kuemper made 13 saves in the first period, seven in the second and 12 in the third. He made 12 saves with the Capitals on the penalty kill, including a combined seven off one-timers from the face-off circles between Artemi Panarin (four) and Mika Zibanejad (three).
Washington was 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
"I thought 'Kuemps' saw them [the shots] and had a chance to read them," Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. "That was the scout on it too, that they would bring it from the flanks, and they did. I thought the scout was really good just watching it this morning on what they're doing."
Johansson put Washington ahead 1-0 with a 5-on-3 power-play goal at 8:44 of the first period. Johansson said Evgeny Kuznetsov's shot hit him and he thought he got a piece of the rebound before it appeared to go in off Jacob Trouba.
Gustafsson scored off a rebound on a 4-on-2 rush to make it 2-0 at 17:01 of the second period. The Capitals got the odd-man rush because the Rangers were slow on their line change, especially Vincent Trocheck, who hobbled off the ice after taking a puck off his ankle.
Gustafsson has nine points (five goals, four assists) in a five-game point streak. He's the first Washington defenseman to score five goals in a five-game span since Mike Green did it from March 30-April 6, 2013.
"I was just trying to follow up," Gustafsson said. "One of their guys got hurt, it was a 4-on-2, and the puck came out on my tape. That was a big goal at that time."

The Rangers challenged for goalie interference, saying Sheary initiated contact with Shesterkin, preventing him from be able to stop Gustafsson's shot off the rebound. But they lost the challenge, putting Washington on a power play.
The Capitals didn't score with the man-advantage, but Eller made it 3-0 just 22 seconds after the power play expired by charging down the middle of the zone and beating Shesterkin with a wrist shot to the blocker side from the left hash marks at 19:23.
"Those are big goals," Trouba said. "I thought we could come out in the third and respond a little better. Did not. That was kind of the name of the game for us today, a little bit too sloppy. I think we all know in here that wasn't us tonight, how we want to play."
Sheary blocked Panarin's shot and scored a short-handed empty-net goal from the defensive zone at 16:58 of the third period to make it 4-0.
"Disappointing," Gallant said. "Really disappointed in our group tonight. Played soft. We didn't finish checks. We were reaching with sticks all the night all over the ice."
NOTES:The Capitals have won six straight road games, tying a team record that was previously achieved twice (Feb. 26-April 1, 1984; Feb. 20-March 16, 2011). … Kuemper picked up his 10th win of the season, matching teammate Charlie Lindgren. The Capitals are the only team in the NHL with two goalies that have at least 10 wins. … Washington defenseman Nick Jensen left the game with 3:03 remaining in the third period after he was hit in the face by the puck. Laviolette said he checked on Jensen after the game and that he is fine. … Trocheck's point streak ended at six games.