The Washington Capitals downed the New York Rangers, 7-4, Saturday afternoon at Capital One Arena in the District. Logan Thompson stopped 29 of 33 shots faced in the win. The victory improves the Capitals’ record to 26-10-3 (55 points) on the season.
The Rangers opened the scoring with a tally from Chris Kreider just seven minutes into the contest. Logan Thompson played a puck in the corner and made an ill-advised attempt at an extended outlet pass that was picked clean by Kreider, who finished on an empty net. The Capitals tied the game late in the frame with a power play goal from Dylan Strome. The game remained tied 1-1 at the first intermission.
The Capitals grabbed their first lead of the afternoon on a tipped goal by Lars Eller less than three minutes into the second stanza and extended their lead to 3-1 on Andrew Mangiapane’s ninth goal of the season midway through the middle stanza. The Rangers cut the Capitals lead to 3-2 on a tally from Sam Carrick late in the period, but the Capitals quickly restored their two goal lead with a power play goal from Connor McMichael and held a 4-2 lead after two periods.
The Rangers cut the Capitals lead 5o a single goal on a tally from Filip Chytil but the Capitals quickly answered with goal from Alex Ovechkin to make it 5-3. The Rangers quickly answered with a goal from Mika Zibanejad, but this time the Capitals answered quickly themselves, restoring their two-goal lead with a gritty tally from Aliaksei Protas, to make it 6-4. Tom Wilson added an empty net goal to make it 7-4, the final.
LINEUP
Logan Thompson (15-2-2, 2.30 GAA, .918 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Jonathan Quick (6-4-0, 2.54 GAA, .913 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Rangers. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Taylor Raddysh
Aliaksei Protas — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana – Connor McMichael — Lars Eller
Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Andrew Mangiapane
Rasmus Sandin — John Carlson
Martin Fehervary — Matt Roy
Jakob Chychrun — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched: Ivan Miroshnichenko, Dylan McIlrath, Alexander Alexeyev. (Hendrix Lapierre was re-assigned to Hershey on Sunday, 12/29/24).
Injured: Sonny Milano (upper-body), Nicklas Backstrom (hip), T.J. Oshie (back).
1ST PERIOD
The Rangers opened the scoring with a tally from Chris Kreider (13) at 7:00 of the first frame. Logan Thompson played a puck in the corner and made an attempt at an ill-advised, extended outlet pass that was picked clean by Kreider, who shot at an empty net.
The Capitals tied the game late in the frame with a power play goal from Dylan Strome (12) at 18:49. Jakob Chychrun (15) and Tom Wilson (14) had the helpers. The Capitals have scored a power-play goal in six of their last seven games.
The period concluded with the game tied 1-1. The Rangers led in five-on-five shot attempts, 23-11, and expected goals for, 1.20 to 0.52.
2ND PERIOD
The Capitals grabbed their first lead of the afternoon on a tipped goal by Lars Eller (7) at 2:29 off the middle frame. Martin Fehervary (8) and Trevor van Riemsdyk (13) had the assists.
The Capitals stretched their lead to 3-1 on a tally from Andrew Mangiapane (9) at 10:08 of the second period. Nic Dowd (5), Rasmus Sandin (13) had the helpers.
The Rangers cut the Capitals lead to 3-2 on a tally from Sam Carrick (2) at 16:26 off the frame.
The Capitals quickly restored their two-goal lead with a power play goal from Connor McMichael (17) at 18:13. Dylan Strome (31) and Andrew Mangiapane (7) had the assists.
The period concluded with the Capitals holding the 4-2 lead. Five-on-five shot attempts for the period were tied 14-14. The Capitals led in expected goals, 1.04 to 0.36 for the period and 1.59 to 1.54 after two periods.
3RD PERIOD
The Rangers cut the Capitals lead 5o a single goal on a tally from Filip Chytil (8) at 8:32 of the final frame. U. Vaakanainen (2) and B. Schneider (8) had the assists.
The Capitals quickly answered with goal from Alex Ovechkin (19) to make it 5-3. Dylan Strome (32) had the lone helper. With his goal, Ovechkin tied Ray Bourque (1,579) for the 12th-most points in NHL history.
The Rangers quickly answered themselves, with a goal from Mika Zibanejad (8) at 13:04, but this time the Capitals answered quickly themselves, restoring their two-goal lead with a gritty tally from Aliaksei Protas (17) at 14:00. Pierre-Luc Dubois (25) and Jakob Chychrun (16) had the helpers.
Tom Wilson added an empty netter to make it 7-4. That would be the final.
After a slow start by the Capitals , five-on-five shot attempts were basically equal for the remainder of the game. The Capitals led in high-danger chances, 9-5 for the game.
