Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 45th goal and the Capitals extended their winning streak to four games with a 4-2 victory over the New York Rangers on Monday night.
T.J. Oshie Patrick Marleau Jersey , Matt Niskanen and Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored for Washington, which went 3-0 at Detroit, Montreal and Madison Square Garden.
Nicklas Backstrom, who had four assists in a win over Montreal on Saturday, added two more to give him 44 this season. Philipp Grubauer made 28 saves.
”Tonight we got really loose in the second two periods there, they really took it to us,” Oshie said. ”Without Grub, we might be in overtime right now.”
Washington increased its lead to five points over two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
”We’ve still got to keep going and keep getting points every night,” Oshie said.
Lias Andersson scored in his NHL debut and Mats Zuccarello added a goal for the Rangers.
Andersson, at 19 years, 164 days, became the youngest player in team history to score in his NHL debut. He broke the mark set by Mike Allison (19 years Authentic Kirk Cousins Jersey , 195 days) on Oct. 9, 1980, at Boston.
”It feels good, obviously,” Andersson said. ”It’s always fun to score and especially in your first NHL game, so it was fun.”
The Capitals scored four goals in the first period and cruised from there.
”I think we jumped in right away,” Ovechkin said. ”I think we had pretty good chances in the first couple of shifts. Osh scored, Nisky’s goal is pretty sick. How he scored, it was pretty impressive.”
Oshie gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead 2:50 into the game with his 18th of the season. Backstrom skated the puck into the zone and had three Rangers near him when he passed to an open Oshie at the right faceoff circle and he beat Alexandar Georgiev with a wrister.
Niskanen made it 2-0 just 2:23 later. Kuznetsov skated with the puck at the blue line and sent a backhand pass to Niskanen, who had plenty of time to score his seventh of the season at 5:13
Ovechkin scored on a one-timer on the power play from his favorite spot in the left faceoff circle at 8:54. Georgiev was pulled after allowing three goals on six shots.
Ondrej Pavelec replaced him and made 26 saves. It was Pavelec’s first appearance since Feb. 9 against Calgary.
Kuznetsov finished off the dominant first period with a short-handed goal at 16:39.
”We talked about this road trip,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. ”We’ve had really terrible starts. We put a lot of emphasis on the first period, obviously. We were able to get their goaltender out and obviously built a lead.”
Andersson and Filip Chytil gave the Rangers a glimpse of the franchise’s future. Andersson and Chytil Authentic Stephen Johns Jersey , both 2017 first-round draft picks and centers, were promoted from the team’s American Hockey League affiliate in Hartford on Sunday.
Chytil centered a line with Kevin Hayes and Zuccarello. Andersson centered a line with Jimmy Vesey and Ryan Spooner and got the Rangers on the board. Andersson cut it to 4-1 late in the second period when Vesey worked the puck behind the net and sent a pass to Andersson, who wristed it past Grubauer at 13:16.
”It was a great feeling to see him score his first goal,” Chytil said of Andersson. ”It was something special. We will talk about it tonight. It’s great that he scored his first goal in his first game.”
Chytil assisted on Zuccarello’s 16th goal at 4:26 of the third for his first NHL point.
”Both kids had a good game,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. ”It was an emotional day and an emotional game for them, but I thought they played well.”
NOTES: Devante Smith-Pelly, Shane Gersich and Christian Djoos were scratched by the Capitals. … According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Andersson and Chytil became the first pair of teenagers to get a point in the same game with the Rangers since Dec. 18, 1974 (Ron Greschner and Dave Maloney). Chytil played two games earlier in the season with New York. … Henrik Lundqvist, David Desharnais, Peter Holland, Paul Carey and Tony DeAngelo were the healthy scratches for the Rangers.
UP NEXT
The teams play the second half of a back-to-back Wednesday night in Washington.
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More NHL hockey: Devin Booker Authentic Andrew Luck Jersey , the high-scoring guard at the heart of Phoenix’s rebuilding plans, has signed a five-year, $158 million maximum contract with the Suns.
Booker, 21, tweeted a photo of himself smiling as he signed the contract Saturday night, moments before the Suns announced the deal, which makes him the highest-paid player in the franchise’s history.
The 13th overall pick in the 2015 draft out of Kentucky, Booker has averaged 19.8 points per game in his three NBA seasons. He averaged 24.9 points last season, shooting 38 percent from 3-point range. He won the NBA 3-point contest at All-Star weekend in February.
Booker set a franchise record by scoring 70 points in a game at Boston on March 24, 2017, just the sixth player in NBA history to score that many.
”I am humbled & honored to commit to the Suns organization long term,” he wrote. ”I loved calling Phoenix home the last 3 seasons as this team & community are special to me. Thank you to the Suns for drafting me and believing in me. I look forward to the future & pursuing a title as a Sun.”
The announced signing came five days after Booker and his agent met with Suns owner Robert Sarver Drew Stafford Jersey , general manager Ryan McDonough and vice president of basketball operations James Jones in Los Angeles to discuss the contract.
The contract takes effect in the 2019-20 season.
”`Book’ has been a pillar for the Suns franchise ever since he arrived in Phoenix in 2015,” McDonough said in a news release announcing the signing. ”Devin and the team both wanted to extend this agreement with the club as long as we possibly could. This agreement reflects a commitment from both parties to the Phoenix community, the state of Arizona and Suns fans worldwide.”
Booker topped 4,000 career points last March 2, becoming the third-youngest player to reach that milestone. Only LeBron James and Kevin Durant were younger.
But while Booker has amassed big individual statistics, there has been little team success. The Suns have missed the playoffs the last eight seasons and had the worst record in the NBA last season at 21-61.
After the season, Booker said his days of missing the playoffs were over.
That may be a bit optimistic, but the team added to its talented core of young players big-time when it selected center Deandre Ayton with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. Ayton and fellow first-rounder Mikal Bridges join Booker and Josh Jackson as the talented young core of the team under new coach Igor Kokoskov.
Booker will be 26, and presumably approaching his prime, when the new contract expires.
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