Photo by Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals beat the Ottawa Senators 4-2 on Tuesday night at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.  The win raised the Caps record to 52-15-5 (109 points) . The win also clinched the Metropolitan Division title and secured the number one seed in the Eastern Conference for the playoffs. The Capitals next play the New Jersey Devils on Friday night at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Puck-drop is 7:00 PM.

The starting lines for the Capitals:

Offesnive Lines:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Williams
Burakovsky-Kuznetsov-Oshie
Chimera-Johansson-Beagle
Winnik-Richards-Wilson

Defensive Pairs
Alzner-Niskanen
Orpik-Orlov
Weber-Chorney

Michael Latta, Stanislav Galiev and Nate Schmidt were the healthy scratches. The goalie match-up for tonight’s final tilt north of the border, provided by @washcaps:

QUICK TAKES
The Capitals got off to a better start tonight, scoring the game’s first goal just 3:32 into the contest, and scoring three goals in the opening frame. Play was fairly even in the middle frame, with the Senators scoring the only goal. The Senators led 19-12 in SOG after two periods of play. The Senators would score with 1:33 left in regulation to close the gap to 3-2, but the Caps would add an empty net goal to seal the victory. Team stats for the game can be found here: Player stats for the game can be found here: Faceoff stats for the game can be found here: Game photos can be found here:

The Capitals struck quickly in the first when Mike Richards punched in a close-range shot at 3:32 of the opening frame.

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The Caps were given the game’s first power play at 11:22 of the first period, when the Senator’s Jean-Gabriel Pageau was called for holding the stick. Alex Ovechkin would cash in at 12:22.

Nicklas Backstrom would stretch the Caps lead to 3-0 at the 14:37 mark of the opening frame.

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The Caps would get called for subsequent penalties, giving the Senators a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:03, but the Caps would successfully kill both penalties. The first period would end with the Capitals leading 3-0. The Caps led in shots on goal 11-8.

A fairly even start to the second period, with 5-on-5 play through the first 15 minutes of play. The Senators would get on the scoreboard at 12:33 when Chris Wideman scored on a slapshot from the right point.

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The period would end with the Capitals leading 3-1. The Senators led in 19-12 in shots on goal after two period.

The Senators had two excellent scoring chances at the start of the third period, but Holtby would deny both opportunities. The Sens were whistled for hooking at 2:54 of the final frame, but the Caps would be unable to cash-in, registering just three shots on the man-advantage. The Sens would continue with decent offensive pressure through the middle of the period. Dmitry Orlov was called for tripping at 8:06, but the Caps would successfully kill the penalty. The Senators would close the gap during a 6-on-5 man-advantage with 1:33 left in regulation when Mika Zibanejad knocked scored, but T.J. Oshie would add an empty net goal to secure the win.