Washington Capitals Beat New York Rangers 4-3(OT); Niskanen Pots Winner

Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers 4-3 in overtime Wednesday night at Capital One Arena. With the win the Capitals record improves to 3-2-1. The Capitals return to action on Friday when they host the Florida Panthers at Capital One Arena.

The Rangers opened the scoring but John Carlson would tie it up late in the first frame to make it 1-1 at the first intermission. Alex Ovechkin would pot a power play goal early in the middle frame, but the Rangers would answer with a power play goal of their own midway through the period. Alex Ovechkin would notch his second power play of the period to make it 3-2 at the second intermission. The Rangers would tie the game with a power play goal midway through the final frame. Matt Niskanen would score the game winner in overtime.

STARTERS
Braden Holtby (2-1-1, 3.25 GAA, .896 sv%) got the start in goal for the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Henrik Lundqvist (2-3-0, 1.99 GAA, .939 sv% ) got the start in goal for the Rangers. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Stephenson
Vrana-Backstrom-Oshie
Burakovsky-Eller-Connolly
Walker-Dowd-Smith-Pelly

Kempny-Carlson
Orlov-Niskanen
Orpik-Djoos

FIRST PERIOD
The Rangers would strike first with a second-chance opportunity, finished by Mika Zibanejad at 6:09 of the first period.

John Carlson would tie the game with a blast from the right point at 14:05 of the opening frame. Nicklas Backstrom was credited with the only assist. He is three assists shy of 600.

The first period would end with the Capitals and Rangers tied 1-1. Capitals led in shots 14-9 after 20 minutes of play.

SECOND PERIOD
The Capitals would take their first lead of the evening with a power play goal from Alex Ovechkin at 3:32 of the middle frame. John Carlson and Brett Connolly were credited with the helpers.

But the Rangers would get it right back with a power play goal of their own when Jimmy Vesey at 12:42 of the second period.

Alex Ovechkin would get the lead back for the Capitals with a power play goal at 17:01 of the second period. John Carlson and Nicklas Backstrom were credited with the assists. Backstrom is now two assists shy of 600.

The middle frame would end with the Capitals hanging on to a 3-2 lead. The Rangers outshot the Capitals 18-13 in the second period. Shots on goal were tied after 40 minutes, 27-27.

THIRD PERIOD
The Rangers would tie the game with a power play goal from Chris Kreider at 10:25 of the final frame.

The period would end in a 3-3 tie.

OVERTIME
The Capitals would win it in overtime with a goal from Matt Niskanen.

SHAVINGS

With two assists in the game, Nicklas Backstrom now has 598 career assists.
Jakub Vrana is skating in his 100th NHL game tonight. Entering the game, Vrana ranks 4th on the team in 5-on-5 ice time (71 minutes) among forwards.
Additionally, Vrana’s 51.95 shot attempts percentage (80 shot attempts for, 74 against) at 5-on-5 ranks first among Caps forwards
The NHL box score is here.

RECAP

SCENES FROM THE DISTRICT

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Let’s go Caps!! #ALLCAPS @capitals #capsrangers

A post shared by Will Neville (@willmadethis) on Oct 17, 2018 at 4:05pm PDT

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GOAL! 🏒🥅 #robandbrentgroup #ttrsir #sothebysrealty #washingtondc #allcaps #washingtoncapitals

A post shared by The Rob and Brent Group (@the_robandbrent_group) on Oct 17, 2018 at 5:40pm PDT