The Washington Capitals blanked the New York Rangers by a score of 4-0 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. The win, the Capitals’ fifth-straight and 10th in their last 11 games (10-1-0), lifted Washington one point ahead of New York (who have a game in hand) and Pittsburgh Penguins (three) in addition to two clear of the New York Islanders (one) for third place in the Metropolitan Division. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 32 saves in the shutout.
Capitals’ Lines at New York
Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Conor Sheary
Sonny Milano — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Anthony Mantha
Marcus Johansson — Lars Eller — Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Aliaksei Protas — Nic Dowd — Garnet Hathaway
Erik Gustafsson — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Dmitry Orlov — Nick Jensen
Alexander Alexeyev — Matt Irwin
Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched: LW Joe Snively, D Lucas Johansen
Injured: D Martin Fehervary (lower-body, missed 11th straight game, out day-to-day); RW Connor Brown (ACL, 33rd, indefinite); LW Carl Hagelin (hip, 37th, indefinite); RW Tom Wilson (ACL, 37th, indefinite); C Nicklas Backstrom (hip, 37th, indefinite); LW Beck Malenstyn (finger, 26th, week-to-week); RW T.J. Oshie (upper-body, fourth, day-to-day); D John Carlson (upper-body, first, indefinite)
With Carlson out, Van Riemsdyk moved up in the lineup while Alexeyev drew in. Johansen was recalled from the AHL’s Hershey Bears prior to the game.
New York’s Lines
Artemi Panarin — Mika Zibanejad — Vitaly Kravtsov
Alexis Lafreniere — Filip Chytil — Kaapo Kakko
Chris Kreider — Vincent Trocheck — Jimmy Vesey
Barclay Goodrow — Johnny Brodzinski — Julien Gauthier
Ryan Lindgren — Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller — Jacob Trouba
Ben Harpur — Brayden Schnieder
Igor Shesterkin
Jaroslav Halak
Scratched: LW Sammy Blais, D Libor Hajek
Injured: N/A
First Period
Scoring
8:44, 1-0 Washington (PPG): Kuznetsov’s wrist shot from the top of the right dot was stopped by the shoulder of Shesterkin before Johansson won a battle with Trouba in front of the net and got a stick on the rebound in the crease after the puck went off of Trouba on a five-on-three. Gustafsson, who leads NHL defensemen in scoring over the last 10 days, extended his point-streak to five (five goals, eight points) with a secondary assist. The goal marked the Capitals’ third five-on-three goal this season, which is tied for the NHL lead. Kuznetsov extended his point-streak to three games (three assists, four points).
Good guys get on the board first! pic.twitter.com/U7MGfoHHuA
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 28, 2022
Shots: 13-8 New York
Other Notable Stats: Washington won 68% of the faceoffs, scored on one of their two power plays, and had two giveaways while New York tallied four. New York led 8-7 in hits and 5-3 in takeaways.
Second Period
Scoring
17:01, 2-0: Sheary led a two-on-one rush with Ovechkin on his wing, passed it back to Strome, got it back, shot it off of the left pad of Shesterkin, and Gustafsson pinched in and fired one past the glove from the slot. New York challenged for goaltender interference but lost. Strome earned his fourth 20-assist campaign. Gustafsson has three multi-point efforts in his last five games. Sheary has recorded three assists in his last two games.
Sweet Swede he’s done it again! Gus stays hot pic.twitter.com/nxszxMaexM
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 28, 2022
While falling, Shesterkin robbed Johansson with the glove by the right post in front after Sheary fed him down low.
You’ve got to be kidding me with this save by Shesterkin.
The change of direction after sliding to his right. The stretch. Grabbing the puck right off the goal line.
Incredible pic.twitter.com/L0BBFfcTSd
— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) December 28, 2022
19:24, 3-0: Eller stepped in, curled, dragged, and fired a wrister high blocker from the slot after getting a pass by Mantha in the neutral zone. The goal marked Eller’s 362nd career point (160 goals), which moves him into sole possession of second place on the NHL’s all-time points list among Denmark-born players (Nikolaj Ehlers: 361 points). Eight of Mantha’s 12 assists have been primary.
*adds to highlight reel* pic.twitter.com/8pxd4ku19m
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 28, 2022
Shots: 23-20 Washington (15-7 in second)
Other Notable Stats: Washington won 60% of the faceoffs, scored on one of their three power plays, led 9-4 in blocked shots, and had six giveaways while New York was credited with 11. Each team tallied 14 hits. New York, who had two power-play opportunities, led 8-7 in hits and 8-3 in takeaways.
Third Period
Scoring
16:58, 4-0 (SHG, ENG): Sheary blocked a one-timer by Panarin from up top after an attempted feed by Zibanejad from the right dot, reached for the puck, and sent it down the ice into an empty cage. With two points tonight, Sheary has recorded his fourth multi-point game of the season.
Conor Sheary scores a shorthanded goal against the New York Rangers to make it 4-0 #NYRvsWSH #NoQuitInNY #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/lmcOSAURgU
— nopClips (@nopClips) December 28, 2022
Shots: 32-30 New York (12-7 in third)
Other Notable Stats: Washington won 56% of the faceoffs, led 16-5 in blocked shots and 19-18 in hits, and earned seven giveaways while New York was on the hook for 14. New York, who had five power-play opportunities, led 11-7 in takeaways.
Washington tied a franchise record with sixth straight road win, a mark established in 1984 and matched once since in 2011. Washington has outscored their opponents 26-10 during their six-game road win streak (4.33 goals-per-game, 1.66 goals-against per game).
The Capitals are the only team in the NHL to have two goaltenders with 10 wins (Charlie Lindgren: 10 wins). They improved to 4-2-1 against Metropolitan Division opponents and 20-1-1 when scoring three or more goals this season.
Kuemper has posted a record of 5-0-1 with a 1.50 goals-against average, a .949 save percentage and two shutouts in his last seven starts, dating back to Nov. 23.
Next game: Thursday vs. Ottawa Senators (7 PM ET, NBC Sports Washington in-market, ESPN+ out-of-market)
By Harrison Brown