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New York Swarms Washington, 5-3; Irwin Records Two Points

By Harrison Brown·
Photo @Capitals

The Washington Capitals lost to the New York Rangers by a score of 5-3 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 31 saves in the defeat. 

Washington’s Lines at New York

Conor Sheary — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson
Joe Snively — Dylan Strome — T.J. Oshie
Anthony Mantha — Nicklas Backstrom — Craig Smith
Aliaksei Protas — Nic Dowd — Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Rasmus Sandin — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Martin Fehervary — Nick Jensen
Matt Irwin — Alexander Alexeyev

Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren

Scratched: D Gabriel Carlsson

Injured: D John Carlson (upper-body, missed 32nd straight game, out indefinitely); RW Connor Brown (ACL, 64th, indefinite); LW Carl Hagelin (hip, 68th, indefinite); LW Alex Ovechkin (lower-body, first, day-to-day); LW Sonny Milano (non-COVID-19-related illness, first, day-to-day)

Snively came in for Milano while Protas drew in for Sheary with Ovechkin out after Washington’s 5-1 win over the New York Islanders on Saturday. Sheary took Ovechkin’s spot on the top-line.

New York’s Lines

Artemi Panarin — Mika Zibanejad — Vladimir Tarasenko
Chris Kreider — Vincent Trocheck — Patrick Kane
Alexis Lafreniere — Filip Chytil — Kaapo Kakko
Jimmy Vesey — Barclay Goodrow — Tyler Motte

K’Andre Miller — Jacob Trouba
Niko Mikkola — Adam Fox
Ben Harpur — Braden Schneider

Igor Shesterkin
Jaroslav Halak

Scratched: None

Injured: D Ryan Lindgren (upper-body, eighth, week-to-week)

First Period

Scoring

4:09, 1-0 New York: Zibanejad one-timed a shot over the glove of Kuemper from the slot after Tarasenko backhanded him a feed from the right dot and Zibanejad fed Tarasenko entering the offensive blueline.

14:29, 1-1: Aube-Kubel ripped a wrister over Shesterkin’s glove from the right dot with traffic in front after getting a feed by Protas from below the goal-line.

14:45, 2-1 New York: Zibanejad got a feed from the half-wall by Panarin, deked, and potted one into a wide open net in front with Kuemper down and out.

18:46, 3-1 (PPG): Kane called his own number with a slapshot through the wickets of Kuemper from the high slot after he got a pass from Fox at the top flat on the tape.

Shots: 19-9 New York

Other Notable Stats: Washington led 7-1 in blocked shots and tallied just one giveaway while New York earned three. New York, who converted once on two power plays, led 4-2 in takeaways and 9-7 in hits.

Second Period

Scoring

4:09, 4-1: Trouba ripped a shot to the top right corner on Kuemper, finishing off a tic-tac-toe passing play after getting a feed from Trocheck at the goal-line.

12:08, 4-2: Irwin slipped a shot under the glove of Shesterkin from the left dot after Oshie dropped a pass to him on the backhand. It marks Irwin’s 11th career multi-point game. With the secondary helper, Sandin now owns the franchise record for most assists (eight) in a player’s first five games with Washington, previously held by Geoff Courtnall (six). Oshie has registered 14 points in his last 13 games (seven goals) and now has four points (two) in two games against New York this season.

Shots: 29-25 New York (but 16-10 Washington in the second)

Other Notable Stats: Washington, who was held off of the board on two power plays, led 12-8 in blocked shots and had two giveaways while New York recorded five. New York led 22-12 in hits and 6-5 in takeaways.

Third Period

Scoring

11:48, 4-3: After getting a feed by Van Riemsdyk, Dowd was robbed with the right pad by Shesterkin before powering past the defense and poking one past him. It was Dowd’s career-high 12th goal of the season. Strome registered his 32nd assist of the season on Dowd’s goal, extending his point streak to five games (three goals, eight points).

17:49, 5-3: Vesey backhanded a puck down the ice into the empty net from the slot in the defensive zone.

Shots: 36-31 New York (6-6 in the third)

Other Notable Stats: Washington did not score on four power plays. New York led 8-5 in takeaways, 18-14 in blocked shots, 30-16 in hits. Each team tallied seven giveaways.

Current Eastern Conference Wild-Card Standings

Washington stays five points behind the New York Islanders (with one game in hand) for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. They also trail  the Florida Panthers (who have one) for the third by two points, remain tied with the Buffalo Sabres (two) for the fourth, stayed a point ahead of the Ottawa Senators (one at the end of Tuesday) for the fifth, and remain two points in front of the Detroit Red Wings (one at the end of Tuesday) by four.

Next game: Wednesday vs. Buffalo (7 PM ET, NBC Sports Washington in-market, ESPN+ out-of-market)

By Harrison Brown