The Washington Capitals returned to the friendly confines of
Verizon Center on Wednesday night looking to clinch the top spot in the league
standings for the season, and they did just that with a 2-0 win over the New
York Rangers.
The teams battled to a scoreless first period, and it was
looking for a while that the second period would end in similar fashion. But,
with the time dwindling in the period, Justin Williams broke the scoreless tie.
On a power play, the Caps worked the puck around the Ranger defense, Matt
Niskanen sliding the puck down the right wing wall to Marcus Johansson. From
the wall, Johansson found Evgeny Kuznetsov easing down the middle, and
Kuznetsov relayed the puck to Alex Ovechkin in the left wing circle. Ovechkin
fired and the puck nicked Williams on the way through to the net, changing its
direction just enough to elude goalie Henrik Lundqvist to make it 1-0 at the
14:49 mark.
Early in the third period, Kuznetsov rewarded some sacrifice
at the other end by a teammate. Brooks Orpik took a J.T. Miller drive off his
knee, blocking the shot into the corner where Williams dug it out, chipping it
up the wall to the blue line. The puck slid out to the middle where Johansson
picked it up and headed up ice. Skating with Kuznetsov on his left, Joahnsson
skated the puck to the Ranger line where he chipped a pass to Kuznetsov.
Skating in alone on Lundqvist, Kuznetsov snapped a shot past Lundqvist’s
blocker to make it 2-0, 5:42 into the period.
It was more than Braden Holtby would need, clinching the
game and the Presidents Trophy in style by turning away all 24 shots he faced
for the shutout and the 2-0 win.
Other stuff…
-- The win was the Capitals’ 54th of the season, tying the
2009-2010 club for the second-highest win total in team history.
-- Justin Williams’ goal and assist made it points in nine
of his last 14 games (4-6-10). It was
his first multi-point game since February 22nd, when he had two
assists in a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. It was his first multi-point game at Verizon
Center since he had a goal and an assist in a 6-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
-- The Caps choked the life out of the Rangers, holding them
to 24 shots on goal, almost a third of them from defensemen (seven).
-- Alex Ovechkin recorded his 35th assist of the
season, lifting him into a tie for seventh among left wingers in assists. It was his fourth straight game without a
goal, although he might have had one had his power play drive not ticked off
Williams, who was credited with the goal.
-- The power play goal scored by the Caps made it power play
tallies in six of their last seven games, 11 of their last 14. Since January 1st, the Caps are
38-for-130 on the power play (29.2 percent).
-- Washington held the Rangers without a power play
opportunity, the second time this season they accomplished that feat. They did it on February 24th in a
2-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers. The
Caps might have had to face a shorthanded situation when the Rangers’ Chris
Kreider took a penalty to put the Caps on a power play, but having Justin
Williams take a penalty mid-way through the ensuing man advantage. The Rangers would have had an abbreviated
power play when Kreider’s penalty expired, but they took a too-many-men-on-ice
penalty to negate that possibility.
-- Evgeny Kuznetsov snapped a three-game streak without a
point with his goal and assist. It was
his 16th multi-point game this season, tying him for fourth on the
club with Marcus Johansson (Nicklas Backstrom: 21; T.J. Oshie: 17; Alex
Ovechkin: 17).
-- Justin Williams and Brooks Orpik led the Caps in shots on
goal with four apiece.
-- Braden Holtby’s shutout was his ninth of the season, tops
in the league. It was his 32nd
career shutout, lifting him into a tie with Boston’s Tuukka Rask for the most
shutouts since Holtby came into the league in the 2010-2011 season (Henrik
Lundqvist leads with 37). The win, his
42nd to lead the league, gives Holtby an even 90 wins over the last
two seasons, 18 more than second-place Martin Jones of the San Jose Sharks
(72).
-- The Caps had just a one-shot edge overall (25-24) and at
5-on-5 (21-20), but they did have a slightly larger margin in 5-on-5 shot
attempts (45-38/54.22 percent; numbers from Corsica.hockey).
In the end…
Another solid win.
Even in terms of playing the second of a back-to-back games scenario, the Caps looked to be focused
and determined. It is a team back in
full flight, going 10-1-1 in their last dozen games overall, and they are an amazing
20-1-1 in 22 home games in the 2017 portion of the season. They have outscored their opponents by a
whopping 85-33 margin in those 22 games.
The Rangers were not so much an opponent as they were another notch on
the post. The Caps have made Verizon Center
the most inhospitable arena in the NHL for visitors. It could not have come at a better time.
