The Washington Capitals players and coach Peter Laviolette on Sunday sounded as if they had lost, after holding on to beat the New York Rangers 5-4.
That is a good sign for the first-place team in the East Division after tying the Tampa Bay Lightning for the top spot in the NHL.
Washington have won 10 of 11 games to move two points up on the second-placed New York Islanders and look primed for another deep playoff run.
Photo: Scott Taetsch-USA TODAY
Instead of celebrating two goals by Tom Wilson, the 724th goal of Alex Ovechkin’s career and three points from T.J. Oshie, the Capitals lamented a sloppy third period that turned a blowout into a nail-biter.
The game served as another teachable moment after almost letting what should have been an easy victory slip away.
“If there’s a trend, we want to address it,” Wilson said, referring to how the Capitals have been outscored 40-34 in third periods this season.
The Capitals led 4-0 on Evgeny Kuznetsov’s goal five minutes, 15 seconds into the third period, before a Rangers scoring flurry made things interesting.
The good news for the Capitals is they improved to 18-1-0 when leading at the second intermission and their best players are producing.
“Some bounces went their way,” Rangers defenseman Adam Fox said. “We responded well in the third and came up just short, but obviously a good effort there to keep it going in the third.”
Also on Sunday, it was:
‧ Panthers 4, Stars 1
‧ Red Wings 4, Blue Jackets 1
‧ Ducks 3, Blues 2 (OT)
‧ Devils 1, Bruins 0
‧ Predators 3, Blackhawks 2
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