Brett Connolly scored the tie breaking goal with 6:24 left in the third period, and the Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers 5-3 Saturday for their season-high fifth straight win.
NEW YORK (AP) — Brett Connolly scored the tie breaking goal with 6:24 left in the third period, and the Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers 5-3 Saturday for their season-high fifth straight win.
Alex Ovechkin, Nic Dowd, Jakub Vrana and Tom Wilson also scored for defending Stanley Cup champion Washington, and John Carlson had three assists. Pheonix Copley, starting in place of Braden Holtby, stopped 27 shots.
Jimmy Vesey, Brady Skjei and Ryan Strome scored for the Rangers, who lost their second straight, ending a seven-game winning streak on home ice. Kevin Hayes had two assists and Alexandar Georgiev finished with 23 saves.
On the go-ahead goal, Connolly got a pass from Carlson and fired a one-timer from the left circle past Georgiev for his fourth of the season.
Wilson added an empty-netter with 1:08 left for his fourth. He has nine points in seven games since returning from a season-opening suspension that sidelined him for 16 games.
Strome had tied the score 3-3 at 5:30 of the final period with his first goal with the Rangers since being acquired from Edmonton on Nov. 16. Brett Howden deflected Neal Pionk’s shot from the right point off his skate to Strome at the right side.
