While no one was willing to talk about what is ailing the top forward, whatever it is didn’t seem to slow him down Sunday night.

Nash assisted on surging linemate Carl Hagelin’s tying goal in the second period and registered a game-high eight shots on goalie Braden Holtby in New York’s come-from-behind 2-1 victory.

Nash has been limited to three goals and nine assists in his first 14 games with the Rangers, following a blockbuster offseason trade. But his mere presence is opening up lots of space for those on the ice with him.

“They’re not going in, but I’m getting the chances,” Nash said. “A couple of posts and point-blanks. I thought they were going in for sure. The exciting thing is Carl is putting them in.”

The Rangers (8-5-1) tied it when Hagelin scored at 7:39 of the second. Ryan McDonagh fired a drive from the middle of the ice, just inside the blue line, that was tipped into the net on New York’s 30th shot.

Hagelin has scored five of his six goals in the past four games — netting at least one in each. That led coach John Tortorella to call him “probably our best forward” recently.

“He is one of the few guys who can beat his guy one-on-one most of the time,” Hagelin said of Nash. “That’s why you can hide a bit on the ice and try to disappear. When he makes that move, the D who is supposed to be on me goes over to him, and I am wide open.

“When you feel good, you continue playing well, and goals are going to come.”

One on the power play finally did for New York when Derek Stepan scored the winner early in the third period.

It was the only time the Rangers’ power-play unit connected in five chances, but it came at the right moment and helped snap the Capitals’ season-high winning streak at three.

Washington (5-9-1), which lost to New York in the second round of last year’s playoffs, had been 11-5-2 in its last 18 regular-season games against the Rangers.

“We could have played better,” Capitals coach Adam Oates said. “We took too many penalties. We spent so much energy killing penalties. It took away from the rest of our game.”

Defenseman John Carlson put Washington ahead in the first, despite the Capitals being outshot 20-8.

Washington went 2-1 on its trip and will play its next three at home.

“They played better than us,” Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom said. “They had better chances. It’s tough, one-goal games coming down to the wire.”

New York improved to 5-1-1 in its past seven, despite entering the game with an NHL-worst power play that connected on only 10 percent of its chances.

The deciding advantage lasted only 7 seconds before clicking 4:25 into the third.

Brad Richards, benched for all but one shift in the third period of the Rangers’ shootout loss to the Islanders on Thursday, won a faceoff and then made a pass to Michael Del Zotto in the right circle. Del Zotto quickly found Stepan with a diagonal pass to the left post, where Stepan scored while down on a knee.

Henrik Lundqvist stopped 27 shots for his seventh win. Holtby made 38 saves to earn third star of the game honors.

“I thought we were a lot better than them in the first period, but they had the lead,” Lundqvist said. “The key for us was to stay patient, and we did.”

The Capitals’ power play, which has been surging recently, was held in check on four chances. Its final opportunity came with under 7 minutes left when Nash was called for tripping. Washington had scored a power-play goal in each of its previous six games, connecting on 8 of 15 opportunities.

The Capitals put instant pressure on the Rangers and Lundqvist and nearly scored even before Carlson’s second goal of the season at 1:19. Mike Ribeiro got the puck to Carlson for a hard drive from the right circle that got past Lundqvist.

The Rangers dominated in shots in the first period, but had nothing to show for it despite three power plays that generated five shots. New York registered a season-high 20, but was denied each time by Holtby.

Marian Gaborik had perhaps the Rangers’ best scoring chance during Washington’s lone power play of the period, but he was stuffed twice in front.

Frustration swirled throughout Madison Square Garden as the Rangers consistently passed the puck all around the offensive zone during the multiple man-advantages without producing many quality scoring opportunities.

“Shooting the puck is something that we’ve tried to focus on — just getting pucks and bodies to the net,” Stepan said. “If we play that way and we have shots like that and chances like that, eventually they’re going to go in.”

Game notes

Capitals D Mike Green missed his first game of the season because of an undisclosed lower-body injury. … The Rangers’ previous season-high for shots in a period was 17 in the third on Jan. 26 when they scored four goals against Toronto. … Ribeiro, the Capitals’ leading scorer with 18 points this season, earned his 400th NHL assist on Carlson’s goal. … Rangers C Darroll Powe was helped off the ice by teammates Arron Asham and Stepan after a center-ice collision with Washington’s Matt Hendricks in the second period. Powe was woozy after flipping over and striking his head on the ice. He didn’t return.

The post Derek Stepan’s power-play goal snaps tie, gets Rangers by Caps appeared first on IdealCapper.

General manager George McPhee met with reporters for some 20 minutes at the team’s facility and cited penalties and goaltending as the major culprits that have caused the Capitals to lose nine of their first 11 games.

McPhee had positive words for new coach Adam Oates and franchise player Alex Ovechkin, even though the former two-time league MVP has yet to score a 5-on-5 goal this season.

“We’re disappointed with the way things have started. It’s not over. Nothing that a couple of wins won’t really help,” McPhee said. “But we’re going to make good decisions. We’re not going to do anything short term. We’re not going to blow anything up. We like the people here.”

The Capitals lost 5-2 to the rival Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday and have yet to score four goals in a game this season. They have allowed an NHL-high 15 power play goals.

“We’re playing a good game and then we start taking penalties, and we take them in bunches,” McPhee said. “And no system, no coach, no team can survive that.”

McPhee called the rash of penalties “undisciplined” and “selfish” and said they resulted from a “lack of focus.” But he didn’t link those deficiencies to the leadership of Oates, a first-time NHL coach who had an abbreviated training camp because of the lockout-shortened season.

“I really like the coaches. I love what they’re doing,” McPhee said. “I like the way that we’re playing in terms of our system.”

The Capitals appeared to be set at goalie with rising stars Braden Holtby and Michal Neuvirth vying for playing time this season, but both have been disappointing so far.

“There is upside there with these goaltenders,” McPhee said. “But they can both play better and they know it. And it’s time for them to play.”

As for Ovechkin, McPhee is pleased with the high-priced forward who has switched this season from left wing to right. Ovechkin has only three goals — all on the power play — and was visibly seething after the loss to the Penguins.

“I really like the way Alex has played the last four games,” McPhee said. “Adam is convinced that he can get him playing the way that Ovi can play, and a couple of these games are the best that we’ve seen him in a long time. … He’s getting a lot more chances on the right side than the left. He’s a much more effective player. I like it a lot. You might disagree, but it looks a lot better to us.”

Owner Ted Leonsis also noted the struggles of the goaltending and the offense on his blog Friday and added: “We have many challenges as an organization, and as a team.”

“I’ve had some real good discussions with ownership over the last couple of days,” McPhee said. “They’re obviously not very happy. But they’ve been supportive. At times like this, ownership can pile on and make things worse or ownership can say, ‘How can we help? And what can we do to make it better?’ And it’s been the latter. … And I provided some options, and they provided some real clear direction, which was great.

“So that being said, if there’s something I can do to help the club out, I will. But I’m not going to do anything stupid.”

The post Caps GM won’t ‘blow anything up’ appeared first on IdealCapper.

Buffalo Sabres at Washington Capitals
When: 3:00 PM ET, Sunday, January 27, 2013
Where: Verizon Center, Washington, District Of Columbia
TV: 3 p.m., NHL Network (U.S.), MSG, Comcast Sportsnet D.C.
Prediction: Sabres 4, Capitals 1

Oddsmakers currently have the Capitals listed as 116-moneyline favorites versus the Sabres, while the game’s total is sitting at 5½.

Vanek has four points and five assists in his last eight games against Washington. Cody Hodgson has three goals to start the season after finishing with three in 20 games for Buffalo in 2011-12. Offseason acquisition Steve Ott, who scored in the season opener against Philadelphia, leads the team with 21 hits. Tyler Ennis, who finished last season with 24 points in 22 games, has one assist so far this season and is minus-3.

Last time out for Buffalo, they were a 3-1 loser as they battled the Hurricanes at home. Moneyline bettors who got the Hurricanes at +140 were rewarded, while the 4 combined goals moved the game UNDER for totals bettors.

Team record: 0-3-1 SU, ATS
Current streak: lost 4 straight games.
is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Buffalo
The total has gone OVER in 4 of last 5 games when playing Buffalo
The total has gone OVER in 4 of last 5 games when playing at home against Buffalo
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of last 6 games
When playing on Sunday are 5-5
Before playing Calgary are 3-7
After playing New Jersey are 4-6
After a loss are 7-3

Joel Ward, who scored six goals in 73 games last season, has two in his first four games this season. Goaltenders Braden Holtby and Michal Neuvirth have two starts apiece this season. Neuvirth has a 3.37 goals-against average and .877 save percentage, which is better than Holtby’s 5.04 GAA and .863 save percentage. Jason Chimera, who set a career-high with 20 goals and 39 points last season, has two assists – but he leads the team with 11 hits and is plus-1 this season.

Last time out for Washington, they were a 3-2 loser as they battled the Devils on the road. Moneyline bettors who got the Devils at -158 were rewarded, while the 5 combined goals moved the game UNDER for totals bettors.

Team record: 2-2-0 SU, ATS
Current streak: lost 2 straight games.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of last 5 games when playing Washington
The total has gone OVER in 4 of last 5 games when playing on the road against Washington
The total has gone OVER in 7 of last 10 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of last 6 games on the road
When playing on Sunday are 8-2
Before playing Colorado are 8-2
After playing Carolina are 5-5
After a loss are 6-4

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