Pittsburgh Penguins vs Washington Capitals
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Where: Verizon Center, Washington, District Of Columbia

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TVAS
PREDICTION: Capitals 4, Penguins 3

Oddsmakers currently have the PITTSBURGH listed as 105-moneyline favorites versus the WASHINGTON, while the game’s total is sitting at 5.5.

WASHINGTON – Something has to give when Metropolitan Division rivals with winning streaks meet Wednesday night in Washington.

The host Capitals (26-9-5) have won six straight, including the win that ended the Columbus Blue Jackets’ 16-game win streak, and the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins (26-8-5) own a five-game streak.

The teams are part of a three-way tie for second place — along with the New York Rangers — in the division behind Columbus.

Washington, which opens a three-game homestand, matched its season-high winning streak with a 4-1 win Monday night in Montreal. Winger Alex Ovechkin had a goal and two assists, giving him 999 career points. The goal was number 544 and tied him with Canadiens legend Maurice Richard for 29th place on the NHL’s all-time goal’s list.

“Ovi is big on the big moments. I think he recognizes how great The Rocket was and to just tie (Richard’s goal total) in this building would be pretty special, so it was really good,” Capitals head coach Barry Trotz told the team’s website. “And then he got real close to that thousandth point. I think it should be right for him to get that one in Washington in front of our own fans.”

Red hot goalie Braden Holtby’s bid for a third straight shutout ended when the Canadiens tied the score early in the third. He completed the longest scoreless streak of his career, 169 minutes and 12 seconds.

“It’s almost a good thing that it snapped, then it’s not a distraction, we can focus on playing and the guys showed a lot of character coming back,” Holtby told NHL.com.

Holtby has four shutouts in his last 12 starts.

“He’s like (Montreal’s Carey) Price, in that he’s very calm and pucks hit him in the chest,” Penguins center Nick Bonino told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “He’s always well-positioned.

“You have to make passes. You have to make him move. You have to screen him a little bit.”

In 15 career games versus Pittsburgh, Holtby is 6-7-2 with a 2.59 goals-against average (GAA) and .918 save percentage.

The Penguins returned from a week-long layoff to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 Sunday for their fifth straight win.

Six different players scored and Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves. He has won seven of his last eight decisions.

Goaltender Matt Murray, who missed the last two games with a lower body injury, is day-to-day. He practiced Tuesday for a second straight day.

Fleury is 20-11-2 with a 2.56 GAA versus Washington, while Murray is 1-2 with a 3.37 GAA.

Defenseman Kris Letang — seven points in the last five games — missed practice Tuesday with an illness that affected several Penguins.

“We’re hopeful he’s going to be OK,” coach Mike Sullivan told the team’s website regarding Letang’s status for Wednesday. “But we’ll watch him today and see how it goes. Obviously, he didn’t feel well enough to skate today.”

The Capitals will likely have winger T.J. Oshie (upper body injury) back after he missed Monday’s game.

The teams split the first two meetings, with host Pittsburgh winning a shootout opening night and Washington routing the visiting Penguins 7-1 on Nov. 16.

“We didn’t have our best effort,” Penguins left winger Chris Kunitz told the Post-Gazette about the loss. “They kept laying it on us.”

Ovechkin has 28 goals and 19 assists in 46 games against the Penguins, while Sydney Crosby’s totals are 19 goals and 36 assists in 39 games versus Washington. Evgeni Malkin has 12 goals and 35 assists in 34 games against the Capitals.

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Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 17, 2016
Where: Verizon Center, Washington, District Of Columbia

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, TVAS, CITY (Montreal), CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington)
PREDICTION: Capitals 4, Canadiens 2

Oddsmakers currently have the Capitals listed as 135-moneyline favorites versus the Canadiens, while the game’s total is sitting at 5.

WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals go for their seventh straight win Saturday night against a Montreal Canadiens team looking to avoid a third straight loss.

T.J. Oshie scored the tying goal in the third period and added one of Washington’s two shootout scores as the Capitals (19-7-3) won at Carolina, 4-3 on Friday night for their sixth win a row.

It was Oshie’s 37th career shootout goal and his third-period tally was his 10th of the season. Oshie missed seven games with an upper-body injury — during which time the Capitals went 3-3-1 — and Washington’s winning streak coincides with his return.

“He’s a big part of our team. There’s no question,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz told the Washington Post. “We missed his ability on the power play. He’s one of the best on that diamond spot. Just what he brings to the team all over, energy and just his personality and all that.”

That power play clicking once again. The Capitals have scored a power-play goal in six of their last seven games and have scored 13 in their last 14 games. Alex Ovechkin scored with the man advantage Friday night, his 14th goal of the season.

The Canadiens fell behind 4-0 to the San Jose Sharks at home Friday night before scoring twice in the third period of a 4-2 loss.

“We know we have to be better, play with more urgency early on, stay out of the box and roll four lines,” Montreal’s Max Pacioretty said. “Just dug too big of a hole to dig ourselves out of.”

Montreal (19-7-4) got third-period goals from Brian Flynn and Jeff Petry.

“It’s unacceptable,” Canadiens defenseman Nathan Beaulieu said of the slow start. “But I liked the way we finished, and we’ve got to carry that over to (Saturday) in Washington.”

Goalie Carey Price allowed four goals on 18 shots before being replaced by Al Montoya, who had been slated to start versus Washington. It was the first time since Oct. 13, 2014 that Price was pulled from a game.

Coach Michel Therrien announced after the game that Price would now get the start against the Capitals.

“Pricey didn’t get pulled because he wasn’t good enough,” Beaulieu said. “He’s the best player in the world and he’s our best player. It had nothing to do with him — it was us. Sometimes we need a wake-up call.”

Back-up Philipp Grubauer was in goal Friday for Washington, and Braden Holtby will start against the Canadiens. He’s 8-0-2 in 11 games against them with a 1.60 goals against average and a .944 save percentage.

Ovechkin has 22 goals and 18 assists in 39 games versus Montreal.

Justin Williams also scored for Washington against the Hurricanes. After scoring two goals in 23 games, he has five goals in his last five games.

“Yes, the last few games we’ve won, but we’ve just played better,” Williams added. “And we didn’t give up when some calls didn’t go our way. That’s just the way it is sometimes and you have to battle through it. I love the way we persevered.”

Price is 5-9-4 in 18 games versus Washington with a 3.08 GAA and .898 save percentage.

Montreal winger Andrew Shaw was a late scratch Friday, as the team announced he would miss the game with concussion-like symptoms that developed late Thursday afternoon. He won’t make the trip to Washington.

Canadiens winger Sven Andrighetto left the game against San Jose in the first period with an upper-body injury and did not return. He was also ruled out for Saturday’s game, leading the Canadiens to call up forward Chris Terry from the AHL’s St. John’s IceCaps after the game.

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Vancouver Canucks vs. Washington Capitals
When: 5:00 PM ET, Sunday, December 11, 2016
Where: Verizon Center, Washington, District Of Columbia

TV: 5 p.m. ET, Sportsnet Pacific (Vancouver), CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington)
PREDICTION: Capitals 5, Canucks 2

The road has not been kind to the Vancouver Canucks, and amid a five-game swing along the East Coast, they are hoping that an early start to the second game of a back-to-back against the Washington Capitals won’t leave them a step behind.

Coming off a 4-2 loss to the Florida Panthers on Saturday night, Vancouver will hustle to Washington for a rare start at 5 p.m. EST, further compressing the Canucks’ third game in four nights. Vancouver has only won four contests away from home this season.

“You can’t get down three goals to a team like that and expect to come back. We weren’t good enough tonight, especially early on,” Canucks winger Daniel Sedin said.

Vancouver is battling injuries between the pipes, as goaltender Ryan Miller is sidelined with a lower-body ailment suffered in Thursday’s victory at Tampa Bay. Backup Jacob Markstrom started against the Panthers, but prospect Thatcher Demko, who was called up from Utica of the American Hockey League on Saturday, could get the nod against the Capitals.

“It’s been something I’ve really been looking forward to; you’re just not sure when it’s going to happen,” Demko said. “I’m just excited to be here.”

The Canucks will get one member of their lineup back on the ice as right winger Jannik Hansen will return to the lineup after missing more than a month with a rib injury. Hansen practiced with the team Saturday and is preparing to play for the first time since Nov. 5.

“It (stinks) sitting out,” Hansen said. “It’s boring. You don’t feel like you’re a part of the team. It’s definitely not fun.”

Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen got to experience Hansen’s pain for the first time since joining Washington before the 2014 season. Niskanen missed Friday’s win against Buffalo with an upper-body injury after being on the receiving end of a boarding penalty from Boston’s Patrice Bergeron on Wednesday.

“I don’t think it was that bad of a hit,” Niskanen said after practice Saturday. “I didn’t think it was live, and even after watching it, I can see where that can happen. It was one of those where I lost my balance the wrong distance from boards. If I’m two feet closer to the boards, nothing happens. If I’m two feet further away, nothing happens.”

Niskanen hopes to return to the lineup against Vancouver, but is in the NHL’s concussion protocol.

“He practiced well and said he felt pretty good, so we’ll what his status is (Sunday) morning,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said after practice Saturday. “There’s a protocol the NHL has for injuries and we’ll follow that protocol to a T. And that’s why we can’t give you an answer right now.”

The Capitals beat Vancouver 5-2 on Oct. 29 with Philipp Grubauer picking up the road victory.

No. 1 netminder Braden Holtby figures to get the start Sunday, with each game critical for Washington thanks to its position in the red-hot Metropolitan Division. Even with 35 points, the Capitals sit in fifth place.

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Boston Bruins vs. Washington Capitals
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Where: Verizon Center, Washington, District Of Columbia

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN
PREDICTION: Capitals 4, Bruins 2

Oddsmakers currently have the Capitals listed as 140-moneyline favorites versus the Bruins, while the game’s total is sitting at 5.

WASHINGTON — Two teams that won in overtime Monday meet when the Boston Bruins face the Washington Capitals Wednesday night at Verizon Center.

Boston (15-10-1) brings the momentum, in the form of a three-game winning streak.

After scoring only 21 goals in 11 games, the Bruins defeated the Florida Panthers 4-3 as David Pastrnak scored two goals, including the highlight-reel game-winner.

The 20-year-old winger is third in the NHL with 15 goals in 21 games, matching the number he netted in 51 games last season.

“He’s coming into his own, there’s no doubt about that,” Bruins coach Claude Julien told the Boston Globe. “Confidence wise, it’s at its highest right now, and rightfully so … nice goal, great way for us to finish with that goal.”

Washington (14-7-3) got a similar performance in its 3-2 victory over the Sabres. Marcus Johansson continued his standout season, scoring with 6:18 left in the third period to tie it and adding the game-winner with 2:22 left in overtime to help the Capitals snap a three-game losing streak.

Johansson, whose career-high is 20 goals in 2014-15, has four goals in his last five games and 11 on the season. His third-period tally came on a power play, good news for the struggling Capitals, who rank 23rd in the league, converting 15.2 percent, well below the league average of 17.9 percent.

“That’s what we need from the power play and I think the last few years, that’s what we’ve gotten too,” Johansson told NHL.com. “We have a good power play, we’ve gotten results from it and just hasn’t bounced our way. I think we’ve been making it a little bit too hard and not really taking what’s there.”

Washington’s offense could get help against the Bruins with the possible return of winger T.J. Oshie. He scored eight goals and four assists in the first 17 games before missing the past seven with a shoulder injury.

“I don’t think it’s official,” Oshie said of his return after practicing Tuesday. “I still have got to talk to (coach Barry Trotz) and everything. But yeah, I got into a real practice for a change here and felt pretty good out there, so we’ll see where we go.”

Trotz said the decision on Oshie’s return will be made Wednesday. Washington is 3-3-1 minus the winger.

“Without a doubt, I think Osh in that diamond spot is as good as anybody in the National Hockey League,” Trotz said. “I think he’s tenacious. I think he understands that position, especially on our power play.”

Alex Ovechkin has 17 goals and 21 assists in 39 games against Boston and Nicklas Backstrom has 26 assists in 28 games.

Goalie Braden Holtby is 9-2 with a 1.57 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage when facing Boston.

Bruins netminder Tuuka Rask (14-4-1, 1.68, .939) struggles versus Washington, going 1-8-4 with a 2.92 GAA and .899 save percentage. Meanwhile Anton Khudobin is 4-2-1 with a 2.41 GAA and .923 save percentage in his career versus Washington.

The Bruins have gotten mixed news on the injury front the past few days.

Injured winger Frank Vatrano skated with the team for the first time this season during Tuesday’s practice. He had eight goals and three assists in 34 games as a rookie in 2015-16.

“This is the first time I’ve had an injury and hopefully it’s the last time, but you never know playing this sport,” Vatrano, who suffered torn ligaments in his left foot, told the Boston Globe. “I’ve never been off the ice this long so it’s been a learning process for me.”

On the flip side, the Bruins announced that winger Matt Beleskey, injured in Saturday’s win over the Sabres, will be out six weeks with a knee injury. He had two goals and three assists in 24 games.

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Buffalo Sabres vs Washington Capitals
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, December 5, 2016
Where: Verizon Center, Washington, District Of Columbia

TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG-B (Buffalo), CSN Mid-Atlantic (Washington)
PREDICTION: Capitals 5, Sabres 1

Captain Alex Ovechkin leads the team with 12 goals but is mired in a four-game drought that began after he registered his 16th career hat trick on Nov. 23 as the Capitals edged St. Louis 4-3. Buffalo is in the midst of a stretch during which it plays six of seven games at home, where it opened the string with a victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday but dropped a 2-1 decision to Boston two days later. Jack Eichel has come back strong from an ankle injury that sidelined him for the Sabres’ first 21 games of the season, recording three goals and an assist over his first two contests before being kept off the scoresheet by the Bruins. Brett Connolly had the best offensive game of his first season with Washington in the first matchup against Buffalo, netting a tally and setting up another for two of his three points this campaign.

ABOUT THE SABRES (9-10-5): With Josh Gorges expected to miss an undetermined number of weeks with a non-displaced fracture in his foot, Buffalo hopes to get back another defenseman in the very near future. Dmitry Kulikov skated with the team on Sunday for the first time since Nov. 11 and is day-to-day with a lower-back injury that has sidelined him for 11 games thus far but could return for the Sabres’ home contest against Washington on Friday. Brendan Guhle, a 19-year-old blue-liner recalled from juniors on an emergency basis, recorded four shots and a plus-1 rating in 16 minutes, 20 seconds of ice time in his NHL debut on Saturday.

ABOUT THE CAPITALS (13-7-3): Washington has scored a total of three goals during its winless streak and netted more than three just once in its last seven contests. The Capitals could stand to receive some secondary scoring as the quartet of Ovechkin, Marcus Johansson (nine), T.J. Oshie (eight) and Nicklas Backstrom (seven) have accounted for 62 percent (36-of-58) of the team’s goals this season. Backstrom leads the team with 21 points and has recorded 12 over his last nine contests.

OVERTIME

1. Sabres C Sam Reinhart has collected two goals and three assists during his four-game point streak.

2. Washington is 11-0-0 when scoring three or more goals.

3. Buffalo is seeking back-to-back wins away from home after ending a four-game road slide, during which it totaled four goals, with a 5-4 triumph at Ottawa on Tuesday.

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NY Rangers at Washington
When: 7:00 PM ET, Sunday, May 10, 2015
Where: Verizon Center, Washington, District Of Columbia
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, TVA
PREDICTION: Rangers 3, Capitals 1
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Oddsmakers currently have the Rangers listed as 105-moneyline favorites versus the Capitals, while the game’s total is sitting at 4½.

Washington was a 2-1 loser in its last match on the road against the Rangers. They lost as +147 underdogs, while the total score of 3 made winners of UNDER bettors.

While leading scorer Rick Nash has gone eight games without a goal, Kreider added to his burgeoning postseason legacy of coming through in the clutch by netting the tying tally with 1:41 remaining in regulation Friday. It was the second goal of the series and 14th career playoff tally for Kreider dating to his NHL debut in Game 3 of a first-round series against the Ottawa Senators in 2012. “We’ve been needing some people to step up and score big, timely goals, and it’s been tough to come by, for sure,” said forward Derek Stepan, who notched the primary assist on Kreider’s blistering one-timer. “But we’re still in this thing and it was a big moment there for (Kreider) to give us a chance in overtime.”

Team record: 59-26-7
NY Rangers is 12-5 SU in its last 17 games
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of NY Rangers’s last 8 games
NY Rangers is 12-3 SU in its last 15 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of NY Rangers’s last 5 games on the road

Superstar Alex Ovechkin appeared poised to dominate the series after scoring in each of the first two games, including a highlight-reel tally and nine hits in Game 2, but he has been held off the scoresheet in each of the last three contests. “Next one will be the big one,” the captain said. “Nobody said it was going to be easy. Of course, you want to close the series when you get the lead. It’s over. You have to forget about it and move forward.” Washington has mustered only eight goals in the five games and its power play, ranked No. 1 in the league during the regular season, has had only eight chances against New York – with the lone conversion coming in the series opener.

Team record: 52-29-13
Washington is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Washington’s last 7 games
Washington is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Washington’s last 5 games when playing NY Rangers

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Boston’s leading goal scorer during the regular season scored his first of the postseason with 4:20 left in the first overtime and the Bruins beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Thursday night in the first playoff game in 40 years between the Original Six teams.

“It’s always frustrating” not to score, Marchand said, “but there’s so many other areas of the game. It’s always nice to get the first one and you hope you just keep going.”

The win was Boston’s third straight in overtime, and New York’s third straight loss in extra time.

“I thought it was pretty even going into the overtime,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said. “But we got spanked in the overtime.”

Both teams advanced with Game 7 victories Monday night. The Rangers beat the Washington Capitals 5-0 behind Henrik Lundqvist’s second consecutive shutout. The Bruins overcame a three-goal deficit with 11 minutes left in regulation and beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 on Patrice Bergeron’s goal in overtime.

“I really thought our guys turned the page on that historical game,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said.

Marchand scored on a pass from Bergeron. Marchand had carried the puck up the right side, passed it to Bergeron and kept going toward the net. Bergeron passed across the slot and Marchand tipped it past Lundqvist from the left side of the crease.

“I told Marchand when we were pretty close to each other on the wall to go backdoor,” Bergeron said. “It was good to see him score because I thought he had some pretty good looks tonight.”

Boston outshot New York 16-5 in overtime.

“I kind of knew he was coming in the middle, but I was just too locked in on the puck,” Lundqvist said. “Sooner or later when you face a lot of chances like that, you’re going to make a mistake.”

The Bruins carried the play throughout overtime. They applied constant pressure, but couldn’t score during a power play when Derek Dorsett was penalized for interference at 2:20 of overtime.

Boston nearly won in regulation, but Johnny Boychuk’s shot from the right point clanged off the left post with one-tenth of a second remaining. Then he hit the left post at the other end of the ice at 6:34 of overtime.

Zdeno Chara gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 12:23 of the second before Ryan McDonagh tied it with 1.3 seconds left in the period. Derek Stepan put the Rangers ahead 2-1 just 14 seconds into the third period, and Torey Krug tied it on a power play with his first NHL goal in four career games.

“For his first goal, he couldn’t have asked for better timing,” Julien said.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals is Sunday night in Boston.

On Thursday, the Bruins played without three injured veteran defensemen: Andrew Ference, Dennis Seidenberg and Wade Redden. Three rookies started on defense: Dougie Hamilton, Matt Bartkowski and Krug, who was called up from Providence of the AHL after Seidenberg was hurt early in the first period Monday night.

The Bruins ended Lundqvist’s shutout streak at 152 minutes, 23 seconds when he gave up a Chara’s soft goal. Lundqvist appeared to have a good view of the 50-foot slap shot from just in front of the middle of the blue line and got a piece of the puck, but it trickled by him.

That lead nearly held up through the second period. But when Boychuk passed it from in front of his net to Tyler Seguin in the right circle, Rick Nash hit Sequin’s stick and the puck went to McDonagh at the left point.

McDonagh’s rising slap shot soared over the right arm of goalie Tuukka Rask. Stepan then made it 2-1 on a 30-foot shot from the slot through Rask’s legs, two goals in 15.3 seconds.

Krug tied the game with teammate David Krejci in front of the net trying to screen Lundqvist. The shot from just inside the top of the left circle went under Lundqvist’s left arm.

Then Marchand beat Lundqvist to win in the extra session.

“It was a tough overtime period for us. They came hard,” Lundqvist said. “My record is terrible in overtime, but I’ve just got to stick with it, play my game and hopefully it’ll turn around.”

Game notes

Stepan’s goal was the sixth against the Bruins in the first two minutes of a period in their eight playoff games. … The teams last met in the playoffs in 1973 when the Rangers won the first-round series in five games. The previous year, they faced each other in the Stanley Cup finals, and the Bruins won in six. … Both teams’ leading goal scorers in the regular season had no goals in eight playoff games heading in. New York’s Nash stretched that unwanted string to nine, but Marchand’s goal won the game. . … Boston’s Jaromir Jagr, a former Ranger, is the only player on either team who had been born the last time the teams met in the playoffs on April 10, 1973.

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That’s the main reason the Rangers are heading to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Led by Lundqvist’s 35 saves in a second consecutive shutout, and goals from some unlikely sources, the Rangers beat the Capitals 5-0 in an anticlimactic Game 7 Monday night, eliminating Washington for the second year in a row.

By winning a Game 7 on the road for the first time in its history, New York completed its comeback after trailing in the series 2-0 and 3-2 — the latest in Washington’s long history of playoff collapses.

“He was really good, but the team was also good, too. I have to give the team some credit. They played hard in front of him,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said, before making sure everyone knew this: “Henrik is our backbone.”

The last NHL goalie with shutouts in Games 6 and 7 of a series was Detroit’s Dominik Hasek in 2002 against Colorado, according to STATS LLC.

Lundqvist, Ovechkin said, did an “unbelievable job; he makes incredible saves.”

Sixth-seeded New York faces the No. 4 Boston Bruins in the second round.

Arron Asham put New York ahead Monday in the first period, before Taylor Pyatt and Michael Del Zotto made it 3-0 early in the second on goals 2:10 apart. Ryan Callahan added a goal 13 seconds into the third period, and when Mats Zuccarello scored with about 13½ minutes remaining, thousands of red-clad fans streamed to the exits.

Soon after, when Lundqvist fell forward to smother a puck, chants of “Hen-reeek! Hen-reeek!” from the no-longer-outnumbered Rangers supporters rose in the arena.

Asked why his team couldn’t score in the final two games, Capitals forward Troy Brouwer replied: “Henrik Lundqvist. Plain and simple.”

From the moment Mike Ribeiro’s overtime goal gave Washington a Game 5 victory, Lundqvist was simply superb.

The Swede stopped all 62 shots he faced in Games 6 and 7, showing exactly why he won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie last season and is a finalist this season.

“In a game like this, obviously you’re looking for a great start. I thought we set the tone in the first. You just need a couple of good bounces and we got them tonight. A couple of big goals for us,” Lundqvist said. “When we scored the fourth one, I thought, ‘OK, we got this.’ As long as it’s three, you never know with (the Capitals). They have so much skill, they can turn it around quickly.”

But Washington’s offense, led by two-time MVP Ovechkin, managed to score 12 goals the entire series — and zero over the final six periods.

Indeed, Ovechkin was held without a point in Games 3-7. The Russian wing led the NHL with 32 goals but he heads into the offseason after the longest playoff point drought of his career. He had a goal in Game 1, an assist in Game 2, and that was it.

Ovechkin delivered some big hits early in Game 7, but he was credited with only one shot by the end of the second period, which closed with some boos from the red-clad spectators in the stands.

New York’s top scorer in the regular season, Rick Nash, didn’t have a goal against Washington, but the Rangers found other players to pick up the slack.

While Callahan did have 16 goals this season, the other four Rangers who put pucks past Braden Holtby combined for a total of only 14.

The Rangers-Capitals finale began only a little more than 24 hours after the shoving- and wrestling-filled end of Game 6, which New York won 1-0 on Derick Brassard’s second-period goal and Lundqvist’s seventh career postseason shutout. That, of course, was played at Madison Square Garden, continuing the pattern of the home team winning each of the first six games of the series.

That ended emphatically Monday, in a Game 7 similarly anticlimactic to Washington’s 6-2 loss to Pittsburgh in 2009.

Since the start of the 2008 playoffs — when Washington’s core of Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green made their postseason debuts — the Capitals have appeared in nine series, and this was the seventh to last the full seven games.

They’re now 2-5 in those, and Ovechkin and Co. have never been beyond the second round. Going further back, to 1985, the Capitals have lost nine series in which the club led either 2-0 or 3-1.

Ovechkin, in speaking with a Russian reporter, said he thinks the league wanted a Game 7 in the series, citing a dearth of penalties against the Rangers, though he stopped short of accusing the NHL of match-fixing.

“The refereeing … You understand it yourself,” Ovechkin told reporter Slava Malamud, who translated his interview from Russian to English. “How can there be no penalties at all (on one team) during the playoffs?

“I am not saying there was a phone call from (the league), but someone just wanted Game 7. For the ratings. You know, the lockout, escrow, the league needs to make profit. … I don’t know whether the refs were predisposed against us or the league. But to not give obvious penalties (in the Capitals’ favor), while for us any little thing was immediately penalized…”

Still, there was not much Washington could do with the way Lundqvist performed, helping New York reverse a little bit of playoff misery of its own: Until Monday, the Rangers were 0-5 in Game 7s on the road.

On one spirited shift not quite midway through the opening period, Ovechkin delivered hard hits to John Moore, Steve Eminger and Ryan McDonagh, slamming the latter into the boards to draw loud cheers of “Ovi! Ovi!”

Moments later, 19-year-old Tom Wilson had a close, open look thanks to a steal behind the net by Matt Hendricks, but Lundqvist made the reflex save.

The Capitals had more and better early chances, generally keeping the puck at their offensive end, but it was the Rangers who went ahead 1-0 at the 13:19 mark of the first period — thanks to a quick rush when Washington didn’t get back on defense fast enough.

Green, who led NHL defensemen with 12 goals this season and scored the OT winner in Game 2, skated in for a 1-on-1 chance that Lundqvist kicked away. Tumbling to the ice, Green managed to swat the puck back toward the crease.

Again, Wilson was in the right spot. This time, though, the puck bounced over his stick, and the Rangers raced the other way for a 4-on-2. Chris Kreider, scratched for Games 2-5, sent the puck to Asham, whose shot from the top of the right circle zipped into a tough-to-find spot above Holtby’s shoulder and the crossbar.

It was fourth-line winger Asham’s second goal of the series, matching his output for the entire regular season — and doubling Ovechkin’s postseason total against New York.

Soon after, Ovechkin’s nice pass along the boards freed Jay Beagle for an attempt that Lundqvist batted away. Marcus Johansson was in position for a rebound but couldn’t get it in the net, either.

When Del Zotto’s wrister from the top of the left circle appeared to glance off Brouwer’s skate before sliding through Holtby’s legs, there were still nearly 35 minutes of regulation left, and yet the game felt finished.

The crowd, so boisterous earlier, went silent for stretches as Washington’s fans contemplated another early playoff exit.

Game notes

The Rangers will open on the road against the Bruins, who beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 in overtime in Game 7 Monday. … Ovechkin’s longest span without a point this regular season was three games, something he went through twice: Feb. 14-21 and March 9-12. The Rangers were the opponent in the middle game of both of those droughts.

The post Henrik Lundqvist gets 2nd straight shutout as Rangers ice Caps in 7 appeared first on IdealCapper.

Must have tasted pretty good.

Karlsson spent the evening on the ice for the first time in about 2½ months, and he and the Ottawa Senators are heading back to the NHL postseason.

They might even wind up back in the same arena next week.

Sergei Gonchar scored a power-play goal 47 seconds into overtime on Karlsson’s second assist of his successful and sooner-than-anticipated return from a torn Achilles tendon, and Ottawa clinched a playoff berth by beating the Washington Capitals 2-1 on Thursday night.

“I would have been happy if I sat in the stands and we would have won this game, as well, I think, and that’s the main goal,” Karlsson said. “I’m going to have to work on my stuff, and as long as this team keeps winning, I’m going to be happy.”

The overtime wins by the Senators and New York Rangers eliminated the Winnipeg Jets from the playoff chase.

Ottawa had lost its previous two games.

“I’m just glad to put all the doubters behind us,” said Craig Anderson, who made 19 saves. “We lost a couple games there … and I think that was kind of the talk: Are we going to fold the tent and go home? But I think we all kind of strapped on the belt and went to work and found ways to make people believers.”

The only shot that got past him was Alex Ovechkin’s NHL-leading 32nd goal, which tied the game 8½ minutes into the third period.

But ex-Capitals defenseman Gonchar took a pass from Karlsson and put the winner past Michal Neuvirth, who made 39 saves.

The Southeast Division champion Capitals had nothing at stake. They already are locked into the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Senators, who have two games left, moved up to sixth in the East. If they remain there, Ottawa would face the Capitals, who have won 10 of 12 overall — with the only losses against the Senators.

“If we end up playing them, we’ll be ready,” Washington’s first-year coach Adam Oates said.

Ottawa won all three regular-season matchups against the Capitals.

“We just came out flat,” Washington defenseman Mike Green said. “I don’t know what it is the last couple times we’ve played against them. But it’s the way it’s gone.”

The Capitals secured their sixth consecutive playoff appearance by clinching the division title with a 5-3 victory over Winnipeg on Tuesday.

So while the Capitals didn’t need a victory on Thursday, the Senators most certainly did.

“It was a big game,” Neuvirth pointed out, “for them.”

For Karlsson, last season’s Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s top defenseman, this was his first game since Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke stepped on the back of his leg on Feb. 13.

Karlsson originally was expected to miss the rest of the season after surgery, but recently returned to practice. He sat out 31 games, but now is back in time to get into game shape ahead of the playoffs.

“I felt OK,” Karlsson said. “Did battle some issues out there, and didn’t feel quite as comfortable as I’m used to, but overall I think it was a solid game. I still have to work through some mistakes and clean those up.”

Karlsson played a game-high 27-plus minutes and managed to demonstrate just how valuable he is.

With the game scoreless 12:35 into the second period, from barely inside the blue line, he shook his stick to get the attention of Milan Michalek, whose pass was strongly one-timed by Karlsson toward the net. The puck was redirected by Jakob Silfverberg. Then came the set up for Gonchar.

“Obviously, our team was a different team with him on the ice, and the things that he can do that others can’t do. He’s a very special player,” Senators coach Paul MacLean said about Karlsson. “He’s done, obviously, a ton of work.”

Silfverberg briefly stayed down on the ice with about three minutes left after appearing to take a glove to the face from Capitals defenseman Steve Oleksy. No penalty was called.

But Capitals forward Mike Ribeiro was sent to the box twice in the final five minutes of regulation, and teammate Jason Chimera was given a 10-minute misconduct in the last minute. The game was chippy throughout, including a scrum involving eight players along the boards earlier in the third period. The first period had a handful of near-fights and some late hits.

Ovechkin scored his fourth goal in three games, but his first point against Ottawa this season.

He gathered the puck near the boards on the right side — Oates moved him from left wing — and swept in front of the net with defenseman Chris Phillips riding his back, before flipping a backhander past Anderson.

Nearly seated on the ice afterward, Ovechkin spun around and kissed his glove, while fans responded with loud chants of “M-V-P!”

Game notes

It was Ovechkin’s 600th NHL game. … Ottawa will play at home against Philadelphia on Saturday, and at the Bruins on Sunday in a game rescheduled because of the Boston Marathon bombings. … The Capitals finish the regular season Saturday against visiting Boston.

The post Erik Karlsson returns as Senators clinch playoff spot appeared first on IdealCapper.

Yet here they are, postseason-bound with two games to spare, quite the achievement for Alex Ovechkin and first-year coach Adam Oates. Tuesday night’s 5-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets clinched the Southeast Division for the Capitals, who were next-to-last in the Eastern Conference as recently as March 21.

“I remember 20 games ago looking at the schedule,” said Mathieu Perreault, one of five Capitals to score a goal Tuesday. “Like, ‘Man, we’re probably going to have to go 16-4 to get in’ — and basically did it. It almost looked impossible if you look back 20 games, but this team has got so much character, and they found a way to do it.”

If the Capitals win their final two, they will indeed finish with 16 wins in 20 games, but that would be gravy at this point. They’re in the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season, a run that includes five Southeast titles. As a bonus, they will leapfrog several teams with better records and enter the playoffs as the conference’s No. 3 seed for winning their division, even if it is the weakest division in the NHL.

“We had a lousy start,” Oates said. “And I don’t think many of us thought we would come this far. But we obviously put some really good hockey together, and the guys have grown and it’s obviously a good feeling right now.”

The Capitals blew a two-goal lead, survived a pair of replay reviews and exhaled deeply when defensemen John Erskine cleared two shots off the goal line. They also had to kill off a power play with a one-goal lead late in the game, but they held to win for the 10th time in 11 games.

Ovechkin scored his league-leading 31st goal — an empty-netter in the final minute — and Matt Hendricks, Jason Chimera and Nicklas Backstrom also scored. Braden Holtby made 24 saves for the Capitals.

The loss keeps the Jets in ninth place in the East, one spot away from the playoffs but with slim chances of moving up because they have only one game remaining. They trail the New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators by one point, but the Rangers have two games left and the Senators have three.

“It was basically our Game 7 in the playoffs,” said Nik Antropov, who scored Winnipeg’s third goal. “And it’s frustrating to lose that way.”

Evander Kane and Blake Wheeler also scored for the Jets, who had won six of seven but were playing the second half of a road back-to-back after beating the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.

“We played too cute,” Winnipeg coach Claude Noel said. “There was no way we were going to be able to match their skill level and to play the way that they played. We had to do some things that to me that we didn’t do.”

Hendricks and Chimera gave the Capitals a 2-0 lead after the first period, but the score would have been tied if not for Erskine, who cleared Bryan Little’s shot off the line when Holtby was caught out of position and later arrived just in time to get his stick on a bouncing puck that had dribbled down the goaltender’s back on a tip by Aaron Gagnon. The puck was some 90 percent across the line — but not all the way, and the no-goal call was upheld by video review.

“He’s our third goalie right now,” Ovechkin said with a smile.

The Jets did pull even in the second period when Kane and Wheeler scored, but it took just 37 seconds for the Capitals to regain the lead when Backstrom’s right skate neatly redirected a centering pass from Ovechkin. The replay review determined that Backstrom didn’t use a deliberate kicking motion, and the goal was upheld.

Perreault doubled the lead by putting in a rebound late in the second period, but Antropov beat Holtby stick-side with 8:10 remaining in the third to pull the Jets within one.

Perrault was whistled for high sticking with 5:16 remaining, but the Capitals killed off the penalty without allowing a shot. Ovechkin capped the celebration with the empty-netter, prompting chants of “M-V-P!” throughout the sold-out arena.

“The way we started, there were a lot of doubters,” Hendricks said. “Our fans were against us a little bit, the media was hard on us a little bit. But we came and did what we set out to do.”

Game notes

Antropov returned after missing eight games with a lower body injury. Jets F Kyle Wellwood was out with a significant injury to his right hand from blocking a shot during Monday’s win at Buffalo. … Ovechkin set an NHL record with his goal, although it’s one that probably deserves an asterisk. It was his 13th in the month of April, an accomplishment made easier because the lockout-modified schedule is extending the regular season deeper into the month than usual. The previous record of 12 was set by Mario Lemieux in 1993 and tied by Winnipeg’s Alex Zhamnov in 1995.

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