Ovi pots two goals as Caps top Rangers

*Photo from the Joplin Globe*

   Alex Ovechkin, even on the first game of the season, is still climbing up the goal leaderboard in the NHL. Ovechkin scored two goals, Hendrix Lapierre scored, and the Washington Capitals defeated the New York Rangers 5-1 on Wednesday night.

   The two goals scored by Ovechkin give him career goals number 731 and 732, tying and then passing Marcel Dionne for 5th in all time goals scored in the NHL. While Ovechkin still has a long way to go before catching Wayne Gretzky's 894 goals, the all time leader, he's still making history, even if it seems like it's happening every night.

   Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette said of Ovechkin that "I've only been here a short time, and it seems like every night we're acknowledging him for something, he's passing somebody or he's doing something special. Tonight's a real big accomplishment to jump up the list like that."

   TJ Oshie scored the lone goal of the first period, giving the Capitals a 1-0 lead with a power play goal 4:39 into the game. In the second period, Justin Schultz picked up goal number one of the season, also a power play goal, giving Washington a 2-0 advantage 12:38 into the period. Lapierre then scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game 24 seconds later, making it 3-0 Capitals after two periods.

   To kick off the 3rd period, Ovechkin scored the 3rd power play goal of the night for the Capitals, making it 4-0 at the 2:37 mark of the period. At 9:13, Chris Kreider got the Rangers on the board, slipping one into the net to make it a 4-1 game. Ovechkin then tallied a shorthanded goal 12:01 into the 3rd, making it 5-1 Capitals and all but sealing the win.

   Lapierre said of scoring his first NHL goal in his NHL debut that "I knew when I called for the puck he was going to pass it to me, and I got lucky. I just put the puck at the net. It was just so fun. The crowd was so incredible, and for a first game I don't think I could have asked for a better one, and we got a great win."

   In his first start of the season, Vitek Vanecek started it the right way, picking up the win while saving 23 of 24 shots he saw from the Rangers, picking up a .958 save percentage to move to 1-0-0 this season. He was named the 3rd star of the game.

   In a somewhat surprising move, Alexandar Georgiev got the opening night start for the Rangers over Igor Shesterkin. Georgiev got saddled with the loss, saving 22 out of 27 shots for a dismal .815 save percentage, dropping to 0-1-0 this season.

   Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant said about the loss that the Rangers played "Two different games. I thought the first 33 minutes we were really good even though were behind 2-0, a couple of power play goals that they scored. They got the bounces on both of them. But I thought we played a heck of a 33 minutes and after that we weren't too good."

   The Rangers have a quick turnaround, playing the Dallas Stars on Thursday night, with Shesterkin likely to start. The Capitals don't play again until Saturday, when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning.