*Photo from The Rink Live*
You don't need to blow out your opponents, you just need one more goal. The New York Rangers scored twice in the first period to defeat the Washington Capitals with a 2-1 victory on Sunday afternoon in Manhattan.
The Rangers ended a 4 game losing streak with this win, maintaining their hold on the Metropolitan Division with a 27-13-2 record. They also avenged a Saturday loss to the Capitals as the teams split a home and home over the weekend.
New York forward Alexis Lafreniere said of snapping the losing streak that "We know we can play better than we played the past couple of games before today. I think today we played a better game. Defensively we were better. That's why we were winning early on, just playing hard defense and offense came after."
Just 50 seconds into the game, the Rangers had the lead. Artemi Panarin got it started with his 27th goal of the season with assists going to Vincent Trocheck and Jacob Trouba. With 50 seconds left in the first period, Lafreniere scored his 11th goal of the season to double the lead to 2-0 with the lone assist going to Braden Schneider.
In the second period, the Capitals got themselves on the board. TJ Oshie scored his 4th goal of the season at the 11:03 mark of the second, assisted by Dylan Strome and Max Pacioretty to make it a 2-1 game. The Rangers kept them off the scoreboard after that to secure the win.
New York head coach Peter Laviolette said of Panarin's play that "I think him putting the puck to the net is a good thing. I think he has an elite shot. He places it. Some people just shoot the puck and try to get it between the red pipes and there's other people who actually shoot it and know where it's going. He's one of those guys, so the fact that he's firing is a good thing."
Starting between the pipes for the Rangers was Igor Shesterkin, who had a big game when the Rangers needed it. Shesterkin stopped all but one of the 25 shots the Capitals tested him with, good for a .960 save percentage as his record improved to 17-10-0.
Getting the start for the Capitals on the other end of the ice was Charlie Lindgren, who saw his record drop to 8-4-3 in 16 starts. Lindgren turned aside 29 out of the 31 shots on goal the Rangers had, giving him a .935 save percentage despite getting a loss.
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said that "I thought we carried most of the play from the second half of that game or two thirds of that game. First period just a couple situations get away from us, but the overall first period I wasn't really disappointed with other than giving up the two goals in those two situations. Loved our second period, loved our third period. We had to kill a ton. Penalty kill was great. We just would have liked to have found a way to get that second one and potentially get on the power play a couple more times."
Up next, both teams get back in action on Tuesday night. The Rangers play host to the Seattle Kraken, with Shesterkin expected to start. Darcy Kuemper is the projected starter for the Capitals when they take on the Anaheim Ducks.
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