Rangers put Cap on Washington streak
WASHINGTON — Mika Zibanejad scored the go-ahead goal with 2:32 left, Keith Kinkaid made 28 saves and the Rangers beat the Washington Capitals 3-1 Saturday night to snap the NHL’s longest winning streak at seven.
The Rangers won three of four against East Division-leading Washington this season. The Rangers led for much of the game Friday night before losing on two late goals by Alex Ovechkin.
It looked like a similar recipe after Pavel Buchnevich gave the Rangers a lead late in the first period with his 11th goal of the season off a perfect pass from defenseman Adam Fox. John Carlson tied it on a rebound with 14:05 left, and the Capitals threatened on an ensuring power play.
But Kinkaid kept the Rangers in the game, and Zibanejad won it almost singlehandedly. He hounded Capitals defenseman Brenden Dillon in the offensive zone, stole the puck and roofed a shot past Ilya Samsonov.
The Rangers bench erupted before Zibanejad got there to celebrate his unassisted goal and seventh of the season after a rough start. Brett Howden sealed it with an empty-netter with 28 seconds left.
Kinkaid, the Rangers’ third goaltender, picked up his second victory of the season a week after shutting out the Boston Bruins. He and Alexandar Georgiev remain the rotation with Igor Shesterkin still out with a groin strain.
Samsonov allowed two goals on 24 shots. Washington lost for the first since March 5 at Boston.
ISLANDERS 6, FLYERS 1
Casey Cizikas scored twice in the Islanders’ four-goal first period their win over Philadelphia.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Jordan Eberle, Anthony Beauvillier and Josh Bailey also scored to help the Islanders end a twogame skid that followed a nine-game winning streak. Oliver Wahlstrom and Thomas Hickey each had two assists and Ilya Sorokin stopped 23 shots for his seventh straight win.
Joel Farabee scored for Philadelphia, which has lost seven of its last 11. Carter Hart, who came in with a 3.70 goalsagainst average and .880 save percentage, finished with 22 saves.
The teams conclude their three-game series Monday at Philadelphia.
Sorokin had nine saves in the first, 11 in the second and three in the third to help the Islanders win for the 12th time in their last 15 (12-2-1) and improve to 13-1-2 at home.
Cizikas had a chance for his first career hat trick, but his backhand try in front went wide about 4 ½ minutes into the third.
Beauvillier made it 5-1 at 9:45 of the final period after he deflected a pass from behind the net by Philadelphia defenseman Nate Prosser. The puck went to Brock Nelson at the right side and he tapped back to Beauvillier, who quickly beat Hart for his third.
Bailey capped the scoring after intercepting a pass from behind the net by Hart and putting it into the open net for his fourth with 4:14 to go.
Leading 4-1 after 20 minutes, the Islanders had several chances to add to their advantage in a fast-paced second period. However, they missed on some shots, the Flyers blocked several tries and Michael Dal Colle hit a post about 9 minutes in.
New York outshot Philadelphia 13-9 in the first, scoring the first four goals — including three in a span of 3:50.
PENGUINS 3, DEVILS 1
Bryan Rust and Jake Guentzel each had a goal and an assist, helping Pittsburgh end a two-game skid.
Zach Aston-Reese also scored, Casey DeSmith made 24 saves and Sidney Crosby had two assists for Pittsburgh, which won for the seventh time in nine games.
Kyle Palmieri scored for the Devils and Scott Wedgewood made 26 saves in his second consecutive start for the Devils, who had won their previous two games.