Washington Capitals bounce back with 4-1 win over New York Rangers -NHL Update
Washington might be ranking below the playoff line in the Eastern Conference at the moment but that does not mean any team can take advantage of their temporary slump as the Capitals snapped the New York Rangers’ five-game winning streak, 4-1, on Wednesday
night, December 28, 2011, at the sold-out Verizon Center in Washington, District of Columbia, United States.
Veteran goalie, Tomas Vokoun, was back in the net for Washington for his first start in six-games after he was having trouble blocking the puck for the Capitals. Vokoun was well rested and ready to go by blocking 31 of 32 shots, including 15 in the third
period alone.
"All through the lineup, guys were just playing tough", Washington’s left winger, Troy Brouwer, said. "Not letting guys get free passes, even in front of our net, playing hard on the cycle, stuff like that. When you play tough, when you play hard, it makes
it tough for the other team to create anything".
Marcus Johansson opened the scoring nearly midway through the first period for his seventh of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season followed by New York with less than three minutes to go as Brandon Dubinsky got an assist off captain,
Ryan Callahan, to level the game.
New York failed to capitalise on two straight power play advantages in the first period alone along with three more in the following 40 minutes, which could have been the deciding factor for the team.
Troy Brouwer potted his 10th of the season and boosted his point total to 17 now, midway through the second while Alexander Semin extended the lead three minutes later along with securing the match at the 17:25 mark of the third to give Washington
an easy victory.
"Turnovers, not against their third or fourth lines, but against their top line -- it killed us", Rangers coach, John Tortorella, said. "That's what's frustrating. I thought we beat ourselves a little bit there in those situations. They're an opportunistic
team (and) we didn't defend".
Washington has a lot of catching up to do as they host the Buffalo Sabres on Friday while New York will be facing the Florida Panthers the same day.
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