#CapsNucks Postgame Notebook: Killing It

Washington whitewashed the Vancouver Canucks at Verizon Center on Sunday, thoroughly throttling the Canucks in a 3-0 victory. In recording his second shutout of the season and the 25th of his NHL career, Braden Holtby needed to make only 20 saves. That total is tied for the second fewest he has needed in a shutout in his career; Holtby made 18 saves in a March 26, 2011 shutout of the Canadiens in Montreal.

Holtby's shutout was the fifth against the Canucks in Caps franchise history and the first for a Washington netminder against the Canucks since Jim Carey backstopped the Caps to a 9-0 win over Vancouver at USAir Arena on March 12, 1996.

Not only did the Caps stifle and limit the Canucks at five-on-five throughout Sunday's game, but they also were as suffocating during the 10 minutes of the contest in which Vancouver had the man advantage.

"I thought we did a good job of denying entry or not letting them get set up," says Caps defenseman Matt Niskanen. "If they did gain the zone, we were on the same page with our trigger points on when to pressure, and they never really got comfortable in a good setup where they were working the puck around. We had the heat on them with pressure and cleared the puck and kept them off balance all night."

With their perfect 5-for-5 night on the penalty kill in Sunday's game, the Caps are now 26-for-30 (86.7%) on the kill in their last eight games. On the season, Washington has moved into a tie for 11th in the league with a kill rate of 83.3%.

The 200 Club - Caps captain Alex Ovechkin scored on the power play in the first period of Sunday's game, ending a seven-game goal drought - his longest dry spell in six years - and recording the 200th power-play goal of his NHL career. Ovechkin is the 18th player to reach that milestone in league history; Dave Andreychuk stands atop that list with 274 career power-play goals.

Ovechkin's goal also turned out to be his fifth game-winning goal of the season and the 93rd game-winner of his NHL career. He has now moved into a tie for 11th place on the league's all-time list of game-winning goals, tied with Hockey Hall of Famers Sergei Fedorov and Joe Nieuwendyk.

Ovechkin ranks fourth among active players in game-winning goals, trailing all-time NHL leader Jaromir Jagr (133), Jarome Iginla (97) and Patrick Marleau (94).

Special Delivery - The Caps got all the offense they would require with Ovechkin's power-play goal in the first period, and they snuffed out all five Vancouver man advantage opportunities in the game as well. Sunday's game marked the eighth time this season in which Washington scored on the power play and was perfect on the penalty kill in the same game. The Caps are 8-0-0 in those games this season.

In games in which they scored at least one power-play goal and were also perfect on the penalty kill last season, Washington posted a perfect 17-0-0 record. Overall, the Capitals have now won 27 straight regular season games in which they've been perfect on the penalty kill while scoring at least one power-play goal. The last time Washington lost in such a situation was on March 11, 2015 when it suffered a 3-1 loss to the New York Rangers at Verizon Center despite going 3-for-3 on the kill and getting an Ovechkin power-play marker.

Century City - Caps center Evgeny Kuznetsov made a brilliant feed to set up Justin Williams' goal early in the third period of Sunday's game, earning the 100th assist of his NHL career in the process.

Kuznetsov is the fourth-fastest player in franchise history to reach 100 NHL/Capitals assists; he reached the mark in his 206th career game. Only Nicklas Backstrom (138 games), Ovechkin (159 games) and Mike Gartner (194 games) reached that plateau before Kuznetsov.

Canuck Killer -Caps right wing Tom Wilson finished off the scoring in Sunday's game with an empty-net goal in the final minute of regulation. The goal was Wilson's second of the season, and both have come against the Canucks. In seven career games against Vancouver, Wilson has scored four goals, accounting for a quarter of his career total.

Wilson was also one of eight Washington skaters who logged four or more minutes of penalty-killing time in Sunday's game, shutting the Canucks down on all five of their man advantage opportunities.

"Vancouver is definitely a team that I've had some good luck against," says Wilson. "It was a great game, all out. There was a little bit of everything. There was a little bit of adversity with the penalty killing and all that; there were a lot of penalties taken in the second [period] there.

"It's a gritty win. As much as they didn't score a goal, we had some adversity and overcame it and played well."

How Sweep It Is -Sunday's win over Vancouver finished off the Caps' season series with the Canucks, and Washington took both games. The Caps have now finished the 2016-17 season series with three different teams, and each has been a clean sweep for Washington.

The Capitals also went 2-0 against the Winnipeg Jets and they finished the campaign with a 3-0 mark against the Buffalo Sabres.

Climbing The Ladder - Caps coach Barry Trotz coached in the 1,387th game of his NHL career on Sunday, passing Mike Keenan for sole possession of ninth place on the league's games coached ledger. Trotz is now just 13 games behind eighth place Pat Quinn (1,400) and seventh place Ron Wilson (1,401).

Down On The Farm - The AHL Hershey Bears finished off a busy three-in-three weekend with a 6-1 win over the Rochester Americans on Sunday at Giant Center. Zach Sanford paced the Bears' attack with a four-point game, scoring shorthanded and on the power play and adding a pair of helpers.

After the Americans scored first to take a 1-0 lead, Hershey scored six unanswered goals to win going away. Sanford scored Hershey's first two goals in the second period, and Travis Boyd, Christian Djoos and Paul Carey followed with goals in the same frame as the Bears scored five times in a span of 16 minutes and 47 seconds in the middle frame.

Christian Thomas added a goal in the third to close out the game's scoring. Vitek Vanecek needed to make only 17 saves in raising his record to 7-3-2 on the season.

The 15-5-4-1 Bears are tied with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Lehigh Valley for the top spot in the AHL's Atlantic Division. Hershey is back in action on Friday when it visits Lehigh Valley.

By The Numbers - John Carlson led the Caps with 23:56 in ice time … Ovechkin led the Caps with five shots on net and a dozen shot attempts … Brooks Orpik led the Capitals with three hits … Williams and Karl Alzner led the way with two blocked shots each … Backstrom won 13 of 18 face-offs (72%).