Connolly, Carlson lift Capitals past Rangers for fifth straight win

NEW YORK -- Brett Connolly scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period to help the Washington Capitals extend their winning streak to five games by defeating the New York Rangers 5-3 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

Connolly gave Washington a 4-3 lead at 13:36, scoring on a one-timer from the top of the left circle off a pass from John Carlson, who had three assists, giving him a Capitals-leading 20.
"I really didn't see where he was, I kind of got lucky that I put it right where he wanted," Carlson said. "That's what we talk about, talking and working things out. That's a perfect example of it."
WATCH: [All Capitals vs. Rangers highlights]
Nic Dowd, Jakub Vrana, Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson scored for the Capitals (13-7-3). Pheonix Copley made 27 saves for the defending Stanley Cup champions.
"We're starting to get that feeling again, I think, through our room," Connolly said. "We're starting to get there like we had toward the end of last year. That's what we're working toward."

Jimmy Vesey, Brady Skjei and Ryan Strome scored for the Rangers (12-10-2). Alexandar Georgiev made 23 saves.
New York lost at home for the first time since Oct. 21, ending a seven-game winning streak. They lost to the Philadelphia Flyers 4-0 on Friday and have lost back-to-back games in regulation after losing once in regulation in their previous 11 games (9-1-1).
"We were disappointed in [Friday's] game, we wanted to respond the right way and I thought we did early in the game," Rangers defenseman Marc Staal said. "We weren't able to sustain it."

The Rangers had a 2-0 lead in the second period before the Capitals scored three goals in the final 9:50 to take a 3-2 lead into the third period.
Strome scored at 5:30 of the third to tie the game 3-3. It was his first goal in his fifth game since the Rangers acquired him in a trade from the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 16.
Connolly scored 8:06 later, and Wilson's empty-net goal at 18:52 made it 5-3.
"The second period alarms me," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "The overall game itself, I thought there was a lot of good that went into it, it was just a bad second period. We gave up three goals in 10 minutes. I mean, that's tough to swallow."
Dowd made it 2-1 with his second of the season at 10:10 of the second period on a tip-in from Carlson. It came 31 seconds after Skjei scored to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead at 9:39.
"That was a really big goal at that point," Capitals coach Todd Reirden said of Dowd's goal. "Going down three in that situation is not a good one. That was the right time for that."

Vrana tied it 2-2 with an unassisted goal at 16:27. He outraced Rangers center Brett Howden to the puck in the neutral zone, got into the offensive zone alone, deked to his backhand and beat Georgiev over his glove.
Ovechkin made it 3-2 with his 17th goal at 19:30. He finished his check on Vladislav Namestnikov in the corner to create a turnover. Wilson got the puck up to Dmitry Orlov at the left point. He moved it to Carlson, who brought it into the right circle and passed to Ovechkin in front for a redirection goal.
"Their third goal really epitomized the second period," Quinn said. "[Ovechkin] goes in, he finishes his check, he comes to the netfront and they score. Now, he's also 6-4, 240. That always helps, but if you're going to create space for yourself you've got to hit people and we didn't hit anybody in the second period."
Vesey scored at 9:12 of the first period to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.

They said it

"This is the way we want to play. We've got to keep building and playing the way we are. It's still early, you don't find out what kind of identity you have until playoffs come, but we're in a good spot now." -- Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom
"You can't take a period off against anybody, let alone the defending Stanley Cup champions. I thought the second period we just didn't do the two things that you have to do in this game, that have to be in your hockey DNA. You have to skate and you have to hit people, and I don't think we did either one of those things." -- Rangers coach David Quinn

Need to know

Ovechkin scored his 624th NHL goal. He is one shy of moving into a three-way tie for 15th place with Jarome Iginla and Joe Sakic. … Wilson has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past five games. … Tim Gettinger made his season debut for the Rangers after getting recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League on Friday. The forward had five hits in 7:00 of ice time. He replaced Mats Zuccarello (groin injury) in the lineup and was re-assigned to Hartford after the game.

What's next

Capitals:At the New York Islanders on Monday (7 p.m. ET; SN, MSG+, NBCSWA+, NHL.TV)
Rangers:Host the Ottawa Senators on Monday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, TSN5, RDS, NHL.TV)